Here We Go Again

Once again, our good Archbishop Raymond Burke has gotten embroiled in a media-created controversy. Of course he's being vilified by the usual suspects who would find fault with him if the sky opened up and he was taken directly into heaven. The issue this time is whether an employee of a (nominally) Catholic university should be allowed to espouse his pro-choice, pro-stem cell research views on television.

The problem started this past Saturday evening when Rick Majerus, St. Louis University's men's basketball coach attended a rally for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Reporter Mike O'Connell of KMOV-TV stuck a microphone in the coach's face and asked for his opinion on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Majerus pronounced himself "pro choice" and in favor of ESCR.

Make no mistake, the reporter knew who Majerus was and was well aware that Majerus has never met a microphone he didn't like. The coach fell right into the reporter's trap.

O'Connell's next move was to contact the Archbishop for his comments on Majerus' comments. Naturally Archbishop Burke objected strongly to the coach's comments and suggested that the university take disciplinary action.

The firestorm was ignited and KMOV is taking full advantage. The story, which originally aired on Sunday continues to get air time and is on the station's home page. Meanwhile, the other local media have also picked up on it. The story has even gotten play on some national web sites.

Here's the thing. Majerus is a darling of the media. He loves the camera and the microphone. He came out of retirement to coach SLU and public expectations for a miracle were high. So far, the results aren't there. But, the school did get national attention recently for setting an NCAA record for the fewest points ever scored in a game.

As the most recognizable face of a school that most people consider Catholic (more on that later), Majerus has a responsibility to not make his employer look foolish. I doubt that he intended to create such a kerfuffle. Frankly, his comments were just stupid.

The Archbishop has a responsibility to correct St. Louis Catholics when they publicly deny authentic Church teaching. That he did.

The true villain in this piece is O'Connell who deliberately manipulated a situation in an effort to gain some much-needed viewers. At the very least he should be suspended pending a public apology. Ideally he should be fired. Reporters are supposed to report the news, not create it. His actions were dishonest and unethical.

Back to St. Louis University for a minute. In an effort to secure state funding for a new athletic facility, the school went all the way to the state Supreme Court to have themselves declared a "non-religious" institution. According to their application, they are not governed by any religious creed. A few years back they sold their teaching hospital to a for-profit company over the objections of then-Archbishop Justin Rigali.

They can't have it both ways. Either they're a Catholic University or they're not. If they are, then they should reprimand Majerus at the very least. He should apologize for embarrassing the school and its Jesuit sponsors. They probably shouldn't fire him just for being stupid.

If they're not a Catholic University, as they told the state, then the Jesuits should pull out, the school should be renamed, and they should stop accepting Catholic funds. The school's alumni should be up in arms over Majerus comments, but that doesn't seem to be the case. However, if the basketball team doesn't improve, that may be another story.

How sad.