From left) Lawrence Biondi, Raymond L. Burke and Rick Majerus
Posted on 01/23/2008 6:43:48 AM PST by NYer
ST. LOUIS - Comments made by Saint Louis University menb's basketball coach Rick Majerus have him in hot water with Archbishop Raymond Burke.
Burke said Tuesday that he will ask officials of SLU to take "appropriate action" against its basketball coach, who said in a television interview that he supports abortion rights.
One of the game’s winningest coaches, Majerus made the comment at a weekend rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Burke declined to say what the action against Majerus should be, saying that was a decision for the Jesuit university. But he said the coach is a leader and shouldn’t support views in opposition to church teaching.
“I’m concerned that a leader at a Catholic university made these comments. It can lead Catholics astray,” Burke said by telephone as he attended March for Life anti-abortion events in Washington. “I just believe that it’s of the essence for people to understand as a Catholic you just cannot hold these beliefs.”
Burke said he will seek to speak with university president Rev. Lawrence Biondi, or a representative, when he returns to St. Louis.
During an interview with KMOV-TV at Saturday’s Clinton rally in suburban St. Louis, the first-year Billikens coach identified himself as a Catholic and called himself pro-choice. At first when asked for his views on abortion, he said he didn’t want to “go there,” but then said he is personally “pro-choice.”
Saint Louis University spokesman Clayton Berry said Majerus was at the rally as an individual, not as a representative of the school.
Majerus has one of the best winning percentages among active college basketball coaches with a 432-154 career record. Most of those wins, and a 1998 Final Four appearance, came at the University of Utah, which he left in 2004 due to health concerns. Before taking the Saint Louis job he worked as an ESPN analyst, and accepted and quickly gave up the coaching job at Southern California.
Burke set off a national debate in 2004 when he said he would deny Holy Communion to John Kerry, then the Democratic presidential nominee, because the Catholic Massachusetts senator supports abortion rights.
The archbishop resigned last year as board chairman for the Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation because of a benefit-concert appearance by Sheryl Crow, a native Missourian who supports abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research.
I guess Majerus DID learn something after all his years living in Utah.
The same coach who led his team to the lowest point total ever in an NCAA basketball game, since the shot clock was introduced.
Hmmm.
>During an interview with KMOV-TV at Saturday’s Clinton rally in suburban St. Louis, the first-year Billikens coach identified himself as a Catholic and called himself pro-choice. At first when asked for his views on abortion, he said he didn’t want to “go there,” but then said he is personally “pro-choice.”
The LDS Church does not take action against members who hold a political position opposite that taken by the LDS Church. I’m aware that the RC Church does regarding political leaders, e.g., abortion rights. Is it also true that it takes action against educators and coaches?
What about taking action against an individual Catholic who does not have any leadership position?
The Utah Legislature passed an anti-abortion bill that was tougher than any of the other 50 states. And the Utah Governor signed the bill into law.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DB1E3FF935A15752C0A967958260
So on what basis do you diss Utah for being pro-abortion rights?
Both Catholics and LDSers have internal legal procedures for kicking members out of their respective organizations.
That's pretty well-known.
Sure. My question isn’t whether there is the ability. The question is whether it would happen.
The LDS position is that it is not a basis to excommunicate a member (or withhold the sacrament via disfellowship) based on a political position. Even when the LDS Church and the RC Church have joined forces to oppose gay marriage, the LDS Church did not take action against an LDS politician or member for taking the opposite view.
Abortion isn't politics. It is at base a moral issue issue that has been politicized.
If you believe that abortion is moral, you are - by definition - not a Catholic. If you keep lying to people by publicly asserting that you are a Catholic, steps will be taken to remind people that you are a liar.
Majerus didn’t argue that abortion is moral. He stated that he disagrees with it. So he’s not taking an opposite view as to the “morality” of abortion.
He’s taking an opposite view on whether the state should have the right to prohibit an abortion. That’s a separate question.
No, it isn't.
It is the same as saying: "I personally have no desire to murder anyone, but the government shouldn't have a right to tell me who I can or cannot murder."
“Majerus has one of the best winning percentages among active college basketball coaches with a 432-154 career record.”
Satan takes care of his own...for a while.
As a further example. I would assume that the RC Church would take issue with the view that it is moral to deny that Christ is the Son of God, right? (Seems patently obvious.) Well, the LDS Church would as well (and in fact if you denied that Christ was the Son of God you could not go to the temple and it would be grounds for excommunication - whether a leader or not).
But is it wrong for a RC to support the right of a person to deny the Christ, i.e., freedom of religion? I believe in Christ. He is my Savior, the literal Son of God. But I strongly support the right of my brother to deny Christ. (Just won’t go so well for him in the after life, but that’s not a matter for the State to decide.)
If Mr. Majerus had kept his yap shut, there wouldn’t be an issue.
Look at what Archbishop Burke actually said:
“’I’m concerned that a leader at a Catholic university made these comments. It can lead Catholics astray,’ Burke said...”
The problem is one of public scandal, of a leader in a Catholic institution taking a public position diametrically at odds with settled, authoritative Catholic moral teaching.
I wish more of our bishops had the guts to do this.
sitetest
By not recognizing the truth about Jesus you are inadvertently harming yourself, you are not deliberately murdering or deliberately encouraging the murder of anyone else.
So you could deny the Christ and remain a member in good standing of the RC Church? I find that hard to believe.
I fully understand the import. That is why I asked if the RC rule applied to educators and coaches, as opposed to solely politicians.
Apparently it does.
Does it also apply to regular members? Seems that I am getting a mixed response, but based on what you posted it suggests that a member who is not in the public eye (let’s just call him a “public figure”) would be disciplined for stating the opinion, while a non-public figure would not.
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