Antichurch

The Pillar reports that Susan Ostermann, a professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and a vocal advocate for legal abortion, has withdrawn from assuming the directorship of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies following widespread condemnation from students, donors, and bishops, including local Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend. The appointment prompted resignations from two institute-affiliated professors and a call for rescission from the university’s Right to Life executive board. Bishop Rhoades termed the appointment a “scandal,” rejecting academic freedom as a justification for an administrative role impacting the university’s Catholic witness. University president Fr. Robert Dowd was reportedly “blindsided” by both the appointment and the intensity of opposition, which included private objections from numerous bishops and major donors described as “livid.” Ostermann has linked abortion to women’s dignity and racial justice, arguing it aligns with “integral human development,” and serves as a consultant for the Population Council, an international abortion advocacy group. This incident lays bare the fatal contradiction of a “Catholic” university promoting intrinsic moral evil, a fruit of the conciliar revolution’s adulteration of Catholic identity.