Bishop rips Notre Dame for 'reproductive justice series (Today's Catholic)

Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne—South Bend, Indiana, has blasted the Gender Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame for hosting a lecture series on “reproductive justice” that the bishops described as “activist propaganda.”

In a column for the diocesan newspaper, Today’s Catholic, Bishop Rhoades observed that the speakers in the series “consider abortion itself to be an essential tool for pursuing justice, equality, and fighting discrimination.” He was particularly critical of a talk by an “abortion doula,” who, he noted was “not a scholar or even a prominent public intellectual,” and was given “a platform for unanswered pro-abortion activisim.”

The series, Bishop Rhoades said, was clearly “meant to persuade and form hearts and minds” to support abortion. The bishop said that the series “appears to be an explicit act of dissent from Notre Dame’s admirable institutional commitment to promoting a culture of life.”