Lou Holtz, a former University of Notre Dame football coach, faced criticism from the university Thursday for saying Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden is “Catholic in name only.”
Holtz, a pro-life conservative and a supporter of President Donald Trump, spoke at the Republican National Convention earlier this week. The former football coach slammed Biden for claiming to be Catholic while supporting a radical pro-abortion platform and praised Trump for standing up for the rights of unborn babies.
On Thursday, however, Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkins criticized Holtz for questioning Biden’s faith, Breitbart reports. Jenkins also seemed to have a problem with Holtz mentioning the university’s name during his speech, even though it is the reason why the coach is so widely known.
“While Coach Lou Holtz is a former coach at Notre Dame, his use of the University’s name at the Republican National Convention must not be taken to imply that the University endorses his views, any candidate or any political party,” Jenkins said Thursday in a statement.
“Moreover, we Catholics should remind ourselves that while we may judge the objective moral quality of another’s actions, we must never question the sincerity of another’s faith, which is due to the mysterious working of grace in that person’s heart. In this fractious time, let us remember that our highest calling is to love,” he said.
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But Holtz is not the only person to question Biden’s Catholic faith. Last year, a priest refused to give Biden communion because of his radical pro-abortion stance.
Holtz rightly described Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, as the “most radically pro-abortion campaign in history” during the RNC. The two support abortion on demand and want to force taxpayers to pay for it. They also want to force nuns and other religious employers to pay for birth control, including types that may cause abortions, in their employee health plans. Catholic hospitals and doctors could be forced to help participate in the aborting of unborn babies, too, if the Democrat leaders win.
In contrast, Holtz said Trump has been a strong advocate for all Americans, including unborn babies.
For years, many Catholics have expressed concerns about the liberal leanings of Notre Dame, one of the nation’s most prominent Catholic universities. Most recently, the university faced criticism for naming pro-abortion Democrat Pete Buttigieg as a faculty fellow.
In 2019, a group of its professors blasted pro-life advocates as racists during a campus event hosted by the Notre Dame Gender Studies Department. And in 2016, the university faced a strong public outcry after it gave one of its most prestigious awards to Biden, despite his pro-abortion record.
Responding to Jenkins’ comments, National Review writer Alexandra DeSanctis said the Catholic university has its priorities mixed up.
“That Notre Dame’s leadership saw no problem with conferring those honors on politicians who controvert Church teaching but went out of its way to disavow a former football coach for mentioning his work at Notre Dame as he endorsed Trump speaks volumes about the university’s distorted priorities,” she wrote.
