PERTZ

Majerus Is Criticized for Pro-Choice Stance By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: January 23, 2008

A Roman Catholic archbishop said Tuesday that he would ask officials of St. Lou

is University to take “appropriate action” against its basketball coach, who said in a television interview that he supports abortion rights. Men

 

Rick Majerus, one of the game’s winningest coaches, made the comment at a weekend rally for the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke declined to say what the action against Majerus should be, saying it was a decision for officials at St. Louis, a Jesuit university.

“I’m concerned that a leader at a Catholic university made these comments,” Burke said by telephone as he attended March for Life anti-abortion events in Washington. “It can lead Catholics astray. I just believe that it’s of the essence for people to understand as a Catholic you just cannot hold these beliefs.”

In an interview at Saturday’s Clinton rally in suburban St. Louis, Majerus identified himself as a Catholic and called himself pro-choice. The St. Louis University spokesman Clayton Berry said Majerus was at the rally as an individual, not as a representative of the college.