"Dare
to Be Catholic!"
by John Ritchie
Catholic University hosts sacrilegious display
against the Blessed Mother, offending students, faculty
and Catholics nationwide
Something extremely alarming and
shameful occurred at the University of Dayton, where Our
Blessed Mother was depicted in an exhibit amid pictures
of prostitutes and pornography.1
The sacrilegious display, "Heartlands," by Derek
A. Cracco, an assistant professor of art at the University
of Alabama, was on public display in the Rike Center Gallery
of the University of Dayton from February 22 to March 11
(Click
here to protest).
Ranking among the ten largest Catholic
universities in the country, the University of Dayton, founded
by the Society of Mary in 1850, houses the largest Marian
library in the world, along with a vast collections of Marian
statues, pictures and rosaries. The Mariological Society
of America is headquartered at the University of Dayton's
Marian Library.
Hiding behind "dialogue"
University authorities apparently
reviewed the "art" exhibit prior to its showing.
After discussion they deemed it would foster "artistic
expression" and "encourage constructive dialogue,"
according to an email statement released by university president
Dr. Daniel J. Curran.
Students, faculty, and Catholics
nationwide were scandalized, outraged and justly upset by
the sacrilegious display. With sin no dialogue is permissible,
with vice no compromise admissible.
If we recall Our Lord's sacred words,
scandal is no light matter. "Whoever causes one of
these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be
better for him to have a great millstone hung around his
neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea" (Matt
18:6). "Woe to the world because of things that cause
sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom
they come!" (Matt 18:7). This divine counsel indicates
how sin kills the life of the soul and deprives us of Heaven.
No cancellation; no apology
TFP Student action immediately alerted
its affiliate members at the University of Dayton and at
375 additional campuses. The alert asked Catholics to contact
university officials - some are priests - by phone and email,
politely urging them to cancel the exhibit and issue an
apology. The protest message that people were asked to sign
stated, "The person of Holy Mary is most pure and untouchable.
To mock her is disrespectful to all Catholics, and certainly
unacceptable at any Catholic university."
Despite receiving an outpouring of
aggrieved complaints, hundreds of phone calls, letters and
emails, the exhibit was not cancelled, nor to my knowledge
was any apology or expression of regret forthcoming from
the university's directors.
In fact, the rector, Rev. Eugene
Contadino, S.M., replied rather curtly to some protesters:
"I weep for your prejudice; I pray for your conversion
during this Lenten season," said one email. He answered
another, stating: "You condemn what you have not seen
[pictures of Mary amid prostitutes]. I pray that you may
be converted in this season of Lent."
…on the phone all day
Hundreds of students, including many
non-Catholics, wrote or called Dr. Curran's office to register
their disgust over the exhibit. When I called, the receptionist
at his office routed my phone call to the public relations
office. I was told be one caller that a somewhat overworked-sounding
lady answering his call said: "I'm taking all these
calls and I've been on the phone pretty much all day."
Another university official acknowledged
receiving a high volume of protest: "…I will ask
the people who flooded our mailboxes this morning to send
me their mailing address if they would like a personal response."
Fervent souls defend the Virgin
Mary
It is beautiful that while this blasphemy
against Our Lady attempted to spoil her spotless purity,
fervent and faithful souls rose up to console her with prayers,
penance, reparation and peaceful protest.
Many, many protesters copied TFP
Student Action with their comments addressed to the University
of Dayton. This is a sample out of more than one thousand
protest emails:
"The remainder of my Lenten
penance will be applied in reparation to this terrible blasphemy
toward our Blessed Mother."
Fr. L. A.
"Would you, Dr. Curran, place
a photo of your biological mother amidst pictures of smut
and call it art? How dare you allow a picture of Our Blessed
Lady, spiritual Mother of us all, to be strewn amongst filth.
"Give not that which is holy to dogs" (Matt 7:6).
D. W.2
Christendom College, student
"My family over four hundred
years suffered for the Catholic Faith in England. Among
other things, exclusion from public office, punitive taxation
of their property, and if not exile then imprisonment were
their lot. They did not do this so that you can glory in
freedom of expression. They did it so that more could go
to bed at night, pure in heart, mind and soul that if the
Lord should ask for their soul before daybreak, they should
not be found wanting. Could you really go to St. Peter's
Gate and offer in justification your organization of this
exhibition."
Chris Gillibrand
Oxford University, student
"Mary is one of the greatest
gifts Jesus Christ has given to us. We should treat her
with the utmost honor, love, devotion, and respect, because
she is the Mother of the God-Man, our spiritual Mother,
our royal Queen, Queen of the Holy Angels of Heaven, and
the scourge of Satan. Stop insulting her and start honoring
her Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart, which at Fatima she
revealed was surrounded by thorns placed there by ungrateful
men through their blasphemies, much like the one that your
University is promoting now.
C. B.
Louisiana State University
"I thought this institution
stood for more than 'academic freedom'. My prayers rest
with the administration; I can only pray and hope that the
secularization going on here can stop. Take a firm stand
- dare to be Catholic."
Chris Lapp
University of Dayton, student
"I viewed the display. It is
very upsetting that the university I graduated from would
allow this! Please have this removed or remove my name from
your annual fund drive list!!!!!"
C. M.
University of Dayton, alumna
"Freedom is not absolute. There
are obligations and consequences that follow from everything
we do. We are obligated to honor and respect the holy Mother
of God, and not blaspheme our Lord for any reason, no matter
how sophisticated the reason may seem. Rights and freedoms
are hierarchical. Academic freedom is subordinate to natural
law and the law of God, which commands us to "honor
our Father and Mother." Is this how you honor your
Mother, Mary, by associating her with gross evils?"
J. K.
University of Wisconsin
"If we cannot trust our Catholic
universities to teach and deepen the Catholic faith to our
youth, who can we trust? The Lord our God has graciously
given us Mother Mary and you dare to offend Him with an
exercise of 'academic freedom?' Mr. Curran, who are you
serving? Jesus Christ and Holy Mother Church, or Satan under
the guise of what you call "academic freedom?"
This world needs strong Catholic universities, so I beseech
you to bring your university back to the Lord. May He bless
you and your university abundantly and give you the grace
for a conversion of heart."
K. B.
Franciscan University of Steubenville, student
"Some day soon you will stand
in front of the Judge who loves His Mother. How will you
defend yourself then? "
E. M.
"As a Catholic mother, I am
watching schools very closely to see which would be appropriate
for my children to attend. Yours has just made the black
list along with Georgetown. I will not send my children
to a Catholic college or university that does not uphold
our Catholic values."
J. L.
Fidelity in adversity
Like the unshakable monolith She
is, the Holy Catholic Church is the only power capable of
decisively repelling the forces of darkness that threaten
society at every turn. Our Lord promised the gates of hell
shall not prevail. That is certain.
God will always provide sufficient
grace for us to remain faithful. We must not tire. Above
all, we must not become apathetic. We must continue defending
Jesus and Mary, and remain faithful till the very end. Catholic
students must heroically stand up for their Faith. They
must dare to be Catholic, even while attending Catholic
universities that permit sacrilege. May God help us!
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