Hoops, Abortion, and the Catholic Church
Former Faculty
By Micah Watson, Assistant Professor of Political Science & Director, Center for Religion and Politics
Jan 23, 2008 - Why is ESPN.com reporting on a story about the Catholic church and abortion?
It seems that Rick Majerus, a well-known and highly successful basketball coach and analyst, attended a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and during a television interview expressed his support for abortion rights.
Why should this be a concern? After all, Majerus is just expressing his political opinion and being involved in the public arena, something necessary for the health of democratic politics.
The story arises in Majerus currently coaches for St. Louis University, a Jesuit school under the purview of the archbishop of St. Louis, Raymond Burke. Burke, you may or may not recall, made headlines a few years ago when he said that John Kerry should be denied communion because of his pro-choice views.
The archbishop has said that the university should discipline Majerus for his comments because Majerus is a leader at a Cathlic institution and the Catholic teaching on abortion is quite clear. It is a mortal sin, ahd Catholics who support its legality are in a state of grave sin.
To the extent that this becomes a larger story, be prepared for a great deal of hand-wringing about the overbearing Catholic church and reactions that call for the good Archbishop to mind his own business. Shouldn't Rick Majerus, the thinking will run, be free to express his own political views without repercussions in his job?
Well, yes and no. Majerus is certainly free to express his own views on abortion. But the Catholic church is also free to enforce its teachings as well. Majerus has no "right" to work at a Catholic institution while flouting its teachings. Those of us who are Protestants need to realize that there are varying levels of Catholic answers and the teaching on abortion, while not at the highest level, is still very high indeed. It is not optional, and while there are a great many Catholics who dissent, there is no debate about what is in fact the Catholic teaching on abortion.
And a deeper question is raised by those who will find very objectionable in the Archbishop's response to Majerus. Does one oppose the Catholic church's involvement in public affairs out of principle, or is it merely because the church is advocating a view with which one disagrees?
Should you come across folks who decry the Catholic Church's involvement in the abortion debate because of the principle that religious bodies should not enforce their beliefs on their own members, ask them this:
In the 1950s several Democratic party leaders in Louisiana dissented from the Catholic Church's teaching on the injustice of segregation. After several warnings, Archbishop Rummel not only denied them communion but excommunicated them. Was the Archbishop right in this instance?