Catholic High School Disinvites Senator

An invitation to Sen. Claire McCaskill to speak at her daughter's graduation from a Roman Catholic high school was withdrawn because of her positions on abortion and stem cell research.

Students at all-girls St. Joseph's Academy in the St. Louis suburb of Frontenac, Mo., wanted to have McCaskill speak at their commencement this month, McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said Tuesday.

But the offer was rescinded last week. The president of St. Joseph's, Sister Michaela Zahner, said she reluctantly made the decision after receiving a call from the St. Louis Archdiocese.

McCaskill narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Jim Talent last November in a race in which embryonic stem cell research was a key issue. A McCaskill ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox — swaying noticeably from the effects of Parkinson's disease — drew nationwide attention.

Marsh said the senator, a Catholic, understands that her positions supporting abortion rights and stem cell research are different from those held by the church.

The senator was told by the school that the decision came from Archbishop Raymond Burke, Marsh said.

"I'm disappointed that the archbishop has made this decision," McCaskill said in a statement. "It does not diminish my respect and admiration for St. Joseph's Academy, their faculty, and students."

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese, Anne Steffens, said the decision was not made by the archbishop. But Zahner said an archdiocese policy forbidding a public forum for speakers who diverge from church teaching clearly reflects Burke's position.

While St. Joseph's is a private, rather than an archdiocesan school, it receives its right to be identified as a Catholic institution through the archdiocese, Zahner said, adding that rescinding the invitation "was a very hard decision."

[soldat44]

"Catholic High School Disinvites Senator"

Why would a US Senator knowingly send her daughter to an institution of sodomy and child sodomy, as the catholic institution IS KNOWN TO BE?

Dam foolish female, wittingly/unwittingly promoting the sodomizing and traumatizing of the children!
Posted by Agnim at 05:51 PM : May 03, 2007

You really do need to get out more. If you are not Catholic then why do you care? It's none of your business...right?

I'll bet my life that there are more(percent wise) teacher pedophiles than there are priest pedophiles. Why do you not go after the secular schools with the same vengence and hate?

[soldat44]

It is not a Catholic - but an IDIOT - who thinks that being Catholic means you have to support Republican agenda-items like 'right-to-life' and 'sanctity of marriage' ********* which is a masquerade against the ***. By using subterfuge like this, the Republishits have garnered even the support of that drooling witch nun, Mother Angelica, and her cross-eyed, bible-thumping crowd of Cracker followers.

Besides throwing stem-cell research into limbo and costing decent Americans the chance at a full and productive life, the Republicrap Party has successfully pandered to the gun lobby, leaving Virginia Tech and Columbine as two words in the language that we all know what it stands for...stole from the middle class and given to the super-rich, totally spending our budget surplus and bankrupting our nation for at least the next 30 years...

All very worthy of the respect and votes of the Catholic hierarchy.

Let them pay taxes and shutthehellup.
Posted by JackSteen1 at 06:38 PM : May 02, 2007

Why so much anger? If you are not Catholic why worry?

BTW - You'd be surprised how many Repubs are pro-choice and Dems are pro-life.

[soldat44]

You cannot be Catholic and pro-Choice. Period.
Posted by soldat44 at 05:23 PM : May 02, 2007


Who are YOU to say who can be Catholic? Who made YOU the authority on what I can or can't believe?

I live in St. Louis and have grown very weary of Archbishop Raymond Burke. Burke is a graceless, humorless, authoritarian who seeks to impose his will by any means at his disposal. You would think with the problems the Church has to confront, he'd have something better to do than harass Cheryl Crowe and Claire McCaskill. Guess he likes to beat up on girls.
Posted by motherjones at 05:40 PM : May 02, 2007


Call the Vatican up and get their opinion on being Catholic and Pro-Choice at the same time.

Peace be with you.

[mcrunch2]

Yes, disinvites all the people who protect child molesters like this Senaotr. Ever hear of NAMBLA? Ever hear of GSLEN who had a special program to show teens how to do fisting? She has voted to uphold their values.
Yes, there are a few bad bishops who do not uphold the law of the Church and kick out the molesters. However, given that only about .2 % of priests went bad, how does that stack up to the very high molestation rates of the new york city schools? Lets put some heat where it belongs. Did this senator put some heat on the NEA to stop the molestations in her state? I highly doubt it. Its too petty to even look up. It part of her platform to protect the molesters in government schools.
As for the comment about theories, you obviously think that there are no absolutes, that there is no right and wrong. Since that is so, please publish your address so some robbers can take what they want - after all, you probably only have a theory about whether they deserve it or not.
This senator does not know too much about truth and formation of concience. She would do well to go to school herself.

[tibu987]

Makes me wonder what kind of an education one can get in a school incapable of sustaining a thorough curriculum embracing many theories whether you agree or not.

[agnim]

"Catholic High School Disinvites Senator"

Why would a US Senator knowingly send her daughter to an institution of sodomy and child sodomy, as the catholic institution IS KNOWN TO BE?

Dam foolish female, wittingly/unwittingly promoting the sodomizing and traumatizing of the children!

[agnim]

"Catholic High School Disinvites Senator"

Why would a US Senator knowingly send her daughter to an institution of sodomy and child sodomy, as the catholic institution IS KNOWN TO BE?

Dam foolish female, wittingly/unwittingly promoting the sodomizing and traumatizing of the children!

[duhrer]

I wonder how many christian men have prescriptions for viagra and other "male enhancement" drugs. Since christians preach abstinence as the best birth control, it looks like we're going to have a lot of eager fellas with no place to go. But don't let me sound like I just want to hammer on christians or that I don't have room for individual spiritualism... no problem, it's just the group-speak-I-need-to-have-others-tell-me-how-to-behave mentality that I have a problem with. That and the notion that if you don't believe like we do, there's something wrong with you... how can you possibly have a moral compass without a religion... Let me be clear: it's called individual responsibility for your actions, compassion for others, fairness in business and ethics in life. I feel sorry for folks who need a book and a religious leader to guide them in their behavior. Sheeple.

[dodaz-2009]

HEllo NO ! we only have tolerance for pedophile priests,.. BE GONE !! LOL

[phoenix1218]

The problem with any religion is that men are the ones who practice it and control it and man is not perfect, that is why there is fanatism and intolerance in every religion. I agree with another post, why invite her in the first place? Doesn't religion state, specially christian, that everyone is equal in the eyes of God? Why not hear what the senator has to say?
Posted by vallel

I could not agree more. There is fanatism in every religion and we need not look further than the current situation with O.BL and Islam. You may not agree with Islam but most people who practice that faith are not fanatics and do not condone violence. The early christians had many wars with many religions just because the warring religions were not their own. With the recent vote in Mexico to allow abortion the archdiocese down there excommunicated the politicians who voted to pass mexicos new bill allowing abortion. So I can understand why the american school uninvited the american politician.