Jesuit university removes statue of Jesuit missionary, after complaints of cultural insensitivity
May 29, 2015
Administrators at Jesuit-run St. Louis University have removed a statue of a Jesuit missionary from a prominent place on campus, in response to complaints that the statue was not “culturally sensitive.”
The statue of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, praying over two Native Americans, had stood on the campus for decades. It will now be placed in the school’s art museum, in the “historical context of a collection that’s on permanent display,” a spokesman for the university said.
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Posted by: unum -
May. 30, 2015 10:07 AM ET USA
The need of the progressive left to condemn historical figures and events based on modern concepts is truly outrageous. Tell me, how was Father De Smet supposed to know what the moral and ethical standards of the 21st century would be? The idea that behavior in past times must conform to the present day standards of the left is truly ridiculous, as well as offensive to those of us who revere the history of Christ's Church and our unique country founded on the idea of God-given rights.
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Posted by: hartwood01 -
May. 29, 2015 9:12 PM ET USA
Ordinarily I would have been incensed by the easy compliance on the part of the Jesuits, but I am reading Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent J. Donovan C.S.SP. and I get it.The statue brings to mind the insensitive aspects of European missionary efforts.
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Posted by: Minnesota Mary -
May. 29, 2015 8:13 PM ET USA
I'm sure Father De Smet doesn't care that his statue is being relegated to a museum. But I feel sure he is grieving over what has happened to the Faith in America after all the sacrifices he and others made to preach and teach the Faith, making converts for Christ. Shame on the Jesuit administrators in St. Louis for bowing to the god of political correctness!
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
May. 29, 2015 7:29 PM ET USA
At what point do we simply tell these apostles of eradication of history to go find somebody else to harass? At what point will Jesuits start acting like the Jesuits recruited by Ignatius?
