SLU Removes Statue of Jesuit Founder

from Jim Holt, thegatewaypundit.com

FYI, George Creel, chairman of the first USG propaganda agency, the Committee on Public Information (1917-1919) whose father was an alcoholic Catholic, was an admirer of De Smet. See my forthcoming article, "Janus Faced Public Diplomacy: George Creel and Walter Lippmann during the Cold War."
On propaganda and the Catholic Church, see.  

St. Louis University removed a statue of famous Jesuit Missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet S.J. praying over two American Indians.

Father De Smet, the Indian missionary of international fame, was a founder of the university.

The school believes the statue is offensive.

Father Pierre-Jean De Smet was an active in missionary work among the Native Americans of the Midwestern United States and Western United States in the mid-19th century. De Smet spent his lifetime advocating for and bringing Christ to Native Americans.

SLU removed his statue this week.

St. Louis University removed his statue because the Catholic priest and foundrepresented [sic - JB] white supremacy.

The College Fix reported:

Saint Louis University has removed a statue on its campus depicting a famous Jesuit missionary priest praying over American Indians after a cohort of students and faculty continued to complain the sculpture symbolized white supremacy, racism and colonialism.

Formerly placed outside the university’s Fusz Hall in the center of the private Catholic university, the statue will go to the university’s art museum, a building just north of the bustling urban campus.

The statue features famous Jesuit Missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet S.J. praying over two American Indians dressed in traditional clothing. Last Monday, just two days after graduation, it was removed from the location it has called home on campus for decades.

A university spokesperson told St. Louis Magazine the statue will be placed within the “historical context of a collection that’s on permanent display in our SLU Museum of Art.” The statue is set for the museum’s “Collection of the Western Jesuit Missions.”

“In more recent years, there have been some faculty and staff who have raised questions about whether the sculpture is culturally sensitive,” SLU spokesman Clayton Berry said.

Berry did not respond to The College Fix’s request for comment.