Abp. Burke asks Fr. Biondi to clarify stem-cell comment

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke wants St. Louis University president Father Lawrence Biondi, SJ, to clarify contradictory published remarks attributed to him about embryonic stem cell research, which the Church condemns.

The archbishop asked for the clarification in a June 13 letter to Father Biondi. Father Biondi is traveling out of the country this week and was unavailable for immediate comment, said SLU spokesman Clayton Berry.

Berry, however, said that Father Biondi does not "advocate or allow" embryonic stem cell research at St. Louis University.

Source - the inaccessible St. Louis Review here.

This must be similiar to Fr. Biondi not really "advocating" SLU's involvement in allowing the "V-Monologues" to be performed at the campus with the implicit blessing of the administration.

Let's see what the Post Dispatch wrote and how others perceived Fr. Biondi's words and actions, shall we? Some excerpts from a June 12 Post Dispatch article:

Biondi's presence at meeting on stem cells creates a stir

The Rev. Lawrence Biondi, president of St. Louis University, has raised eyebrows in some Catholic circles for taking part in a private meeting of community leaders to discuss recent legislation in support of increased federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
...
The meeting was not open to the press or the public, but Biondi's presence at the meeting was shared with Post-Dispatch columnist Deb Peterson. An item in Peterson's column June 5 quoted Biondi as saying, "I am not a delicate person, but I am in a delicate situation," and Peterson wrote that "Biondi supports the research."
...

"It was my distinct impression that he was saying embryonic stem cell research was the position he agreed with," said Cicero [Theodore Cicero, Washington University's vice chancellor for research]. "He clearly indicated he supported it, but that he was in a delicate position, especially with Burke."
...
Soutier [Bob Soutier, president of the St. Louis Labor Council] said Biondi told the group he was interested in learning more about stem cell research, "but that the church was going to dictate where he could go with it ... he said he was trying to gather information to learn how the research would affect the university, but that he couldn't come out in full support."

I wonder if he could come out in "partial" support?

I could not locate this article yesterday using the Post's search engine (I tried "Biondi", "stem cell". "embryonic", "louis university") but no hits to this article came up...I knew it existed because I had left it up in the browser of my downstairs computer. I haven't checked today, but maybe the search is working again - I can only wonder why the article failed to appear though...