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The latest news from every corner of the state, including policy emerging from Missouri's capitol.

Catholic Church Opposes Activists' Call To Remove Iconic Statue

The statue of King Louis IX, the namesake of the city of St. Louis, has stood atop Art Hill in Forest Park since 1906.
Colin Faulkingham | Wikimedia Commons
The statue of King Louis IX, the namesake of the city of St. Louis, has stood atop Art Hill in Forest Park since 1906.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis released a statement Sunday responding to calls to remove the Forest Park statue of King Louis IX, the namesake of the city of St. Louis.

“We should not seek to erase history,” the unsigned statement reads, “but recognize and learn from it, while working to create new opportunities for our brothers and sisters.”

Dozens of protesters and counterprotesters argued and prayed Saturday at the base of the statue, which has stood just outside the St. Louis Art Museum since 1906.

Those who want to see it removed cite the canonized monarch’s record of persecuting French Jews and leading two failed military attacks on Muslim nations as part of the Crusades.

A petition to remove the statue of the 13th-century French king and rename the city was posted on Change.org by activists Umar Lee and Moji Sidiqi and local restaurateur Ben Poremba. 

“St. Louis has a large and vibrant Jewish and Muslim community, and it's an outright disrespect for those who are part of these faith communities to have to live in a city named after a man committed to the murder of their coreligionists,” the petition reads, in part. 

It had garnered more than 850 signatures as of Sunday afternoon.

The archdiocese's statement does not directly refer to those complaints, but cites the “reforms that St. Louis implemented in French government focused on impartial justice, protecting the rights of his subjects, steep penalties for royal officials abusing power, and a series of initiatives to help the poor.”

The bronze statue is based on a plaster sculpture by Charles Henry Niehaus that sat at the site during the 1904 World’s Fair. Formally known as Apotheosis of Saint Louis, it has remained one of the iconic symbols of the city.

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Copyright 2020 St. Louis Public Radio

Jeremy D. Goodwin joined St. Louis Public Radio in spring of 2018 as a reporter covering arts & culture and co-host of the Cut & Paste podcast. He came to us from Boston and the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, where he covered the same beat as a full-time freelancer, contributing to The Boston Globe, WBUR 90.9 FM, The New York Times, NPR and lots of places that you probably haven’t heard of.