One of America’s most respected Catholic universities just named pro-abortion Democrat Pete Buttigieg as a faculty fellow.
His new position at the University of Notre Dame is raising concerns among Catholics because of his public opposition to church teachings on abortion and other issues. Buttigieg is a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and former Democratic presidential candidate.
First Things reports the university named Buttigieg a faculty fellow at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS) in June. During the upcoming school year, he is slated to work with other faculty and students on a research project exploring how to restore trust in political institutions.
Meghan Sullivan, a professor of philosophy at Notre Dame and director of the institute, praised Buttigieg as a “perfect fit” for the position.
According to the report, Sullivan is a close friend of the politician and has invited him to be a guest lecturer in her class several times.
Father Wilson D. Miscamble, a professor of history at Notre Dame, expressed his concerns with Buttigieg’s appointment at First Things.
“Buttigieg’s extreme pro-abortion views directly oppose fundamental Catholic teaching prohibiting the destruction of human life in the womb,” he wrote. Later, he continued, “One must assume that [Sullivan’s] friendship for and desire to assist Buttigieg trumps any concerns about his views on abortion.”
On the campaign trail, Buttigieg touted himself as a Christian and a political moderate while holding views that contradict both. On abortion, he was especially radical.
When asked about aborting an unborn baby in the third trimester, Buttigieg said he thinks it should be legal.
“The bottom line is, as horrible as that choice is, that woman, that family, may seek spiritual guidance, they may seek medical guidance, but that decision isn’t going to be made any better, medically or morally, because the government is dictating how that decision should be made,” he said.
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As mayor of South Bend, he tried to stop a pro-life pregnancy resource center from opening down the street from an abortion facility – a decision that prompted public criticism from Notre Dame leaders. Buttigieg also celebrated when an abortion chain that amassed dozens of health and safety violations opened a new location in his city.
Miscamble described other concerns with Buttigieg’s pro-abortion stance:
Most of this year’s Democratic candidates campaigned hard to establish their pro-abortion credentials, but Buttigieg seemed especially eager to please the Planned Parenthood crowd. In a notable exchange with Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, he made clear that he didn’t see much place for pro-life Democrats in the party. Most egregiously, Buttigieg also engaged in some discussion that revealed his support for late-term, partial-birth abortions. He even attempted to furnish his views with a religious gloss by suggesting that “there’s a lot of parts of the Bible that talk about how life begins with breath.”
Abortionist Kermit Gosnell made similar biblical claims to justify murdering newborn babies at his Philadelphia abortion facility. He later was convicted of murder.
Given Buttigieg’s views, his new position at the Catholic university should be concerning. But Notre Dame has a history of seeming to disregard anti-Catholic, anti-life views when it comes to politicians.
The university also faced backlash after it honored pro-abortion President Barack Obama in 2009 and then gave its prestigious Laetare Medal to pro-abortion Vice President Joe Biden in 2016.
“The Buttigieg appointment illustrates that the university’s leadership has embraced a defective understanding of Notre Dame’s Catholic mission,” Miscamble wrote. “… his appointment undercuts efforts to provide an integrated intellectual, spiritual, and moral formation for our students.”
The Catholic Church teaches that every human being is valuable, from conception to natural death, and abortion is a grave moral evil that destroys a defenseless child in the womb.
