On February 7, the most notoriously anti-Catholic play ever written, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, was performed by students from Douglas High School in Box Elder, South Dakota, at the Johnson Fine Arts Center of Northern State University. The play was selected for entry into a state-wide contest and was nominated for an award by school officials from Douglas.
In a statement to the press, the league said “It is astonishing that a play which has been labeled as anti-Catholic by such organizations as the Anti-Defamation League, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the American Jewish Committee—to say nothing of the scores of Catholic groups that have protested it—is now being considered for an award by the government of South Dakota.”
According to a report we received in our office, when the league blanketed the media in South Dakota with its news release, “it was like as if a B-52 had just hit.” The league’s action made front-page news in many papers and was given extensive coverage on radio and TV.
The league contacted the governor and senator of South Dakota stating its concerns over this state abuse of church-state relations. From what we have learned, we think our message has gotten through to the offending parties, public officials and the residents of South Dakota.
