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Published: October 30, 2009
Notre Dame Protester Ready to Choose Family over Fighting
Father Jenkins: Matter Out of His Hands
Denver, Colo., Oct 27 (CNA)- A Denver mother who is one of the 88 pro-life protestors arrested for trespassing on the University of Notre Dame's campus during President Obama's appearance last May, has decided that if charges are not dropped soon, she will have to plead guilty.
 Laura Rohling, a mother of three young children, told CNA on Monday that the burden on her family and the financial cost of traveling from Denver to South Bend, Ind. are key factors she is considering as the legal proceedings continue.
The saga involving the 88 pro-life protestors began at Notre Dame on May 8, 2009 when the Catholic university decided to confer an honorary degree on the pro-abortion President Barack Obama and allow him to deliver the commencement address.
As Rohling explained to CNA, “the primary reason for going out to South Bend was to tell my story of choosing abortion years before and how it did not 'fix' my problem.”
Rohling said that her abortion “was not the right choice in the long term. The decision haunted me for years, and I wanted to tell the students especially that abortion is not a good option.”
When she went to Notre Dame last Spring, Rohling explained that she had no idea that it would “turn into such a big mess.”
Recalling the day, she said, “the vision that sticks most in my mind is that while we were saying the Rosary, I was holding my 'I Regret My Abortion' sign, there were other groups with pro-Obama shirts on that were allowed to stand aside and watch us get arrested.”
Now, along with 87 other protesters, she is faced with charges in St. Joseph County Court that require each defendant to appear for every hearing. Proxies are not allowed, which makes the uncertain defense process expensive and time consuming, especially for those who do not live near South Bend, Indiana.
On October 20, a motion was filed on behalf of the “Notre Dame 88” requesting that all charges be dropped. However, Rohling noted, the judge appointed to the case is the wife of a retired pro-abortion Notre Dame professor and is markedly pro-abortion herself.
Attorney Thomas Dixon, who is representing the protesters, filed another motion for a change of judge in the case, arguing that St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jenny Pitts Manier is biased. Judge Manier denied any personal or judicial bias in the case.
The “Defendants' Motion to Dismiss” filed by Dixon in South Bend states that “defendants assert that their constitutionally protected rights of freedom of speech and equal protection under the law were violated by these arrests and criminal charges.” Dixon said that the prosecutor has until November 23 to respond.
The hearing for the motion is set for Dec. 3.
 In response to various pleas to the university to drop the charges, Father Jenkins, the school's president, sent out a form letter explaining that the matter is out of his hands. Despite the fact that the arrests were made by the Notre Dame Security Police, St. Joseph County, Indiana is the prosecuting party.
Stating that others have also taken pretrial diversions or plead guilty on account of school schedules and other conflicts, Rohling added, “My job first is to raise my children. I cannot continue to travel to Notre Dame for hearings. They will not allow a proxy, so I have to go for every appearance.”
If Rohling pleads guilty to the charges, she will be fined $250, have to pay another $160 in court costs, perform 20 hours of community service, receive one year of unsupervised probation, and have a 10-day jail sentence suspended. “All this,” she says, “for a Rosary, a protest for Orthodox Catholicism, and my free speech rights.”
Despite the cost, the hassle, and the discouragement, she still says, “I'd do it all over again!”
Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 3:51 AM By abqdad
The fact that the judge will not allow a proxy clearly demonstrates extreme bias! It is insane to require a defendant to travel so far for such a trivial case!
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 4:35 AM By M A D
If there is a "free the N.D. 88 fund", please give the address.
Pro Lifers would be delighted to fund the freedom of these
innocent people who had the courage to stand for Life. They
did what we were not able to do. Where is the justice in all of this? Where is Fr. Jenkins sense of social justice? What hypocrisy on his part and the Notre Dame faculty and Board who back this kangaroo court. What a travesty this has turned out to be. If you stand for Life, you are arrested. If you stand for the killing of the unborn, you are given an Honorary Degree
and lauded by a Catholic University. Perhaps that should read
"a once Catholic University".
