BUZZ
The University of Notre Dame still has “time to make things right” when it comes to the appointment of a pro-abortion professor to lead a think tank on campus, according to the local bishop.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades leads the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, which includes the University of Notre Dame. He recently spoke out against the ongoing controversy over Notre Dame’s decision to appoint pro-abortion Professor Susan Ostermann to lead the Liu Institute on campus.
Ostermann has said opposition to abortion is rooted in racism. “Abortion access is freedom-enhancing,” she has also said.
Now Bp. Rhoades is reminding the university that he has the duty, and right, to decide which institutions can call themselves “Catholic” while operating under his jurisdiction. He released a message today on the controversy.
Commenting on Ostermann’s botched understanding of what “integral human development” means, the bishop said the pro-abortion professor should not assume leadership of the think tank.
“Professor Ostermann’s opposite view thus clearly should disqualify her from holding a position of leadership within the Keough School,” he said.
He continued on to reference a document from the late Pope John Paul II, which affirms bishops have the responsibility to ensure Catholic educational institutions are actually Catholic.
Bp. Rhoades stated:
Because I have the particular responsibility as Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend “to promote and assist in the preservation and strengthening” of the Catholic identity of Catholic universities within my diocese (cf. Ex corde ecclesiae #28), I call upon the leadership of Notre Dame to rectify this situation. The appointment of Professor Ostermann is not scheduled to go into effect until July 1, 2026. There is still time to make things right.
The message is similar to the reminder the prelate made to Saint Mary’s College, also in South Bend and affiliated with Notre Dame, when it briefly decided in 2023 to let gender-confused men enroll at the women’s college. The bishop reminded the college who is actually in charge in the diocese, and after a meeting, the college reversed its decision.
Other Catholic bishops backed Rhoades’ message today to Notre Dame.
“I believe that going ahead with this appointment is repugnant to the identity and mission of that great center of Catholic learning,” Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester wrote on X.
“Thank you Bishop Rhoades for your statement on the most unfortunate appointment by Notre Dame that truly tarnishes Our Lady’s University & what it means to be Catholic,” Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila wrote on X.
“I pray that those who can rescind this terrible appointment will do so!”
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