Notre Dame Priest Calls on University to Reverse Pro-Abortion Appointment

A priest and professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame has called on the university to rescind its appointment of an associate professor who has publicly advocated for abortion to lead a key institute, arguing the decision undermines the school’s Catholic identity and commitment to the sanctity of human life.

Father Wilson D. Miscamble described the appointment of Susan Ostermann as director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies as a “travesty” and warned that if allowed to stand, it would expose “the hollowness of the claim that Catholic character informs all Notre Dame’s endeavors.”

In a critique published in First Things, Father Miscamble highlighted Ostermann’s past statements, including her co-authorship of a 2022 Chicago Tribune essay that prompted then-President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., to declare it “does not reflect the views and values of the University of Notre Dame in its tone, arguments or assertions.”

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Ostermann, an associate professor of global affairs and political science who joined Notre Dame in 2017, is set to assume the director role on July 1. The appointment was announced by Keough School of Global Affairs Dean Mary Gallagher with the approval of Provost John McGreevy.

Father Miscamble noted that a number of distinguished senior faculty have called on administrators to rescind the appointment. He has appealed directly to the university’s Board of Fellows—comprising six Holy Cross priests and six laypeople—with fiduciary responsibility to maintain Notre Dame’s “essential character as a Catholic institution of higher learning,” requesting they intervene to support current President Rev. Robert Dowd in reversing the decision.

In response to criticism, Ostermann has addressed her advocacy, though Father Miscamble described her comments as “outright evasion” and “dissimulation,” stating her efforts to avoid directly confronting her “strident pro-abortion advocacy” render the appointment “untenable at a Catholic university like Notre Dame.”

The university has affirmed the appointment, with a spokesperson emphasizing alignment with institutional policies amid ongoing debate over fidelity to Catholic teachings on the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

Father Miscamble expressed hope that an outpouring of criticism could prompt reversal, underscoring the broader implications for Notre Dame’s Catholic mission under its new leadership.

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