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 7:27 AM By John
Bishop D'Arcy must send a letter to the prosecutors and to the court that, on behalf of the University of Notre Dame, he is asking that charges be dropped. It is a win-win and Jenkins would have nothing to say.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 8:48 AM By Fr. J
What about the dissenters who protest against nuclear weapons? They are always whining about how they should not be prosecuted. Now they prosecute pro-life protesters. Jenkins is a Judas.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 9:50 AM By garvan
Jenkins, the giddy, groveling president of the formerly Catholic university of Notre Dame, is yet another "priest" who has forfeited the right to be accorded the title "Father". Paraphrasing St. Paul, Jenkins, "thinking himself wise, he became a fool."
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 10:15 AM By Annie
Fr. Malachi Martin was right! Pope Paul VI was right! The smoke of Satan has entered our church. So many of our spiritual leaders have given themselves over to Satan's work, from the parish level to Rome itself. Notre Dame is no exception. "Blindness has come upon a part of Israel," from the scriptures, applies today to our spiritual leaders. Are they any better than the Pharisees? I wonder if they are like the Saducees-those who did not believe in a resurrection? They have taken leave of their senses. I too would like to contribute to a Free the 88 fund if there is one. What a disgrace, a black day on our nation, and especially on so-called Catholic education. We have gone so far over the edge we are falling rapidly into the abyss. Only Our Lady can pull us out-we are too far gone at this point. May she, whose namesake this college bears, reach Fr. Jenkin's soul and awaken him to the horrible injustice and scandal he has perpetrated. It's a wonder her statue at Notre Dame didn't begin to weep real tears...
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 10:20 AM By Fr. John
Fr. Dan Jenkins should be fired immediately. Notre Dame has lost its way, and Jenkins is largely too blame. The matter is certainly not out of his hands. He is a coward and a turn-coat
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 10:30 AM By Danny O
Fr. Jenkins's claim that he can't get the charges dropped is ridiculous; he's claiming to be the aggrieved party, after all. This is not unlike a situation in the Western film "Chisum:" The main bad guy hired a sheriff to do his bidding, and when a good guy's wife pleaded with the main bad guy to stop the sheriff from besieging her husband, the main bad guy told her, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't interfere with the law." How can one priest (Fr. Jenkins) find it in himself to persecute another priest (Fr. Weslin) -- and Catholic sisters, too?
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 11:39 AM By Jacob
Does anyone doubt that Fr. Jenkins is being disingenuous? If Jenkins were to publicly write to the district attorney and requested in the university's name that all charges be dropped against the protestors, it is highly unlikely that the DA would tell him that the matter is no longer in ND's hands. By not publicly taking such a stand, Jenkins continues to act like a bureaucratic weasel instead of a shepherd of God's people. He will have much to answer for and to an authority much higher than the governing board of the university.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 11:41 AM By Pax Christi
Make that a "once Catholic university that deserves to have a millstone around the neck and be tossed into the sea."
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 11:56 AM By ted
It's a shame she must plead guilty for those reasons. I think the president of the college should ask for all the charges to be dropped. Then, of course, he needs to be replaced.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 12:02 PM By James Finnegan
As this continues, it makes me more ashamed at what has become at Notre Dame. Father Jenkins could, and should, end this persecution of those who simply exercised their God given, and God expected rights, of free speech to protest what Obama stands for. Why in heavens name does President Jenkins want to continue this sorry case. Best for Notre Dame to end it ASAP. "Getting even" the opposite of Gods command to forgive may be the biggest sin of all in this sorry mess. Jim Finnegan class of 1956.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 2:47 PM By Dan
Fr. Jenkins should either move heaven and earth to get the charges dropped,or, failing that, resign as a penance and reparation for the injustice which traspired under his watch.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 3:47 PM By Life Lady
Money talks, "Bovine Scat" walks. All the alumni who graduated from this once great, once Catholic University, who contribute money to them, ought to re-think their contributions. If at all possible, the Vatican needs to step in and disavow the non-Catholic faculty, and the renegade priest running the place, and fire the board of directors who have placed him in that office. If the Catholic Church is no longer in the business of running that school, then they need to take Our Lady's statue off the dome of the chapel, and any other tangential trapping that denotes it to be a Catholic University, and turn their backs on the place, and walk away, and leave it to the world to sort it out. This should all be done publicly so that there is no question that it is not to be deemed a Catholic University, and anyone seeking a true Catholic education need not apply. Actions speak louder than words.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 4:02 PM By Marykay
ALL OF THE ABOVE! ! ! ! ! !
