, May 8, 2007 / 11:28 am (CNA).- A Catholic all-girls high school withdrew its invitation to Sen. Claire McCaskill to speak at this year’s graduation ceremony because her positions on abortion and stem cell research are not in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Students at St. Joseph’s Academy in the St. Louis suburb of Frontenac, but the invitation was withdrawn last week. McCaskill’s daughter attends St. Joseph’s Academy.

School president Sr. Michaela Zahner said she reluctantly made the decision after receiving a call from diocesan officials, reported The Associated Press.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese, Anne Steffens, said the decision was not made by the Archbishop Raymond Burke.

But Sr. Zahner told the AP that the archdiocese’s policy, forbidding a public forum for speakers who diverge from Church teaching, clearly reflects Burke’s position.

McCaskill said she was disappointed by the decision, but that it did “not diminish my respect and admiration for St. Joseph’s Academy, their faculty, and students."

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