Several American clergy and bishops have published statements denouncing the University of Notre Dame's appointment of a pro-abortion professor as head of it's research centers.
Indiana bishop, Kevin C. Rhodes, was the first to issue a statement condemning the appointment of professor Susan Ostermann as director of Notre Dame's Liu Institute.
“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.”
Bishop Rhodes quotes several articles that Ostermann co-wrote, including one that describes pregnancy resource centers as “anti-abortion rights propaganda sites” and another that claims that the pro-life movement has “its roots in white supremacy and racism.”
Since the publication of his letter, other US Catholic Bishops have supported Rhodes call for reversing this promotion. Bishop Robert Barron, popular media figure, and the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are among the supporters.
The Vatican was asked about the issue during a press conference on February 17. The president of the Pontifical Academy of Life reiterated the Vatican's position.
MONS. RENZO PEGORARO
President, Pontifical Academy of Life
So the people involved in education and so on, how to understand, how to prevent, how to explain, how to avoid, a view that is very reductionist – that it is only a medical problem or an individual problem, but this is a problem of everybody, of the community, and of the society.
Thus far, the promotion of Ostermann has resulted in two Notre Dame faculty members leaving the Liu Institute. There has also been general backlash from the university's community, including an open letter from several recipients of the University of Notre Dame’s Evangelium Vitae Award.
In the meantime, the University itself has continued to defend it's position.
CRT
