(The College Fix) The news of a pro-abortion scholar withdrawing from a leadership position at the University of Notre Dame (last) week prompted comments of relief and celebration from Catholic leaders.
Professor Susan Ostermann decided not to accept the role as director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, administrators announced Thursday. However, the political scientist will continue teaching at Notre Dame.
Ostermann is ardently pro-abortion, even accusing pro-lifers of being racist. She also has said laws prohibiting the intentional destruction of innocent human babies are a form of “violence.”
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Among the leaders who voiced opposition to her appointment was Bishop Kevin Rhoades, who oversees the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, where Notre Dame is located.
“I am very grateful to all the members of the Notre Dame community and beyond who, out of love for Notre Dame, expressed their opposition to the appointment,” Rhoades said in a statement Thursday.
Rhoades continued:
The reason I opposed the appointment is because the appointment of persons to leadership positions at a Catholic university is an act of institutional witness, a mission-governance issue. Recently, in a public statement, a Notre Dame spokesperson said that, “Notre Dame’s commitment to upholding the inherent dignity of the human person and the sanctity of life at every stage is unwavering.” Clearly Notre Dame is reaffirming its fidelity to a core truth of Catholic social teaching that is central to the Church’s commitment to integral human development. I see Notre Dame living out this commitment through its many classes, activities, and programs which promote human life and dignity. That mission commitment is compromised when a Catholic university appoints leaders or bestows honors on those who act or speak against fundamental teachings of the Church. This is not an issue about academic freedom or scholarly engagement. Academic freedom protects inquiry. It does not require institutional self-contradiction.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Sycamore Trust, an alumni group that advocates for Notre Dame to adhere to its Catholic identity, thanked the bishop and other church leaders for taking action.
“The resignation of Susan Ostermann as director of the Liu Institute is a tribute to the tsunami of voices raised in opposition to the appointment — led by Bishop Rhoades and including fellow bishops, Catholic publications such as ours, private individuals, and, importantly, faculty members and a host of students who had the courage to speak up,” Chairman William Dempsey wrote in an email Thursday.
“Faithful sons and daughters of the Church made clear that Notre Dame’s Catholic mission is not a decorative label, but a binding commitment,” Dempsey wrote.
Still, the fact that Ostermann was chosen at all is a “scandal,” he continued.
Tweet This: The fact that pro-abortion professor Susan Ostermann was chosen for a leadership position at the University of Notre Dame is a “scandal.”
“It evidences the low value the administration places on the Church’s teaching on abortion. It is a telling symptom of the school’s weakening Catholic identity. And it is distressing that a protest of nuclear dimension was required to effect even this limited change,” Dempsey wrote.
Mary FioRito, senior fellow at The Catholic Association, also weighed in on the matter in a statement Thursday, calling Ostermann’s decision to withdraw from the position “a win for consistency, clarity, and common sense.”
“As an explicitly Catholic university, Notre Dame owes its students and faculty ‘truth in advertising.’ Ostermann’s public advocacy of legal abortion would have overshadowed the good work of the Liu Center and significantly hampered its ability to form students,” FioRito, a noted Catholic author and attorney, said.
She also recognized the alumni, students, faculty and staff who took action through prayers and “the power of persuasion.”
Editor's note: This article was published by The College Fix and is reprinted with permission.
