What Would Happen If This Was a Play About A Muslim Leader?

DULUTH, Minnesota, September 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - “It is easy for a rich church to rage against abortion when millions are born into poverty, and become victims of the drug trade, from which people under the Vatican’s protection can fill their pockets,” says the University of Minnesota’s (U of M) department of theatre in a summary for a play it plans to produce next year and describes as “a wild send-up of Catholicism”.

“The Pope and the Witch”, which will debut at U of M, March 1, 2007 has provoked outrage from the Catholic League for its sacrilegious and bigoted display, which Newsday describes as starring “a heroin-addicted, paranoid Pope called John Paul II, along with scheming priests, bumbling nuns and monks.” The play also describes “thousands of hungry children, the fruits of the Pope’s birth control doctrine” crying for food – an irony, since the rejection by many European Catholic countries of the Church’s teaching on contraception has produced a severe dearth of children and a looming de-population catastrophe.

In a press release, Catholic League president Bill Donahue said he had written to U of M president Robert Bruininks to cancel the play, which Donahue described as “pure hate speech” mentioning that playwright Dario Fo is “a well-known Stalinist and anti-Catholic bigot.”

Although Bruininks is aware that Catholics find the play a bigoted disparagement of their religion, he responded to the Catholic League that he has no intention of canceling the Catholic hate play.

“In response to my letter, president Bruininks offered that the University of Minnesota hosts hundreds of events every year, bringing together all kinds of scholars, artists, politicians and others who ‘represent a broad and diverse range of opinions and viewpoints,’ said Donahue.

Donahue then quoted an excerpt of Bruno’s letter that indicates the U of M president has advocated a double standard of tolerance when it comes to discrimination against Catholics.

“The University of Minnesota is committed to establishing and nurturing an environment that actively acknowledges and values a very broad diversity of points of view that are free from racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice, intolerance and harassment,” wrote Bruininks (emphasis added).

“Obviously, president Bruininks either doesn’t mean what he says or he thinks that anti-Catholicism is one form of prejudice that the University of Minnesota is prepared to tolerate. Even fund,” said Donahue. “And who’s paying for this? Catholics in Minnesota, among others. It’s up to them to rebel.”

See promotion page for play
http://events.tc.umn.edu/event.xml?occurrence=395955

To respectfully contact U of M President Robert Bruininks:
e-mail: bruin001@umn.edu
phone: 612-626-1616
fax: 612-625-3875

See Board of Trustees of University of Minnesota Foundation
http://www.giving.umn.edu/foundation/leadership/board_truste...

To respectfully contact the chair of the Board of Trustees:
Fred R. Friswold, CEO
Tonka Equipment Company
13305 Watertower Circle
Plymouth, Minnesota 55441

Tel: (763) 559-2837
Fax: (763) 559-1979
Email: ffriswold@tonkawater.com

On another note, this is my 400th post!