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Your recent statement of April 30, 2010 reveals that you remain blind to the
injustice of prosecuting fellow Catholics and other Christians who stood up for
the dignity of human life. The whole problem regarding the plight of the ND 88
is that you invited Barak Obama to deliver the commencement address at a
Catholic university—a president who supports, defends and advocates the unjust
law of Roe v. Wade. This is a law that has sent literally millions of innocent
human beings to their deaths—a law that contradicts everything that the Catholic
Church stands for. Months before the May 17, 2009 commencment, dozens of
pro-life groups (including Citizens for a Pro-life Society) and your own bishop,
as well as thousands of Catholics, Christians and people of good will, pleaded
with you, begged you and admonished you to dis-invite this advocate of the
legalized killing of the innocent—yet you would not listen.
The ND 88 are only “guilty” of promoting and speaking the truth in a situation
of extreme scandal to the Church and to society, a situation that demanded that
such truth be spoken. You refuse to request that the charges be dropped.
However, in 2007, other protestors, in a similar situation, never faced
prosecution for their on-campus demonstrations. Yet you are willing to persecute
fellow Catholics, fellow believers and pro-lifers—with whom you should have
communion and fellowship. You simply cannot claim that Notre Dame supports the
right to life while, at the same time, allowing the prosecution of fellow
pro-lifers who advocated the right to life issue on your campus. The irony is
sadly obvious.
The Pre-Trial Diversion program really means that the ND 88 be penalized for
doing what is right. If they accept this offer they are required to pay fees of
$328.00 and commit to 20 hours of community service. In essence, it is a kind of
admission of guilt. Where is the justice in that?
You try to justify the prosecution of the ND 88 by pointing out that there were
“approved” on-campus events in oppostion to Obama’s appearance. However, no one
was permitted on campus who carried anti-Obama signage or posters of the victims
of abortion. This means that some speech was tolerated while other speech was
not. In addition—many arrests took place days before these approved events were
conducted. In other words, on-campus oppostion to Obama’s delivery of the
commencement address was already completely restricted—not only on the day of
the commencement itself.
Members of Citizens for a Pro-life Society came to Notre Dame and held signs of
the victims of aboriton. Many of them were photos of aborted babies taken from
trash dumpsters behind Michigan abortion clinics. Our goal was to show the truth
to the graduates as they lined up to enter Joyce Stadium. The ND graduates were
about to listen to—and even honor a man— who supports a law that sent these
babies to their deaths and allowed their bodies to be thrown into the trash. The
graduates needed to see and be confronted by the hideous injustice of legalized
abortion supported by Barak Obama. Indeed, since you wanted Obama at the
commencement, you should have wanted the graduates to see the injustice that he
supports. Our actions were for the sake of promoting the truth, and we are
quilty of doing nothing wrong.
Once again the ND 88 ask that you request the St. Joseph County prosecutor to
drop all pending charges. For the sake of truth, for the sake of life—please do
it.
Sincerely, Monica Migliorino Miller, Ph.D.
Director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society
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