Actually, there were Anti-Lifers there mocking the pro-lifers with Obama banners, etc, while they were marching there.
It’s incredible that these people, including a priest, who were protesting peacefully, were arrested for protesting something that catholics all over the world are bound to be against, abortion…at a catholic university.
Then, they go and say that gay rights and pro-obama people are okay on campus. It’s like the rules have been flipped and the devil took over.
I understand that this is a very emotional issue, but what you have said doesn’t accurately reflect what has taken place.
First of all, there were few pro-abortion protesters in South Bend over commencement weekend. Those who did protest on the day of commencement stayed off campus (south of campus on Angela Blvd, in front of the IUSB building). Trespassing laws do not apply on public streets.
When Fr. Weslin and others were arrested with him, it was in the week prior to commencement, there were no counter-protesters, and they were clearly on campus (near the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center). Also, the Randall Terry protests (of which Fr. Weslin and Alan Keyes were a part) were NOT student led–therefore they do not meet the criteria in duLac for a permissible demonstration on campus.
In fact, Notre Dame DID allow a massive student-led pro-life demonstration to go on pretty much the entire weekend of commencement, including during the ceremony itself when President Obama was on campus. Thousands of people, students, faculty, and ‘outsiders’ alike, participated in the ND Response activities with NO arrests. As I’ve said before, it’s unfortunate that the ND 88 did not choose to participate in those protests–which involved the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a rally for life with several pro-life speakers (including Bishop D’Arcy and Fr. Pavone), Eucharistic Adoration, and praying the Rosary with graduates in the Grotto.
It’s not a matter of ND discriminating based on protesters’ viewpoints, allowing pro-abortionists and gay rights activists run of the campus while pro-lifers are stifled. It’s a matter of enforcing long-standing rules about permissible demonstrations and trespassing regulations.