Guest Opinion: Why I Went to Protest at Notre Dame

I couldn't believe what was happening. Catholics were being arrested for praying the Rosary and holding Silent No More signs on a Catholic campus.

DENVER (Catholic Online) - I grew up in the Boston area; an Irish Catholic. Everyone in my extended family was a Notre Dame fan. You could see the fighting leprechaun everywhere you went on the east coast of Massachusetts. It was as normal to know of the University of Notre Dame as you would know of our Pope. It was something all Catholics identified with, and were proud of. "Notre Dame, Our Mother". I cut my teeth on Notre Dame football - or at least as much as a little girl sitting next to her Dad during the Saturday games could. Notre Dame was as much my childhood as was riding a bike.

After Confirmation I strayed from my Catholic roots. I made mistakes, some small, and some that changed my life forever. When I hit bottom I looked to my roots, the foundation my Dad had worked hard at building for me. I began going to Mass again, and sought forgiveness for an abortion that had almost completely ruined me. My Catholic roots saved me. I healed, repented, sought God's forgiveness and grew spiritually. Today my Catholic faith is the keystone to everything I am.

I would meet my husband, Hank, at the Cathedral in Denver, and we would marry a year and a half later. My sister and brother-in-law both are Notre Dame Alumni. I remember going to a game at the University, the traditional game against USC. Before the game we visited our brother's former dorm, and there on the first floor was a Chapel. Every dorm building had a Chapel for Mass. Priests were everywhere on the grounds, and wherever you looked there was something that was identifiably Catholic - the Grotto, the mural of Jesus on the library, the Cathedral, the student groups and Orders raising funds on the quad before the game. There was a feeling of family, of belonging being with so many other Catholics. I turned to my husband and said "I want our children to go here".

When I learned that our President had been invited to speak at Notre Dame's Commencement, and was also to receive an Honorary Degree of Law from the University, I was stunned and frustrated. In 2004 the USCCB stated that Catholic institutions should not honor those politicians who are pro-abortion and who use their office to promote abortion. What had happened to the University's Catholic identity? Why had it strayed from the basic teachings of our Church? What about the students there now? What would it say to them to have this occur? That abortion is ok? That it is not as important as other justice issues? Would it leave an impression to the students, and the rest of Catholic America, that the Church isn't really serious about the issue of Life?

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Catholics were showing up at Notre Dame to pray and demonstrate. My dear friend Jane and I joked about going out to the University, to hold our Silent No More signs and tell anyone who would listen about the reality of "choice". The joking soon ended and we felt a strong urge to be there, to reach out to the students and tell them what abortion does to the body and to the soul.

I called Hank at his office. Much to my annoyance - and as usual, he was very much grounded in reality and said he would have to think about it. Why he couldn't immediately agree to my idea and let me fly out to South Bend on a days notice, not to mention rearranging schedules for the kids, was beyond me. Soon he would call back and say that he felt that God had given him peace about it, and that I should go. I am blessed with a wonderful husband who understands and supports my passion for Life. Both of us thought that it was something we were being asked to do. Frankly, we didn't believe anything negative would come of it. After all, this was Notre Dame, "our" Catholic University. They had simply made a mistake, and having made mistakes myself, I had hoped they could change their path before it changed them forever. What could possibly happen to Catholics praying and speaking about basic Catholic teaching at Notre Dame? Certainly they must be open to ideas foundational to our beloved Catholic Church.

We found ourselves on a flight the next afternoon. We drove from Chicago to South Bend, arriving after dark. The golden dome of the University glowed in the night - it was magnificent, and we were ever aware that our Blessed Mother was very near this place. The next morning we united with many fellow Catholics and assembled at the gates to the University. We held our "I Regret My Abortion" signs high in the air as we prayed the Rosary. Women came up to us, some in tears, and said they were like us and had not yet healed. We directed them to Rachel's Vineyard and Project Rachel, two healing programs we had participated in. We offered hugs and understanding. We were struck by the fact that although these women were still hurting from their "choice" they showed up and stood in solidarity with others against abortion and for the teachings of our Catholic Church. We were humbled that they would come, that they knew the hard truth and it was enough for them to be there, as raw as that must have been.

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Soon we processed inside the gates of the University, saying the Rosary, Jane and I talking to those watching about the real damage of abortion. We were encouraged by the young faces that had seemed to at least be open to our voices. We were saddened by those who didn't seem to care about such an important issue at a Catholic school. Then it happened. We were met by Notre Dame security officers. Still, in my mind I could not believe anything would happen, we were Catholics after all. The officers told us that we were on private property and that if we did not leave we would be trespassing and would then be arrested. We stood and continued our Rosary - the sorrowful mysteries. Immediately they took the first two in the procession and handcuffed them. They told the rest of us to leave or we would be arrested. We continued to pray. I couldn't believe what was happening. Catholics were being arrested for praying the Rosary and holding Silent No More signs on a Catholic campus. It was surreal. Had my adrenaline not been pumping I would have burst into tears at the sight of it. It was then that Jane and I decided we could not leave the campus. We could not possibly leave knowing this was happening. It was necessary to stay and witness to the absurdity of it all.

We were handcuffed, our signs taken, and we were read our rights. We were placed on a bus with the others, and we were taken to the St. Joseph County jail in South Bend, Indiana. At the jail we were processed, they took our photos, registered pertinent information, took inventory and then possession of all of our belongings, and our shoes. We were then placed into a holding cell and we waited. I was able to call Hank and tell him what had happened. It was at that moment that we both realized that what we thought was impossible had actually happened. Catholics were arrested at Notre Dame University. At that moment all of our memories, impressions, hopes and dreams for Notre Dame were destroyed. What had happened to our beloved Notre Dame. I could hear the hurt and disbelief in Hank's voice, I'll never forget it. We waited for hours until a Sergeant would tell us that the assumed charges we were facing were "most likely misdemeanor trespassing". He also told us how to bail out. Jane and I did just that. We were told that we would have to come back for the hearing on May 28th - no exceptions or proxy.

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We drove back to Chicago in silence and shock. We got a hotel for the night and took a standby flight home early the next morning, grieving the serious illness of a Catholic University. It seemed to me that Notre Dame had pandered for celebrity and stature, when they already possessed stature far beyond what they had sold out for. What of Notre Dame's stature now and in the future? Certainly its academics will be rock solid, but what of the University's Theology and Spirituality? What of its Catholicism?

What happened at Notre Dame with the protests and arrests has been quickly dismissed as political antics. What I witnessed at the University was far from that. These were Orthodox Catholics, voicing their beliefs, the beliefs of our Catholic Church, and fighting for the Catholic life of a beloved Catholic University. Notre Dame, a school that so many hold dear in their hearts and as part of their Catholic identities. The protests were not at all about politics, they were about our faith and the lives of nearly one million human beings each year since 1973.

Separation of Church and State is thrown around when the Church or one of its community say anything about politics near our institutions, but what about when it happens the other way? Where is the outrage over State impeding on Church or its institutions? We are certain all will be well concerning our case, but what of Notre Dame and the millions of Catholics who witnessed what happened on May 17th.

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Laura Rohling is a Catholic wife, mother and marketing consultant. She has devoted much of her time to prolife causes, and has authored published pieces on the harm of abortion to women and society. She has traveled across the country to give her testimony to adults and teens, and her story is featured in Motherhood Interrupted, Stories of Healing and Hope. Laura resides in Colorado with her husband Hank and three living children.

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