U of M play, “The Pope and the Witch” an expression
of prejudice and intolerance
by Sr.
Mary Charles Mayer, RSM
A
play called "The Pope and the Witch" is scheduled to be performed at
the
President
Bruininks defended the university’s position to produce such a play by saying
that "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." Putting on such a production as
"The Pope and the Witch" is an action which counters the very thing
Bruininks says the university stands for. Archbishop Harry Flynn pointed out in
his article "Prejudice at the core of play to be performed at U of
M", published on September 21 in The Catholic Spirit, that "The Pope
and the Witch" is a clear form of intolerance and prejudice and goes
against what a university should be about.
The
playwright, Dario Fo, is considered by Donohue to be a
well-known Stalinist and anti-Catholic bigot and he believes his play is a pure
hate speech. Various newspapers have said that the play portrays the Holy
Father in a "sacrilegious manner" with reference to a
"heroin-addicted, paranoid pope called John Paul II, along with scheming
priests, bumbling nuns and monks."
What
is most disturbing is that on the University’s own Web site under the
department of theatre, arts and dance, there is a summary of the play’s message
which says: "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." The
author of such a statement is obviously ignorant of the goods, services and
even lives of the Church’s consecrated and lay members that have been poured
out for the poor and to help others around the world.
Unless
Catholics do something about this, we will be paying for this production
because our tax dollars fund the
Sr. Mary Charles Mayer, RSM is Director
of Communications and co-editor of The Prairie Catholic for the Diocese of New