Introduction
In this Bulletin, we draw attention to Notre Dame’s troubling observance of “Pride Month” over the past four years—a stark contrast to its Catholic foundation. We invite you to stand with us in reclaiming the month of June in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And, as part of this effort, we encourage you to participate in our Sacred Heart Novena, which will take place from June 19 to 27, 2025.
We also remind you that our annual Breakfast is fast approaching. Whether you join us in person or via livestream, you won’t want to miss this compelling presentation on an unprecedented legal challenge and its far-reaching implications for the preservation of Catholic identity at Notre Dame.
Please register by clicking on the “watch or attend” button below.
Notre Dame’s Celebration of Pride Month Eclipses Its Legacy of Devotion to the Sacred Heart
For the past four years, the University of Notre Dame has embraced June as “Pride Month,” offering a wide range of events, resources, and affirmations in celebration of “LGBTQ+” identity and experience. Gone is any institutional recognition of June as the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a devotion at the very heart of the Catholic tradition and foundational to Notre Dame’s own identity and historical ties with the Congregation of Holy Cross.
With June only a week away, we await confirmation whether, for a fifth year, Notre Dame will celebrate “Pride” at the expense of the Sacred Heart.
Following Secular Culture
Pride Month has become a modern phenomenon, championed by secular culture, and celebrated in cities worldwide. In higher education, the Campus Pride Index now lists over 400 colleges affirming LGBTQ+ inclusivity — including more than half of the Jesuit Catholic universities in the United States and Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s participation not only aligns it with this secular trend but sets it in opposition to the Church’s teachings on chastity, the family, and the anthropology of the human person as created male and female.
In spite of the dramatic misalignment with Catholic teaching and tradition, Notre Dame has expanded its observance of “Pride Month” each year since 2021 through campus-wide programming, community events, and social media content that celebrates and promotes “LGBTQ+” identity and experience.
In addition to participating in South Bend’s annual Pride Festival, for example, the University has promoted events like Allyship 101 to provide training in “LGBTQIA+ advocacy” and Pride OUTside Hike to “show your true colors” by “dressing in support of the LGBTQ+ Community” for a mile long hike. Official Notre Dame Social Media accounts along with those of many Notre Dame Alumni clubs and affinity groups featured rainbow motifs (like the one above) and solidarity statements actively promoting and celebrated a common cause that conflicts with the truth of Catholicism.
And not an official peep about the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Heart of the University, Forgotten
Blessed Basil Moreau consecrated the Holy Cross order to the Sacred Heart in 1837. Father Edward Sorin enshrined this devotion at the center of campus life with the Church of the Sacred Heart. Poignantly, he placed a statue of the Sacred Heart in front of the Main Building as a symbol of Notre Dame’s trust in divine mercy and fidelity to the Church.
“Venite ad me omnes” is inscribed at the base of the statue recalling Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
This is one of the most tender and consoling invitations of Christ in the entire New Testament. It is His call to the weary, the burdened, the sinners, the wounded—to come to His Sacred Heart, the wellspring of mercy and peace. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In a letter dated June 20, 1876—Feast of the Sacred Heart—Father Sorin exhorted his fellow priests:
The University’s spiritual history is further adorned by figures like Servant of God Brother Columba O’Neill, C.S.C., a humble cobbler and healer whose devotion to the Sacred Heart was deeply tied to his love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Brother Columba was widely known for encouraging confession “to Jesus through Mary” and for distributing Sacred Heart badges across campus as tokens of faith and protection.
To neglect the rich legacy of Notre Dame’s devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for a month-long endorsement of “LGBTQ+ Pride” is not a neutral shift—it is a repudiation of the very identity Notre Dame was consecrated to uphold.
Doctrine Ignored, Identity Endangered
While firmly and unfailingly upholding the dignity of those suffering with same-sex attraction (CCC 2358), the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches clearly that homosexual acts are “acts of grave depravity” (CCC 2357), and the Vatican’s instruction Male and Female He Created Them rejects the ideological foundations of gender theory as contrary to human dignity and the family. “Pride Month,” by contrast, celebrates these very identities and experiences. That Notre Dame joins in the celebration without qualification—while omitting the Sacred Heart—is a decisive turn away from fidelity to Catholic teaching.
This June, Notre Dame faces a choice, once again. Will it continue to follow the path of secular affirmation, or will it remember its roots in the Heart of Christ?
Should Notre Dame choose not to participate in “Pride Month” this year it would distinguish itself from its peers. Such a decision would highlight a commitment to alternative values and traditions — the very sort that are courageously countercultural and Catholic in every sense.
To be conformed to the Sacred Heart is to love with a crucified love and to stand firm before a world that scoffs at the Cross – rebuking cowardice, compromise, and modernism.
Let us pray the University chooses reparation over rebellion—and return to the Sacred Heart that once inspired its founding.
May Notre Dame and other Catholic institutions rekindle devotion to the Sacred Heart which is to rekindle the very soul of Catholic identity.
Learn what you can do to reclaim June for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and join us in our Sacred Heart Novena (June 19-27, 2025).
Annual Breakfast
Saturday
May 31, 2025
Featuring James Bopp, Jr.
Smith Ballroom (at Morris Inn)
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Complimentary breakfast at 7:15 AM EDT
Program 8:00 am – 9:30 AM EDT
Support Our Common Purpose
If you share our love for Notre Dame and want to see an authentic Catholic renewal under the Dome, please consider lending a hand in whatever way you are able — by giving of your time (especially in prayer), talent, or treasure. The funds we receive are used to continue our work to keep you informed of Notre Dame’s imperiled Catholic identity, organize events and activities to strengthen our collective voice, and financially support the efforts on campus by students and their organizations to stand tall for the Truth of Catholicism.
Oremus
O God of Truth and Love, You have called us into a loving and faithful relationship with You. Your Son identified Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and called us to follow Him wherever He goes.
In their care for and guardianship of the University and the students it serves, may the administrators of the University of Notre Dame always commit themselves to the pursuit and embrace of the Truth, which alone can set us free.
May the Holy Spirit lead them into all truth and recall them to it in times of peril. May they embrace the sorrow that comes from being different from, and rejected by, the world, so that they may rejoice always in the goodness of the Lord.
In the day of battle, may they joyfully take courage in Him who has already overcome the world.
We make our prayer through the intercession of Notre Dame, Our Mother, and in the Name of Jesus, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
The above prayer is by Sycamore Trustee Father John Raphael (’89). To join us in regular prayer projects such as our Novena for Catholic Education and our Meditation on the 12-Days of Christmas, please join our Apostolate.
Submit Your Mass Intention
Father John J. Raphael (’89) offers a monthly Mass for the intentions of our Sycamore Trust community. If you have an intention that you would like him to include at his next Mass, you may submit it by clicking on the following button.
One Response
Well done, keep up the good work! The Lord and His Mother will bless your efforts!