Burkester Ball

Until recently my favorite Har$bishop, Raymond Burke, has been as quite as a church mouse. No political candidates to condemn and drag through the fire and brimstone. No parish to tussle with over lucrative financial assets. No excommunications on the agenda. No board meetings to attend at Cardinal Glennon. The women of the Archdiocese have remained in line and haven’t gone the ordination route. My transgressions are not all that sensational nor do they create sufficient scandal to warrant censure. All was fairly hum - drum in the life of the St. Louis head cleric.

That was until the basketball coach gave his personal opinion on stem cell research and abortion at a rally held for a Presidential candidate. The opinion runs contrary to the teachings of the Church. The basketball coach is Catholic. His employer is a large Catholic University. That University , St. Louis University, is within walking distance of Burke’s residence and the cathedral housing his chair. Oh, we got trouble right here in river city. Another controversy to attend to and Burke picked up the ball, dribbled to the basket and scored first on a breakaway.

Naturally, the coach would be denied the sacrament of the Eucharist if he appeared before Burke and had not repented. That was a given. But Burke went even further, demanding that the University reprimand the coach for his personal views. SLU’s response was that the coach was not on the clock and his personal views are his own. University President Fr. Lawrence Biondi has not commented on the issue, sort of an in your face slam dunk. Game tied at two.

SLU is a Catholic University - in name only - and a Jesuit University - in name only. But the Jesuits always have had the tradition and reputation of being the rascals of the Catholic church. The educational mission of the Jesuits in plain simple terms is to make one use their mind for something other than a hat rack. They pretty much allow and welcome free thinking. It would be difficult to advance this philosophy if the professors had to worry about everything they said. That they would be handcuffed and second guessed with each comment they made. How could one teach with such a cloud of doubt hanging over their head? If we wanted to inhibit free thinking, we could place some dictator from a third world country on the board of trustees.

Archbishop Burke, for the sake of all involved, let things go while the game is tied.

Oh, amid all the storm, in my opinion the Billikens turned in their best performance of the season this weekend .