I like Father Tom Euteneuer, president of Human Life International.

He’s not afraid to speak out forcefully on key moral issues, unlike many of the clergy today.

So I was happy that Father responded to my request for a statement on the current Rick Majerus, Archbishop Raymond Burke controversy, in particular this Jan. 23, 2008 story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mr. Majerus, coach of the St. Louis University basketball team, voiced support for abortion “rights” at a recent rally for pro-abortion presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Archbishop Burke wants the university – a nominally Catholic one, by the way – to discipline the defiant, pro-abortion coach.

Not surprisingly, the media are largely rallying around Mr. Majerus, including ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde. (On a related note, ESPN presently finds itself in a religious controversy. See this column on Spero News.)

Father Euteneuer had this to say about the matter:

“Rick Majerus is more of a basket case than a basketball coach. His sicknesses all fit so neatly together: He has a modern anti-Catholic ‘Jesuit’ education; he embraces superficial, undigested rhetoric about the issues; he is a jock pretending to be a scientist; and he exhibits a defiant disobedience to religious authority. Dante would have a field day -- no pun intended -- putting this guy in the pit of hell. He should be excommunicated along with all the Jesuits who ‘educated’ him.”

Well said.

Another priest who isn’t afraid to speak out on key moral issues is Father James Farfaglia, of the Corpus Christi, Tex., Catholic diocese.

Father Farfaglia had this to say in defense of Archbishop Burke:

“I applaud Archbishop Raymond Burke's courage. He is always speaking out with clarity regarding pro-life issues. If every bishop in America were to follow his example, the horror of legalized abortion would be over with. Too many bishops hide behind the walls of their cathedrals and do not speak out. Too many of our bishops will not take a stand against Catholics who openly defy Church teaching. The scandal of our times is the hierarchy who are not speaking out. Let us pray for the few bishops that do have the courage to take a stand.”

Amen.

(Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic columnist with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, Media and Theatre from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, and an Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Management from Triton College in River Grove, Ill. He is the former director of public affairs for the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League and the former executive director of the Illinois Right to Life Committee. He was a contributor to The Wanderer Catholic newspaper and had numerous letters to the editor published in major newspapers, including The New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Chicago Sun-Times. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com.)