SOUTH BEND, Ind. (ChurchMilitant.com) – The University of Notre Dame is, once again, publicly celebrating a sin that cries out to Heaven for vengeance. On June 1, Notre Dame, a self-described Catholic college, endorsed so-called Pride Month.
On June 1, the university announced its support for the observance on its official Twitter and Instagram accounts, stating, “Happy #PrideMonth! We celebrate all LGBTQ+ identities and reaffirm our commitment to being a welcoming, safe and supportive place for ALL members of the Notre Dame family.”
Happy #PrideMonth! We celebrate all LGBTQ+ identities and reaffirm our commitment to being a welcoming, safe and supportive place for ALL members of the Notre Dame family.
We see you. We’re glad you’re here. You are an important member of our community. pic.twitter.com/b0ou28Iia8
— University of Notre Dame (@NotreDame) June 1, 2023
Notre Dame has celebrated Pride Month for the past couple of years. In 2020, the Notre Dame Student Government stated, “We celebrate the immense progress that has been won toward safeguarding the civil rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.” In 2021, Notre Dame’s Diversity and Inclusion department called to “raise awareness about efforts for equal justice and equal opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community.” The same year the official Notre Dame Alumni Association celebrated “the history, presence, authenticity, and contributions of the LGBTQ community.”
Like in past years, the university’s Pride Month endorsement this year has sparked controversy. Joshua Charles, a Catholic commentator and author, contended that such support contradicts the university’s Catholic identity. “This is totally incompatible with being the ‘University of Our Lady,'” he responded.
Critics argue that this recent endorsement is part of a broader trend of the university increasingly platforming leftist and anti-Catholic ideology.
Long Lurch Leftward
In 1984, Notre Dame hosted New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a self-identified Catholic who appealed to Catholics to support abortion.
In a speech to students, Cuomo infamously claimed it was the government’s responsibility to:
help create conditions under which all can live with a maximum of dignity and with a reasonable degree of freedom; where everyone who chooses may hold beliefs different from specifically Catholic ones — sometimes contradictory to them; where the laws protect people’s right to divorce, to use birth control and even to choose abortion.
In 2009, Notre Dame had pro-abortion President Barack Obama deliver the commencement address. The bishop of South Bend, at the time, John D’Arcy, decided not to attend, stating, “While claiming to separate politics from science, he [Obama] has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.”
The current president of the university is John Jenkins, a Jesuit-trained priest who’s been the leader of Notre Dame since 2005.
In 2012, Jenkins approved the formation of a student LGBT club at Notre Dame called PRISM. And two years later, he extended benefits to all legally married persons, including same-sex ‘spouses.’
The bishop of South Bend, Kevin Rhoades, responded, writing, “The heterosexual nature of marriage is an objective truth known by (right) reason and revelation.” Continuing, he advised, “As a Catholic university, it is important that Notre Dame continues to affirm its fidelity to Catholic teaching on the true nature of marriage as a union of one man and one woman.”
Nearly a decade later, President Jenkins has continued to lead Notre Dame away from Catholic teaching on marriage.
In the university’s June 1 pride post, it states that Notre Dame “celebrate[s] all LGBTQ+ identities.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraph 2357, teaches that homosexual acts are a “grave depravity,” “intrinsically disordered,” and “contrary to the natural law.” The same section states that “under no circumstances can they [homosexual acts] be approved.”