Where are the Catholics?

The meaning of Notre Dame's Catholic identity is a subject of ongoing debate. Some students protest the University’s investments in weapons manufacturers; others pray for an end to abortion. Some may protest deportation, while others protest divorce. Despite these disagreements, defining Notre Dame's Catholic character remains our responsibility as Catholic students and people of faith who value human dignity.

Yet, too often, this identity on campus feels unrecognizable from the Gospel’s call. Our Lady’s University invites leaders like Ron DeSantis, whose Catholicism is more defined by exclusion than a preferential option for the poor, the worker or the migrant. Notre Dame has subsidized trips to the March for Life, but offers nothing for students who want to protest one of the greatest assaults on human dignity we’ve witnessed: the mass deportation of undocumented Americans.

Pope Francis, in Fratelli Tutti, reminds us: “Our response to the arrival of migrating persons can be summarized by four words: welcome, protect, promote and integrate.” The dignity of migrants is not a political stance; it is a Catholic obligation.

So, where are the Catholics? Where is the Catholic outrage when children are torn from their parents? When the immigration system operates with brutal efficiency?

I shouldn’t have to report the gravity of these deportations. Parents are being taken away. ICE has raided restaurants, daycare centers and is gearing up for raids on schools and even churches. So, imagine my shock when I hear the loudest Catholic voices on campus decry “woke” culture instead. 

Many Catholics on this campus are focused away from human dignity — the central value of our faith — and instead focused on politics. The Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, known for merging Catholicism with public policy, hosts speakers like Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a COVID-19 dissenter celebrated by the far-right. Right to Life seems more concerned about transgender people than actual babies. The Irish Rover dedicates its pages to how many students attend “leftist” events but has nothing to say about the suffering caused by the policies of the politicians they support. The Catholics who claim to know what our University’s moral character should be are silent on the most egregious violations of human dignity unfolding before our eyes.

Last year, Notre Dame hosted a drag show, and some Catholics reacted as if Satan was receiving an honorary degree. Students launched petitions, called the president’s office, protested en masse and went on EWTN. But where are they now, when ICE could deport the students sitting next to them? There’s no protest. No petition. No calls to the president. Not even a prayer. 

I am a Catholic; perhaps my difference with the majority of Notre Dame Catholics is that I believe everyone is a child of God. I believe our faith calls us to protect those most vulnerable, not debate their worthiness. Notre Dame, as the country’s most prominent Catholic university, has a unique power to shape moral discourse. We could be setting the standard for what human dignity truly means. We could put an end to the mass deportation of our neighbors, our classmates. Instead, too many choose to waste the power we have as Notre Dame Catholics debating whether professors should discuss critical race theory or if trans students should be admitted.

Catholics have always disagreed on what it means to live out the faith. That debate has shaped our history, from the Council of Nicaea to Vatican II. Pope Francis himself has said, “If there were no differences of opinion, that wouldn’t be normal.” We will disagree. Some will define humanity through rigid gender constructs, others through the struggle for justice. Some will focus on the unborn, others on the mothers who carry them. But if we truly believe in human dignity, then we must act when it is under attack. We must demand more from our university, from our Church and from ourselves. We must recognize that the most vulnerable among us — the immigrants, refugees and undocumented students sitting beside us in class — are not just a political issue. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. And right now, they need us more than ever.

Notre Dame’s Catholic identity cannot be exploited by the far-right who wants us to ignore what makes our faith unique: our commitment to human dignity. The Gospel is clear in Matthew 25:35: “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” If we fail to live up to this commandment, we betray not only our undocumented classmates but the very faith we claim to uphold. It’s time for Notre Dame’s Catholics to reorient our focus on those who need us now more than ever.