Bishop Rhoades leads rosary for Notre Dame’s Catholic identity amid appointment uproar

NOTRE DAME, Indiana — The local bishop of the University of Notre Dame led an on-campus prayer service Feb. 24, praying for the university’s faithfulness to its Catholic mission amid ongoing controversy over the appointment of a pro-abortion professor to a leadership position.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend prayed the rosary with a crowd of about 50 who gathered at the Catholic university’s iconic Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in freezing temperatures in the early evening. Participants included students, priests of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, and members of the local South Bend community.

During the rosary, Bishop Rhoades knelt before the Marian grotto alongside student organizers Luke Woodyard and Gabriel Ortner, while the crowd huddled close behind.

“I am very proud of you,” Bishop Rhoades told gathered students at the conclusion of the rosary. “It’s so cold, and you’ve come out. So keep up the good work.”

The prayer service was held nearly two weeks after Bishop Rhoades issued a forceful rebuke of Notre Dame for appointing Susan Ostermann to head the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies. Ostermann, a faculty member at Notre Dame, has a lengthy track record of actively advocating for abortion.

In his Feb. 11 letter, Rhoades expressed his “dismay and strong opposition” to the appointment, stating that Ostermann’s abortion advocacy should disqualify her from leading an institute charged with promoting “integral human development” in Asia.

“I call upon the leadership of Notre Dame to rectify this situation,” the bishop wrote, noting that the appointment does not go into effect until July 1. “There is still time to make things right.”

The Ostermann appointment was not explicitly mentioned by Rhoades at the prayer service. In a statement to the Register, he shared his gratitude for “Notre Dame’s pro-life witness reflected in the students and faculty who work to foster a culture of life through their organizations, programs, and daily example.”

“I entrust the Notre Dame community and its leaders to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes. I invite all the faithful to join in prayer — perhaps by lighting a candle at the Grotto — asking our Blessed Mother to intercede for Notre Dame and its proclamation and service of the Gospel of her Son, the Gospel of life,” said Rhoades.

Sabrina Richter, a freshman at Notre Dame, said she came to the prayer service because “the Catholic character of Notre Dame is worth preserving and worth fighting for.”

“If we let one thing slip, another thing might slip,” she said, referring to the Ostermann appointment.

Background on the appointment

Ostermann, whose appointment was announced in January, has authored 11 articles advocating for abortion access, calling it “freedom-enhancing” and “consistent with integral human development that emphasizes social justice and human dignity.” She has also argued that the pro-life movement was founded in “white supremacy and racism” and has called pregnancy resource centers “anti-abortion propaganda sites.”

Since the appointment was announced in January, the university has faced backlash from Catholics across the country. Eighteen bishops have publicly backed Rhoades’ opposition to the appointment, according to the Sycamore Trust, a Notre Dame alumni group that has tracked the controversy. The list includes Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as two bishops with degrees from Notre Dame: Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, and Bishop Michael Sis of San Angelo, Texas.

Despite pushback from alumni, faculty members, media, and bishops, as well as the resignation of two faculty fellows from their roles at the Liu Institute, the university has continued to defend the appointment.

“[Ostermann] has stated clearly that she respects the University’s position on the sanctity of life, and that as director, she understands her role is to support the diverse research of the Institute’s scholars and students, not advance a personal agenda,” a university spokesperson told The Observer, Notre Dame’s student newspaper, on Feb. 24.

Student march planned

Notre Dame students, however, are not giving up. A student-organized “March on the Dome” will take place on Friday to protest what organizers call “the demolition of our Catholic identity.” It will include student speeches and a candlelight procession to the grotto.

Woodyard, a sophomore who co-organized both events, said that the prayer service with Bishop Rhoades set the correct tone for Friday’s march.

“We’re not trying to knock Notre Dame down,” he said. “We’re trying to say, ‘hey, we love you, and we just want what’s best for you.’ And this is actually what students think … we want Notre Dame to be Catholic, and we want to preserve its Catholic identity in a real sense.”