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 4:24 PM By Thomas Edward Miles
One must pay the price for their actions, think much before you act! A year in jail will drive that point home. ENJOY! Thank you for standing up for the truth!
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 4:47 PM By Jeff
Bishop D'Arcy needs to immediately and remove the faculties of Fr. Jenkins to celebrate the sacraments in his diocese. Fr. Jenkins is the root of the problem and the problem needs to be addressed in as strong a way possible. Bishop D'Arcy is the only one who can do that.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 5:35 PM By Dave N.
"When she went to Notre Dame last Spring, Rohling explained that she had no idea that it would 'turn into such a big mess.'"
Hmmmm...Did she expect Fr. Jenkin's and Bp. D'Arcy's support? I'm sure she was warned before arrested--a little naive on her part, I'd say, but sad nonetheless. Nothing will be done on her behalf. Jenkins has the overwhelming support of both the board and the students, having been re-elected just this past week for another 5-year term--while Bp. D'Arcy stood by and said/did nothing; Bp. D'Arcy has sadly shown himself to be a paper tiger in this matter with almost no moral credibility.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 5:41 PM By JLS
There are over 80 more defendants in this case. The kickbacks from the fines alone should feather the nests of both Jenkins and the judge, whose pro-abortion husband is on the NDU faculty. But suppose they all refuse to settle, and all go to jail. What does the imbecile judge do then?
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 6:13 PM By Jim D.
"...Father Jenkins, the school's president, sent out a form letter explaining that the matter is out of his hands." Reminds me of something Pontius Pilate might have said.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 7:41 PM By markrite
I cannot read this particular article without feeling scathing anger; thank God for the recent piece by Leon Podles about the appropriate feelings of, hopefully, a righteous anger when such outrageous incidents as those involving Fr. Jenkin's gutless handling of the Notre Dame scandal transpire. And Fr. Jenkins seems to be an unstoppable fount of bubbling optimism re the incipient "blowing over" of these maxi-scandals, even going so far as to announce his intention to join the March for Life In Wasington. D.C.. next January. He seems to operate on the delusional notion that HE, Fr. Jenkins, was TOTALLY in the right for bringing the ENEMY OF UNBORN HUMAN LIFE, Obama, onto the campus dedicated to Our Lady, and giving this moral hack an honorary degree. GOD HELP US!! Does he REALLY BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO? Well, as the saying goes, if Jenkins really believes this, he's in for ONE RUDE AWAKENING, when he has to stand before JESUS, the ALL-POWERFUL JUDGE, and try to convince HIM of it.
Annie, that was one prescient comment you made re the SMOKE OF SATAN entering the church; I couldn't have said it better myself. And the whole Fr. Jenkins-Obama happening last May was, to me, proof positive that it's happening here, now. GOD BLESS ALL (even Jenkis)---MARKRITE
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 10:04 PM By cjo
Fr Jenkins is a disgrace and as Fr J stated a Judas. Bishop D'Arcy should use whatever avenues he has to request freedom for the protestors and remove faculties from Jenkins.
Sickening !!!!
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 11:05 PM By Abeca Christian
So much injustice in this country!! We are no longer land of the free!
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 11:32 PM By Richard Mc Candlish
Fr Jenkins is not going to ask that the charges be dropped, simply because (it seems crystal-clear to me, anyway) he has taken the Enemy's coin and is doing his bidding. Consider, please: He not only allows a public forum for the most anti-life president, he allows this at commencement at the benchmark Catholic university in the land, and throws in an honorary LLD to top it off. Then he makes obscene noises about the need for 'dialogue on abortion', when all Obama can give is a thinly-veiled defense of death while, apparently, appealing for 'respect for opposing views'. Add to this the rough arrest of peaceful demonstrators, including religious and an 80+ year-old fellow priest. Then he says that he is powerless to stop the legal railroading of the victims (who appointed Judge Jenny Pitts Manier to this case?) including not allowing for proxies for out-of-town defendants. I am afraid that the verdicts are a foregone conclusion, and that Jenkins was the catalyst. Conscious or no, he is doing the Enemy's work.
