(LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Paul Coakley has joined his voice to a growing number of American bishops who have earnestly supported Bishop Kevin Rhoades in his denouncing the promotion of a vehemently pro-abortion professor by the University of Notre Dame.
Elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) last November, Archbishop Coakley has led the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City for 15 years and has been a bishop since 2004, when he was appointed by St. John Paul II to lead the Diocese of Salina, Kansas, at the age of 49.
“I fully support Bishop Kevin Rhoades in his challenge to Notre Dame to rectify its poor judgement in hiring a professor who openly stands against Catholic teaching when it comes to the sanctity of life, in this case protection of the unborn,” the archbishop tweeted on Friday.
I fully support Bishop Kevin Rhoades in his challenge to Notre Dame to rectify its poor judgement in hiring a professor who openly stands against Catholic teaching when it comes to the sanctity of life, in this case protection of the unborn.https://t.co/PIRWaM1JV5
— Archbishop Paul S. Coakley (@ArchbishopOKC) February 13, 2026
Bishop Rhoades, who oversees the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, recently expressed “dismay” and “strong opposition” to the University of Notre Dame’s appointment of rabid abortion supporter Professor Susan Ostermann to a prominent position. He lamented that the decision is “causing scandal to the faithful of our diocese and beyond.”
“Such appointments have profound impact on the integrity of Notre Dame’s public witness as a Catholic university,” he wrote.
“In nearly a dozen op-eds … Professor Ostermann has attacked the pro-life movement, using outrageous rhetoric,” His Excellency exclaimed. “Professor Ostermann’s opposite view thus clearly should disqualify her from holding a position of leadership within the Keough School.”
A growing number of clergy members are expressing support for Rhoades, including outgoing Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila and Bishop Robert Barron.
Bishop Paprocki: Appointment ‘incompatible with the mission and moral witness Notre Dame claims to uphold’
Also confirming the judgement of Bishop Rhoades and numerous brother bishops on this matter is Notre Dame business school alum Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois.
In a statement released on Monday evening, Bishop Paprocki affirmed his “full support” for Bishop Rhoades stating that the appointment of Ostermann to “a leadership role at a Catholic university is incompatible with the mission and moral witness Notre Dame claims to uphold.”
“Such an appointment causes confusion among the faithful and undermines the Church’s consistent ethic of life, which is central to Catholic social teaching,” affirmed the bishop, who also served as an adjunct professor of law at Notre Dame Law School from 2016 to 2021.
“Catholic social teaching cannot be selectively invoked while rejecting its foundational principle — the inviolable dignity of the human person from conception to natural death,” His Excellency explained. “To do so is not only intellectually incoherent but a direct slap in the face to the Church’s moral tradition.”
“Academic freedom does not obligate a Catholic university to entrust leadership to those whose public positions contradict essential moral truths,” Bishop Paprocki continued.
“I join Bishop Rhoades in urging the University of Notre Dame to reverse this appointment and to reaffirm, in both word and deed, its commitment to authentic Catholic education and witness,” the bishop concluded.
Bishop Conley: Catholics must ‘refuse to capitulate,’ maintain ‘fidelity to Christ’
Following up on the support he voiced last Thursday, Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, released a letter he penned to Notre Dame’s president, Fr. Robert A. Dowd, imploring him to “reconsider this appointment.”
Within its text he described Ostermann as “actively pro-abortion” and lamented that while such a promotion would “unfortunately” not be surprising at a secular university, given “the prominence and prestige of Notre Dame” as “one of the premier Catholic universities in the country,” it leaves him “deeply concerned.”
“To have an individual with such beliefs which are antithetical to the Church’s teachings in such a prominent position at Our Lady’s University, is profoundly troubling,” His Excellency wrote.
“As the world and the Church continue to grow ever more divided, we as Catholics must stay resolute in our beliefs, and refuse to capitulate,” Bishop Conley implored. “In the end, it will not be the success of our programs, but on our fidelity to Christ that we will be judged.”
Bishops invoke Blessed Virgin Mary to ‘pray for the university that bears your name’
An extensive list of other American bishops weighed in to support Bishop Rhoades last week as well.
These included Bishop Donald Hying of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin who expressed his “solidarity” with the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, complementing his “profound reflection on human dignity and the culture of life” and then praying “that all of our educational institutions support Catholic teaching, especially regarding human life.”
After thanking Bishop Rhoades for his stance, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco also openly prayed to Mary, the Mother of God, for Her intercession on this issue. “Holy Mary, Mother of God and Our Lady, pray for the university that bears your name.”
Other expressions of support have come from Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, and Bishop James Wall of the Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico.
Notre Dame students: ‘Rescind the appointment,’ abortion ‘intrinsic evil’
Ostermann joined Notre Dame nine years ago as a professor of global affairs. In years past, she has claimed that abortion access is “freedom-enhancing” and that “forced pregnancy and childbirth are violence against women.”
Catholics who work at Notre Dame, including longtime professor Father Wilson Miscamble, have expressed outrage over the move. In an essay for First Things, Miscamble called the appointment “a travesty” given Ostermann’s consulting role with the Population Council, which he described as “a Rockefeller-founded agency dedicated toward population control.”
He called on Notre Dame’s Board of Fellows, composed of six Holy Cross priests and six laypeople, to revoke Ostermann’s appointment. The board is tasked, among other things, with ensuring “that the University maintains its essential character as a Catholic institution of higher learning,” according to the university’s website.
Miscamble believes the decision will only be reversed “if there is an outpouring of criticism of the Notre Dame administration.” He told the National Catholic Register that “I think the disgraceful nature of the appointment is such that there is some possibility of that.”
Despite the criticisms, the university issued a statement defending Ostermann, whom it has described as a “highly regarded political scientist and legal scholar.”
Amid the controversy stands Notre Dame’s students. Earlier this month, the executive committee of student-run Notre Dame Right to Life called on the university to rescind the appointment. In a statement published in The Observer, the school’s most prominent newspaper, the board said Ostermann’s advocacy contradicts the Catholic Church’s teaching that abortion is an intrinsic evil.
While it has long been considered a pre-eminent Catholic university in the United States, Notre Dame has increasingly failed to live up to its professed identity, most famously by having given then-President Barack Obama an honorary award and later bestowing on Joe Biden its prestigious Laetare Medal.