ALLENDALE, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — 100 Catholics in West Michigan prayed the Rosary on the campus of Grand Valley State University this past weekend to make reparation for sacrilegious, pro-LGBT images depicting Our Lady that the school has refused to permanently take down.
— Stephen Kokx (@StephenKokx) February 8, 2025
The protest was organized by Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) and began at 1 pm EST at the Cook Carillon Tower on Grand Valley’s campus in Allendale. Attendees brought signs and formed a circle around a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Amid freezing temperatures, they prayed 15 decades of the Holy Rosary as well as the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mrs. Meredith Burl, a traditional Catholic and mother of four, organized the event. She asked Fr. Patrick Crane of the local Society of St. Pius X chapel to lead the rally in prayer. The SSPX and TFP are not affiliated with one another.
Grand Valley student Noah Mullins has taken on a leading role in ensuring that the university, which received nearly $100 million in taxpayer dollars last year, knows the display is offensive to Catholics.
“This is an attack on the Catholic faith and those who practice it. I am calling on Grand Valley to sell this piece of ‘art’ which is not only anti-Catholic but also anti-Semitic because Mary, the Mother of Christ, was Jewish,” he told LifeSite on a phone call today.
While there were no counter-protesters at the rally Saturday, Mullins informed LifeSite that several high-profile local news outlets were there. He also said that a person who identified themself as an “independent” videographer approached him asking for comment. The person told him they worked for the woman who created the images and that his remarks would be heard by her.
Mullins told LifeSite that he declined to speak to the videographer and that he and the others simply are praying for the “artist,” Grand Valley alumna Irlanda Beltran. Mullins said the videographer told him that Beltran, who is Hispanic, was inside the Kirkhof student center observing the protest.
Beltran’s creation contains phrases interlaced over digitally altered images of Our Lady. When translated to English, the Spanish slogans she included mean “homophobia is lethal,” “no more feminicide,” and “sexuality,” among other vulgar and pro-LGBT terms, such as “trans.” Two men kissing are also included on Our Lady’s dress.
A TFP petition has quickly garnered over 10,000 signatures calling on the school to completely remove the images.
“We must call for the COMPLETE REMOVAL of the blasphemous exhibit against the Mother of God,” it reads.
Last week, Grand Valley’s assistant vice president for communications Christopher Knape told LifeSite in a statement that the school’s art museum will be “relocating the piece to a space where it can be presented with greater context.”
Just received this statement from GVSU’s Assistant Vice President of Communications Chris Knape, who says the school will simply be relocating the “art” to a place where “it can be presented with greater context.” pic.twitter.com/NVJxtyLKfZ
— Stephen Kokx (@StephenKokx) February 5, 2025
TFP and the Catholics who participated in the rally Saturday reject that half-measure and are continuing to call on Grand Valley to either trash it or sell it so it does not appear in public again, as it is a sacrilegious image and not “art.”
LifeSite reached out to St. Luke’s University Parish last week for comment. St. Luke’s is located in Allendale and tends to the spiritual needs of Catholic students who attend Grand Valley. LifeSite was told that Fr. Rob Mulderink was not in the office at the time. LifeSite has not received a call back from Mulderink or St. Luke’s despite having asked for a follow-up. LifeSite can confirm, however, that Mulderink has met with an official from the school.
LifeSite emailed the Grand Rapids Catholic diocese earlier today asking for a statement from Bishop David Walkowiak about the display, as LifeSite has learned that the diocese is aware of the situation. LifeSite asked diocesan communications director Annalise Laumeyer to provide a statement on behalf of Bishop Walkowiak by 4 pm EST today. LifeSite will update this story with those remarks if they are received.
Grand Valley’s graphic design department bestowed an award on Beltran for her obscene creation last June. The school then bought it from her for a reported $1,800.
Beltran’s sacrilegious images have not only won the ire of Catholic students at Grand Valley but also local Republican state Rep. Jamie Thompson and state Rep. Luke Meerman, who reached out to the university. Meerman told LifeSiteNews that if the display is relocated in a public space there needs to be more pressure brought on Grand Valley.
For respectful comments only, contact Dr. Philomena Mantella, president, Grand Valley State University, (616) 331-2100, [email protected]; Chris Knape, (616) 331-2953, [email protected]; Mr. Nathan Kemler, Director of Art Galleries, (616) 331-3638 or (616) 331-8122, [email protected].