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Posted Friday, October 30, 2009 11:35 PM By Angelo
I sure hope this news reaches the Holy Father quick. This sounds like a great opportunity for the Pope to speed up the process of purifying the Church in the US. And another reason for the Church to demand the United Nations to make it a hate crime to persecute Catholics. And then make it possible to prosecute Fr. Jenkins and the dishonarable judge penny pitts, and send them to prison..
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Posted Saturday, October 31, 2009 4:12 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
The formerly Catholic University of Notre Shame, formerly the Catholic University of Notre Dame!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
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Posted Saturday, October 31, 2009 5:26 PM By JLS
Golden moment for the 80 or so defendants to plead innocent and demand a jury trial ... individual jury trials. I simply do not see why this is not being done. In each trial Jenkins would be summoned to testify. The defense in each case should call a lot of witnesses. And if found guilty, then all should rejoice in going to jail. No question that a fund raising campaign would resolve their financial problems if fined. Now, in the event they were all found not guilty, then the court and the prosecutor pay the bill, and Jenkins and NDU get sued class action. Why would this strategy not have a great effect? The length of time it would take would kind of insure that the news would somehow impress the public. The judge would then kiss her dearest proposition for future politics goodbye, and her cad of a husband would have to face students who would rub his face in his family disgrace for the rest of his tenure. Sure the defendants are "lambs", but our Lord is the Ram ... or haven't the defense lawyers ever heard of this before? Hopefully they are not from the Notre Dame area, and under the bizarre spell of whatever demon holds sway there. If ever there is a case that could rip a new one in the slime bucket board of directors of NDU, this is it.
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Posted Saturday, October 31, 2009 7:01 PM By Jeannee
Wait, stop, I can't read past the first couple of paragraphs - if she was one of 88 protesters, isn't there anyone else who can help her out financially, or with transportation?! Are you telling me that if I stand out on the line like this, I stand alone when the crunch time comes?!
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Posted Saturday, October 31, 2009 9:18 PM By Bud
Why has nothing, to my knowledge, come from the Jesuit headquarters concerning their illustrious Mr. Jenkins who I would refuse to address as Father. Or, has just another long winded apologia tome been created to justify him. Before the fall, comes pride!!! Mr. Jenkins has disgraced the very order that he claims to belong. The analogy to Pontius Pilate "washing" his guily hands so arrogantly sickens any good Catholic with disgust. Students can be swayed to most any contrary position!
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Posted Sunday, November 01, 2009 1:13 AM By Gabriel
LETTER POSTED BY MY TO "FR." JENKINS ON ND WEBSITE:
Fr. Jenkins, you say on this website, "We will listen to all views, and always bear witness for what we believe. Insofar as we play this role, we can be what Pope John Paul II said a Catholic university is meant to be – ‘a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture.’”
Not only are you a hypocrite, but a bastard to boot!
You will listen to all views, MY ASS! You sure didn't want to listen to the views of those people opposing Obama's appearance on a supposedly Catholic campus! And what about the Catholicity you espouse? At least the shallow version you seem to enjoy spewing? If you were such a "good Catholic" you would at the least have pity on some of those protesters such as the lady Laura Rohling. But no, you're a hypocrite like so many other priests in the Church. You'd rather kiss the devils ass than the Lord's feet and you sir are as revolting as the crap on my toilet paper after I relieve myself!
They tell us to be polite and diplomatic when making our case to you, but who can be polite and diplomatic with a jackass dressed up like a priest?? You should not only step down from the presidency of that now marginally Catholic institution but you should also defrock yourself officially for you have already done so spiritually!
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Posted Sunday, November 01, 2009 12:49 PM By Alan
Poor Father Jenkins. He has lost his faith. We must pray for him.
This is really sad,. When Jesus asked whether he would find anyone of faith when he returned, did any of us think he was speaking about those consecrated to his service?
