To our friends in the University of Kansas Hillel and Chabad Jewish communities

It is with profound sadness and great horror that we, the Roman Catholic students, faculty, and community of the University of Kansas, have learned of the killing in cold blood of two members of the Jewish community, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim; employees of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC. We commend them to the mercy of God, and we join with you, their families, friends, and the wider Jewish community who mourn their senseless and tragic loss.

We pray that Yaron and Sarah’s rest will be peaceful, and their memory, eternal. 

We stand with you in thanking the God of Israel for the great blessing of Yaron and Sarah’s lives, and we, the community of the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, reaffirm our intention to stand in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, and to work alongside them and all people of good will to build a world of true peace, justice, and unity.

We wish to express our particular love for all members of your community, and especially for those who personally knew Sarah, a fellow Jayhawk, and who mourn her passing. We are committed to praying and working as a fellow community of faith at the University of Kansas, to help all students become authentic Jayhawks; men and women of brave heart who reverence the dignity of every human life and story.

The St. Lawrence Catholic Community expresses its promise of prayer for, and its closeness to, our Jewish brothers and sisters, especially during this time of mourning and tragic loss. Please know of our love and regard for the Jewish members of the KU community, and our desire to support and encourage your community however we are able.

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Molly McKeithan
On Reception of the Eucharist

The Holy Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but medicine for sinners. (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 47).   No one but by the mercy of God is worthy of such a gift that is God Himself dwelling within us!  St. Lawrence welcomes everyone to Mass!

For the Eucharist to be the universal sacrament of salvation for all, it must be able to express a vital unity of faith and morals.  Those who do not profess a fullness of the Catholic faith, along with those who cannot make a sincere contribution to Her unity in morals, ordinarily do not physically receive the Blessed Sacrament without prior sacramental reconciliation.


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Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman
On Morality

The St. Lawrence Center, as the Catholic Church at the University of Kansas, is committed to the truth of the following moral principles, and asks for respect for the responsibility to propose these truths in charity as part of its mission.

  1. A unique and unrepeatable human life with a sacred dignity that is to be protected without exception, exists from the moment of conception to natural death. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2258

  2. Sexual expression between human persons fulfills its purpose when shared between a man and woman promised in a marriage that is naturally open to a family. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2337

  3. Human nature is received as an intrinsic and simultaneous unity of body and soul. Catechism of the Catholic Church 365

St. Lawrence accepts that many at KU will disagree with this morality that the Church finds to be life-giving.  All persons who engage with St. Lawrence are to be reverenced and received.  St. Lawrence is eager for a respectful and exploration of the meaning of life with all at KU!

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Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman
Response to the Supreme Court of the US Decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Co. Women's Health

"As the mission of the Catholic Church to the University of Kansas, the St. Lawrence Center (henceforth SLC) embraces the opportunity to respond to the recent Supreme Court decision in the matter of Dobbs vs. Jackson Co. Women's Health, a decision that has the attention of the KU community. SLC recognizes that many at KU are upset by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling. Some Jayhawks perceive the overturning of Roe v. Wade as detrimental to women's rights to privacy, autonomy, and equality. Not only this, but many in the KU community have been personally involved with or affected by abortion. SLC seeks mutual respect, conversation, reconciliation, and relationship with all at KU, including those who disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in this case. At the same time, St. Lawrence invites recognition that there are many others in the KU community who see the court's recent decision as a just and necessary one if there is to be a meaningful chance to build a just society founded on the right to life for every human person without exception.”

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Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman