Catholic School Removes Statue Of Priest Because He’s White

By: American Decency Staff

A Catholic university in St. Louis has taken down a statue of a Catholic missionary over complaints that its depiction of Catholic conversion efforts represents a legacy of white supremacy, The College Fix reported.

The statue at Jesuit-run Saint Louis University (SLU) is of Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet, who evangelized American Indians during the 1800s and has several cities and schools in the U.S. named after him. It shows him holding a crucifix aloft as he ministers to two American Indians, who both look up to him in awe.

The statue stood in front of SLU’s Fusz Hall at the center of campus for over 50 years, but finally succumbed to a barrage of complaints from those who say the statue is emblematic of imperialism, racism, classism, and a parade of other dreadful -isms.

For example, in an editorial published last month in the school’s University News, student Ryan McKinley said that, regardless of De Smet’s own personal beliefs, or those of the Indians he preached to, the statue represents nothing more than “Christian and white supremacy.”

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