Despite touting itself as the “leading global Catholic research university,” Notre Dame hasn’t been shy about betraying the pro-life beliefs of the Church and, indeed, its own namesake, Mary, the Mother of Jesus. 

As Students for Life’s Kristan Hawkins points out in a letter to the editor at The Observer: 

The most famous woman to ever bear a child — Mary, the Mother of Jesus — is remembered daily at the school that bears her name, the University of Notre Dame. That tribute made the school’s betrayal of Christian values and of women all that much more atrocious when school officials offered Professor Susan Ostermann leadership of its Liu Institute of Asia and Asian Studies.   

It’s not enough that she has since stepped back from a promotion. Ostermann needs to be fired. 

READ NEXT: BREAKING: Students for Life of America Calls for Notre Dame Professor Susan Ostermann to Be FIRED 

As Hawkins noted, fixing this betrayal will take more than Ostermann stepping down from the position (note: Notre Dame did not revoke the promotion). There is precedent to take stronger action, as evidenced by actions taken in Indiana Catholic high schools in 2015 and 2016. 

Hawkins writes: 

These efforts to defend schools’ religious integrity made national headlines in 2018 with the employment terminations of Shelly Fitzgerald and Lynn Starkey at Roncalli Catholic High School. Both counselors were engaged in separate same sex “marriages,” in contradiction with Catholic teaching.  

Both counselors went to court against the Archdiocese. The 7th Circuit upheld rulings in the Archdiocese’s favor in both Fitzgerald’s and Starkey’s cases, citing the “ministerial exception,” which allows religious institutions to make staffing decisions according to the upholding of religious beliefs.  

With its clear Catholic mission statement and religious foundation, Notre Dame could absolutely follow suit in terminating Ostermann’s employment — and win any court case she might bring as a result. 

If the university won’t follow suit and fire Ostermann, Hawkins says, the U.S. Catholic bishops who decried her promotion need to follow Archbishop Charles Thompson’s examples and cut ties with the school, as happened in another Indianapolis high school case in 2016. 

Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis set the example in 2019 when two more Archdiocese of Indianapolis high school teachers were found to be in a gay “marriage,” one at Cathedral High School and one at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School. Thompson demanded the schools uphold Catholic values at the risk of severing ties with the Archdiocese. Cathedral ultimately consented, cutting ties with the teacher to retain its Catholic identity and ongoing relationship with the Archdiocese. When Brebeuf refused, Thompson followed through and cut ties with the school. 

Bishops around the country condemned Notre Dame’s promotion of Ostermann and her blatant pro-abortion advocacy. It is time for them to also step up in the same spirit of Archbishop Thompson, ending their diocesan partnerships with the University if serious changes are not made. 

READ NEXT: Trump and Pro-Life Movement Offer Aid for Families While Abortion Activists Only Fund Death: Students for Life’s Kristan Hawkins at Townhall 

Hawkins concludes: 

Bishops around the country condemned Notre Dame’s promotion of Ostermann and her blatant pro-abortion advocacy. It is time for them to also step up in the same spirit of Archbishop Thompson, ending their diocesan partnerships with the University if serious changes are not made.  

Any bridge built on the deaths of preborn children ought to be burned. Notre Dame must face the music: Uphold Catholic values or lose all ties with America’s dioceses.  

Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, the namesake of Notre Dame, carried the preborn Christ child in her womb. Notre Dame must not continue to betray its namesake and the beautiful motherhood she so perfectly exemplifies. If it does, it is time to officially strip the University of its claim to Catholicism. 

Read the Full Op-Ed Here.