(OSV News) — Bishops, former faculty and other Catholic intellectual leaders are backing a call from an Indiana bishop to rescind the administrative appointment of a pro-abortion professor at the University of Notre Dame.
As of Feb. 13, at least nine bishops, including Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have expressed their support for a Feb. 11 call by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend to reverse the naming of associate professor Susan Ostermann as director of Notre Dame’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, effective July 1.
“I fully support Bishop Kevin Rhoades in his challenge to Notre Dame to rectify its poor judgement in hiring a professor who openly stands against Catholic teaching when it comes to the sanctity of life, in this case protection of the unborn,” Archbishop Coakley said Feb. 13.
Local bishop expresses “dismay” and “strong opposition” to UND appointment
The institute is part of the university’s Keough School of Global Affairs, of which Ostermann — who specializes in the study of regulatory compliance, comparative politics and environmental regulation, with a focus on South Asia — has been a faculty member since 2017.
In his statement, Bishop Rhoades — in whose diocese the university is located — expressed “dismay” and “strong opposition” to the appointment of Ostermann, due to her robust public endorsement of legal abortion, and her work as a consultant for the Population Council, an international research and policy firm that works to advance “sexual and reproductive health, rights and choices” as a key aim.
Bishop Rhoades — noting he had read “many of the op-ed pieces co-authored by Professor Ostermann — said the appointment violated “a core principle of justice that is central to Notre Dame’s Catholic identity and mission,” while “causing scandal to the faithful of our diocese and beyond.”
Nine bishops express their support of Bishop Rhoades
Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota posted Bishop Rhoades’ full statement on X shortly after its release, noting his “strong support” for the message while describing Ostermann as “not simply ‘pro-choice'” but “a sharp critic of the pro-life position and those who advocate it.”
“I believe that going ahead with this appointment is repugnant to the identity and mission” of the university, said Bishop Barron.
Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, also reposted Bishop Rhoades’ statement on X, saying in a Feb. 12 post, “I stand in solidarity with Bishop Rhoades and his letter,” which Bishop Hying described as “a profound reflection on human dignity and the culture of life.
“We pray that all of our educational institutions support Catholic teaching, especially regarding human life,” he added.
Among the other prelates endorsing Bishop Rhoades’ statement are recently retired Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska; Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth, Texas; Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup, New Mexico.
Notre Dame faculty sever ties
Two current Notre Dame faculty severed their affiliation with the Liu Institute following news of Ostermann’s appointment.
Diane Desierto, professor of law and global affairs, relinquished her role as a Liu faculty fellow, pointing to Pope Leo XIV’s statements on abortion and explaining in a LinkedIn post that “in my work of teaching, scholarship and service at our preeminent Catholic university, I take and reflect on Pope Leo XIV’s words seriously.”
Another Liu fellow, professor emeritus of theology Robert Gimello also walked away from the institute on account of Ostermann’s appointment.
In a statement to The Observer — the independent student newspaper that serves Notre Dame, as well as nearby St. Mary’s and Holy Cross Colleges — Gimello said, “Continued formal association with a unit of the University led by such a person is, for me, simply unconscionable — this regardless of whatever considerable talents and accomplishments the appointee might otherwise bring to the job.”
He described Ostermann as “a scholar who has repeatedly, publicly and adamantly proclaimed her opposition to (verging at times, it seems to me, on contempt for) the Catholic Church’s firm teaching that protection and nourishment of human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is a sacred duty incumbent upon the whole human community.”
Retired University professor pens critique
In a Feb. 13 article for “First Things,” retired faculty member Christian Smith — a sociologist and former director of the school’s Center for the Study of Religion and Society — said that Notre Dame’s leaders are at an institutional level “equivocal about that Catholic mission and make decisions and pursue practices that undermine it.”
Without naming Ostermann or explicitly addressing the controversy surrounding her appointment, Smith lamented that despite formal requirements most Notre Dame faculty should be Catholic, “in many if not most cases that goal is achieved through a ‘tick the box’ approach, whereby a candidate who was baptized Catholic but now despises Catholicism counts as Catholic.
“Faculty who have no business being at Notre Dame — both for the university’s mission and students and for their own sanity — are regularly hired and promoted with tenure,” said Smith. “No effort is made systematically to orient and educate new faculty in the Catholic intellectual tradition. Some department chairs are appointed who not only are indifferent to the Catholic mission but actively resist and subvert it.”
In a statement provided to OSV News, Ostermann said that her “primary focus is to serve as a steward for the Liu Institute mission in the context of the University’s larger mission, and a facilitator for our world-class faculty,” adding that she is “fully committed to maintaining an environment of academic freedom where a plurality of voices can flourish.”
Other Catholic academics concerned
Along with the bishops and Notre Dame scholars, other Catholic academics voiced their concern over the Ostermann appointment.
David A. Armstrong, president of St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida, shared Bishop Rhoades’ statement on X, saying that “Catholic Universities have a Constitutional right to be Catholic.
“We accept all & support all at Catholic Universities, all we ask in return is to respect the teachings of the Catholic Church,” wrote Armstrong in his Feb. 11 post.
Writing on X Jan. 31, Mary Rice Hasson — the Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington — said Notre Dame’s choice of “a pro-abortion advocate to direct ‘integral human development’ in Asian studies” is “irreconciliable” with “human dignity and Catholic identity.”
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
