Bishop Rhoades To Notre Dame: “Rectify the Situation.”

There has been much news coverage, controversy, and outcry in response to the recent appointment of Associate Professor Susan Ostermann to director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Having now read many of the op-ed pieces co-authored by Professor Ostermann, I must express my dismay and my strong opposition to this appointment that is causing scandal to the faithful of our diocese and beyond. Professor Ostermann’s extensive public advocacy of abortion rights and her disparaging and inflammatory remarks about those who uphold the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death go against a core principle of justice that is central to Notre Dame’s Catholic identity and mission.

In nearly a dozen op-eds (co-authored with another abortion activist, former Notre Dame Professor Tamara Kay), Professor Ostermann has attacked the pro-life movement, using outrageous rhetoric. I need not repeat it all here since it has been widely covered in the media, but a few examples stand out. She wrote that the pro-life position has “its roots in white supremacy and racism,” and has misogyny “embedded” in the movement. She has attacked pregnancy resource centers as deceptive “anti-abortion propaganda sites” that harm women. She also argued that the Catholic social doctrine of “integral human development” supports abortion because it enhances freedom and flourishing for women. These are all outrageous claims that should disqualify her from an administrative and leadership role at a Catholic university. I hope that Professor Ostermann will explicitly retract these claims, and I pray that she will have a change of mind and heart that will lead her to affirm the innate dignity of unborn babies as well as that of their mothers.

Pope Francis spoke strongly about the “false compassion which holds that it is a benefit to women to promote abortion” (Address on November 15, 2014). He told bishops: “Abortion compounds the grief of many women who now carry with them deep physical and spiritual wounds after succumbing to the pressures of a secular culture which devalues God’s gift of sexuality and the right to life of the unborn” (Address on April 25, 2014). The Church here in our diocese and around the world serves mothers before and after birth, providing spiritual, emotional, and material care to moms in need. The Church stands for the inalienable right to life of mothers and their unborn children.

Notre Dame has publicly committed as a Catholic institution to the life and dignity of the human person. It affirms the Church’s teaching that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2270). I am proud of Notre Dame’s pro-life commitment, manifest in the large number of students and faculty who promote a culture of life through many campus organizations, programs, and activities. They witness to the sanctity of life at every stage, with special attention to the lives of the vulnerable, including the unborn, the poor, immigrants, the elderly, and the infirm. Through these actions and witness, Notre Dame takes seriously our call from the Lord to care for the poor, welcome the stranger, visit the imprisoned, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

The Catholic Church upholds a consistent ethic of life. Respect for the intrinsic equal dignity of all human life born and unborn is of paramount importance to the Church. In an address just two weeks ago, Pope Leo XIV reminded us, quoting Saint Teresa of Calcutta, that “the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion,” and stated, in his own powerful words that “no policy can genuinely serve the people if it denies the unborn the gift of life, or if it neglects to support those in need whether in their material circumstances or in their spiritual distress” (Address on January 31, 2026). And this pro-life principle is not merely affirmed by Catholics; it is embraced by many people of good will of diverse backgrounds and commitments around the world.

The Liu Institute at Notre Dame is housed in the Keough School of Global Affairs, which endorses “integral human development” as the most important Catholic social teaching principle for its work. Professor Ostermann has written – ludicrously – that this Catholic principle actually supports abortion on demand. To the contrary, the Holy See, in statements to the United Nations, continues to defend the “right to life” as one of the core “pillars of integral human development” (e.g. Note regarding the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2016). Professor Ostermann’s opposite view thus clearly should disqualify her from holding a position of leadership within the Keough School.

Also disqualifying is Professor Ostermann’s work as a consultant for the Population Council. For those who have never heard of it, this is an organization dedicated to the promotion of abortion around the world. It has been linked to China’s population control policies that have resulted in hundreds of millions of abortions of baby girls. It was also instrumental in securing approval of the abortion pill by the FDA, which is responsible for the majority of abortions in the United States.

Some may claim that this appointment should be protected by academic freedom. Academic freedom concerns the liberty of faculty to conduct research according to their own professional judgment and interests. This appointment, by contrast, concerns the official administrative appointment to lead an academic unit. Such appointments have profound impact on the integrity of Notre Dame’s public witness as a Catholic university.

This appointment understandably creates confusion in the public mind as to Notre Dame’s fidelity to its Catholic mission. Many faculty, students, alumni, and benefactors of Notre Dame have reached out to me to express their shock, sadness, confusion, and disappointment. I share their feelings as well as their love for Notre Dame. I can testify from my personal experience and active presence at Notre Dame that the faith is alive there and continues to be nurtured by committed students, faculty, staff, members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and members of the extended Notre Dame family. Let us ask Our Lady of Lourdes, whose feast the Church celebrates today, to intercede for the Notre Dame community and its leaders during these days. I invite you to say a prayer or light a candle at her grotto, invoking her prayers that Notre Dame will always stand firm in her commitment to the Gospel of her Son, the Gospel of Life.

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.