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Posted Sunday, November 01, 2009 5:16 PM By Amos Jones
We all need to do the following:
1. don't watch Notre Dame football and root for the opposing teams. good Catholics have to get over the rah-rah-sis-boom-bah stuff and finally realize Knute Rockne isn't there anymore.
2. demonstrate with grisly abortion photos outside of Notre Dame football and other athletic contests, especially away games
3. don't send money to the school
4. advise potential students and their parents not to attend. I'm going to hand out materials in this area if they are at any college night. this school is no longer a Catholic institution. it is a fraud.
5. they send their glee club to our area for a concert. we are going to picket the performance with anti-abortion signs, etc.
6. if they have any guts, students on campus need to transfer out to good Catholic schools, such as Ave Maria, Christendom, and Steubenville, need to take them in with no penalties.
(Rome knows what is going on. We all need to send some money to the Holy Father to pay to fly him here to remove Jenkins, D'Arcy, Archbishop Wuerl, Phony Mahony, and others who cooperate with satan.
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Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 5:23 AM By Angelo
Gabriel and Amos Jones, you both put the truth in its proper form. If all faithful Catholics would speak like this, we would be able to reform the Church in the US, without the interference of lukewarm Bishops.
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Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 6:53 AM By JLS
Why do we constantly here the whine to pray for the evil doers? Pray for the victims. Let Hell do its work on the evil doers ... that is what excommunication is all about, so they feel the fire and consider turning from their sin.
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Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 7:43 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
Bud, "Fr." Jenkins is not a Jesuit. They have enough internal parasites without adding Jenkins to the List.
Amos, Jenkins intends to go the the "March for Life". He should be greeted by irate pro-lifers and shamed in the presence of his own students, if that it is possible for him to be shamed.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
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Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 8:30 PM By Richard Mc Candlish
JLS, my friend, please do not forget that every soul that has ever lived was created by our Father God. Those who are now in Hell are there because the Enemy stole those which were not his in the first place. Yes, we should pray for the victims of the 'Culture of Death', in all of its myriad forms, but we must remember to pray for those who are our enemies, just as the Saviour taught us. I, personally, pray every day for the conversion of all those who have given themselves over to the Culture of Death and the Enemy, that they may find their way back to the God Who made them. That goes, as well, for Jenkins, the judge and all who have taken the Enemys coin. And never forget, that ANYTHING that is contrary to God's law, in a larger sense, constitutes the Culture of Death, since it leads to eternal damnation. As, indeed, anything that is in line with the Will of God constitutes the Culture of Life. We must always try to be charitable to those who hate us, as Christ reminded us that we are all brothers, and that 'anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and there shall be no murderers in the Kingdom of Heaven'. Pray that they may be converted, delivered from the grasp of the Evil One and repent. Every soul has value, as they were made by God.
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Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 9:16 PM By JLS
Richard, yes, we should pray for the enemies of God. Excommunication of such as Jenkins serves the purpose of conveying to such souls the need to turn to God. These things are never simply one soul, but involve many since we all exist in some kind of network of souls. Hang one gang of bank robbers and watch the stats drop quickly for a while. Give one person a prize and watch the competition increase for a while. Ora et Labora: while praying for the evil souls, hammer them as well. It's a horse and carriage proposition: coax them into the carriage and then drive the horses in the right direction.
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Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 9:19 PM By JLS
Kenneth, if Jenkins is planning to go to the March for Life, then no doubt it is for the purpose of dominating it in the same way that Obama dominated NDU. Jenkins is a treacherous tool, and serves to dupe many souls. Would be a relief to see numerous strong prolife bishops on the stands and someone shove Jenkins back into the crowd.
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Posted Tuesday, November 03, 2009 10:03 PM By Kenneth M. Fisher
JLS, Many of the Bishops who attend that March only say they are pro-life, many refuse to forbid the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord to pro-abort politicians. Even Mahony has attended and even was the main celebrant at the National Shrine for that event. I know, because I was in Washington for that event, and I refused to go that Mass because I knew what Mahony really was.
Jenkins must be confronted by the real pro-lifers, and he must be confronted at the Annual March for Life where he hopes to pull the wool over the eyes of many.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
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