Administrators at the Franciscan University of Steubenville banned an obscene book about The Virgin Mary, drawing both praise and criticism.

The Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio has officially banned a controversial book about The Virgin Mary. The book, The Kingdom by Emmanuel Carrére, was assigned by a professor at the university last year. The book describes The Virgin Mary in sexually explicit terms.

Administrators began to face criticism from the Christian community for their initial decision to allow the book to be taught. Eventually, administrators at the school just decided to ban the book outright. In a January 9 letter from University President Father Sean O. Sheridan, he said that the book would never be taught at the university.

I would like to apologize for the use of Emmanuel Carrère’s book, The Kingdom, in an advanced literature course at Franciscan University last spring. Above all, I would like to apologize to Our Blessed Mother and Her Son, and to anyone who has been scandalized because of this incident. While I believe the professor’s intention in using this book in his class was not malicious, the book is scandalous and extremely offensive. I assure you that I was unaware that the book was being used at the time and that The Kingdom is not currently and will never again be assigned reading in any class at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

In another section of the letter, Sheridan said that guarding students’ moral and spiritual development is more important than protecting academic and intellectual freedom.

Preparing students to confront challenges to their faith is certainly an important part of the education and formation we strive to provide. This approach has marvelously prepared thousands of Franciscan University students to fight for their faith in the media, the arts, the political and business arenas, the sciences-indeed, to evangelize every facet of our culture. But Franciscan University cannot, and will not, jeopardize our students’ moral and spiritual development in doing so.

A report from The College Fix claimed that the university stood to lose millions in donations if they allowed the book to be taught again.

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