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St. Louis Archbishop Reminds Troubled Saint Louis University of His Authority on Moral Issues

Bishop Carlson writes, "For me not to speak would be as violent to faith as you could be"

By Kathleen Gilbert

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, August 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an interview with the student newspaper of the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University (SLU), which has had a history of conflict with Church moral teaching, Archbishop Carlson has reminded the school that he will follow his pastoral obligation to guide the school on matters of faith and morals.

"For good or for bad, as archbishop, I am responsible for addressing morality in our time," Carlson told The University News last week. "For me not to speak would be as violent to faith as you could be…"

The prelate also stressed the importance of fruitful dialogue when disagreement arises. 

"If you said, 'I don't agree with you,' I'd say let's talk about it. And then we're building bridges," he said.  "The young people who go to SLU are blessed with people who can extend those bridges. That's why I think the university setting can be so stimulating."

Archbishop Carlson has a strong reputation as a defender of the Church's teaching on the sacredness of life: it was he who famously ordered former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle in 2003 to cease calling himself Catholic because of his pro-abortion views.

According to the newspaper, Carlson said he sought to establish a good relationship with SLU president Fr. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., a sentiment Biondi reciprocated.

Carlson's predecessor, Archbishop Raymond Burke, had urged the school in 2008 to discipline its basketball coach for publicly stating support for abortion and embryonic stem-cell research.  The school, under the leadership of Biondi at the time, responded that the coach's words expressed his own personal views and evidently declined to take disciplinary action.

Late last year, while the debate over California's true marriage amendment raged across the country, a group of SLU students joined a local rally on the steps of the St. Louis Courthouse to protest the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. 

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Archbishop Burke Calls on Catholic University to Discipline Pro-Abortion Coach

Homosexualist Catholic University Students Join Protest against True Marriage

Pro-Life Defender Bishop Carlson Appointed Archbishop of St. Louis Archdiocese

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