The editor of The Wanderer has publicly retracted "false statements" that were published in the weekly newspaper about the town of Ave Maria and Ave Maria University.
In a statement titled "Retraction and Correction," published in the April 29 edition of The Wanderer, Editor Alphonse J. Matt Jr. apologized for six different errors in fact that appeared in stories published in August, 2009, and January, 2010. Both stories were written by Ave Maria town resident Marielena Montesino de Stuart.
Mr. Matt said his retraction was "in accord with The Wanderer’s policy to offer a prompt apology and retraction for any factual inaccuracies published in The Wanderer." He said that the errors were detailed in a letter from lawyers representing Ave Maria University.
Three of the statements were in a January, 2010, article that claimed abortions could be permissible in the town of Ave Maria despite statements to the contrary by the town's developers. Mr. Matt acknowledge that covenants in the town of Ave Maria do prohibit abortion and that "we retract and apologize for" statements that suggested otherwise.
The other false statements, Mr. Matt said, were in an August, 2009, article by Mrs. Montesino de Stuart in which she said the "university aggressively recruits non-Catholics and/or seculat students" which the university's lawyers called "100% false."
Ave Maria University officials had no immediate comment on The Wanderer's retraction.
The full text of The Wanderer retraction is available on the web only to subscribers of the publication.
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