Free Republic

Rights: The House Minority Leader says self-insurance is no protection against the government's contraceptive mandate, while California's junior senator says people have a right to be insured but no right to practice their faith. Lost in the phony "compromise" on the Health and Human Services mandate on religious institutions being forced to pay for contraceptive services was the fact that many such institutions are self-insured. So making insurance companies pay instead is a distinction without a difference. Sometimes these religious institutions are their own insurance company. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who once complained that her fellow Catholics had this...

Twenty-five Notre Dame faculty members--led by the university’s top ethics expert, and including some of the school’s most eminent scholars--have signed a statement declaring that President Barack Obama’s latest version of his administration’s mandate that all health insurance plans in the United States must cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions, is “a grave violation of religious freedom and cannot stand." The statement—put out on the letterhead of the University of Notre Dame Law School--is also signed by leading scholars from other major American colleges and universities, including Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown, Brigham Young, Yeshiva and...

Notre Dame football legend "Rudy" charged in alleged pump-and-dump stock schemeUpdated: Friday, December 16, 2011, 4:36 PM Daniel Ruettiger, the former walk-on football player at the University of Notre Dame who inspired the 1993 film “Rudy,” agreed to pay $382,000 to resolve U.S. regulatory claims he defrauded investors in his sports-drink company by touting fake taste tests and sales. Ruettiger and 12 others generated more than $11 million in illicit profits by artificially pumping up the stock of Rudy Nutrition, the firm Ruettiger founded, the SEC said in a complaint filed today at U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. The...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- President Barack Obama's health care overhaul should be changed so that religious schools such as the University of Notre Dame aren't required to go against their beliefs and provide birth control to students and employees, the school president says. The Rev. John Jenkins wrote a letter Wednesday to Kathleen Sebelius asking the Obama administration to broaden the definition of religious employer currently under consideration to ensure the school can continue its provide health care without going against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. He said the change in definition of religious employer is far narrower...

In 2009 Father John Jenkins the president of Notre Dame decided to invite Barack Obama a man with abortion support blood dripping from his hands to speak at the school’s annual commencement ceremony. At the time genuine Catholics around the country including Catholic bishops pleaded with the “stiff necked” Jenkins not to honor a man who is the very embodiment of opposition to Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life. Jenkins was not only unmoved but elected to award Obama an honorary J.D. which was hardly necessary. Moreover when 88 Catholic protestors including at least two priests knelt on the...

GRANGER, Ind. — A SWAT team has responded to the Northbrook Shores subdivision in Granger after shots were reportedly fired inside a home at 10135 Glynwater Court. The St. Joseph County assessor confirmed to WSBT the home is owned by Corwin Brown, a former Notre Dame football defensive coach. A neighbor said Brown's wife and children safely made it out of the home.

More Cracks in the Golden DomeThe University of Notre Dame's ongoing confusions In 2001, the University of Notre Dame hired George O’Leary as its football coach: a position regarded by some alums, boosters, and board members as only slightly less significant than that held by the university’s president, and by others as of undoubtedly greater importance. Shortly after the hire, the Manchester Union Leader disclosed that O’Leary had engaged in some serious résumé padding, including claims for a master’s degree he had not earned from a university that did not exist. O’Leary’s tenure as head coach of the Fighting Irish...

BREAKING: Controversial pro-abortion funding Notre Dame board member steps down by Kathleen Gilbert NOTRE DAME, Indiana, June 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After the school’s failed attempt at containing the scandal, the newest member of the University of Notre Dame’s board of trustees has resigned following the revelation that she contributed thousands of dollars to a prominent pro-abortion political group. Investment magnate Roxanne Martino, an alumna of the school, complained of the negative attention drawn to her contributions. “I dearly love my alma mater and remain fully committed to all aspects of Catholic teaching and to the mission of Notre Dame,”...

During the firestorm that followed the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama two commencements ago, the university’s president, Father John Jenkins, wrote a letter to the Class of 2009 explaining his position. He stated his sadness that the honors bestowed on Obama had been taken as “ambiguity in our position on matters of Catholic teaching.” Notre Dame, he asserted, “was unequivocally committed to the sanctity of human life and to its protection from conception to natural death.” Remember those words: “unequivocally committed” with no “ambiguity in our position.” How are these words reconciled with the university’s...

Talk about digging a hole for yourself. This is what the office of the President at Notre Dame is sending in response to people asking about why Roxanne Martino was invited to sit on their board: Ms. Martino (along with her husband, Rocco) is a Notre Dame graduate, and she is fully supportive of Church teaching on the sanctity of life.She has through the years contributed to organizations that provide a wide range of important services and support to women. She did not realize, however, that several of these organizations also take a pro-choice position.This is not her personal position,...

Notre Dame Fellows elect a new Trustee who gave thousands to pro-abortion groups, including Emily's List with its focus on "electing pro-choice Democratic women to office." The Cardinal Newman Society last week reported the stunning news that the Chicago businesswoman just elected to the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Roxanne M. Martino, has in recent years contributed sizable sums to pro-abortion groups. The largest contributions, totaling $16,150.00 between 2005 and 2008, went to Emily’s List. There is no ambiguity about the purpose of that organization. It declares: The mission is simple, really: Emily’s List is dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic...

How much did it cost Notre Dame to get rid of Charlie Weis? Start with $6,638,403. And keep counting until December 2015. Notre Dame made an initial "termination payment" to Weis of more than $6.6 million and will continue to cut smaller checks to its former football coach for the foreseeable future, according to federal tax documents obtained by the Tribune on Thursday. Weis' apparent buyout is revealed on the Form 990 Notre Dame must submit to the Internal Revenue Service. It was made available to the Tribune upon request. Weis' total severance pay — which was subject to debate...

New Notre Dame trustee donated thousands to pro-abort EMILY’s Listby Kathleen Gilbert NOTRE DAME, Indiana, May 19, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The newest member of the University of Notre Dame’s board of trustees has dedicated thousands of dollars to supporting pro-abortion groups, including the pro-choice political action committee EMILY’s List. The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) broke the story May 11 that Roxanne M. Martino, president and CEO of Aurora Investment Management and Notre Dame alumna, had donated a total of $16,150 to EMILY’s List, an organization dedicated to “electing pro-choice Democratic women to office.” Notre Dame announced Martino’s election last month...

Criminal charges against anti-Obama protesters on the University of Notre Dame campus two years ago have been dropped, but the conflict has new life. One of the demonstrators, who was arrested but never charged, this week filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the university and St. Joseph County police, alleging her constitutional free speech rights were violated because Barack Obama supporters were allowed to demonstrate without being arrested or forced off the campus. The plaintiff, Karen Torres, is a 54-year-old grandmother who has no ties to South Bend or the university. She and her husband, Sonny, drove to town...

Conflicted: University of Notre Dame honors family planning group, then pro-life leader by Kathleen Gilbert SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 6, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While the University of Notre Dame has taken several highly public steps to reaffirm its commitment to pro-life values in the last two years, the school sent mixed messages late last month after it honored a charity health organization that promotes condoms and emergency contraception, and then a top pro-life Catholic leader, on successive days. According to the independent university newspaper The Observer, the nonprofit organization Partners In Health (PIH) was honored on April 27 with the...

In this special bulletin, we are pleased to report that, after two years, charges have been dropped against the ND 88. Counsel for Notre Dame and for the ND88 announced today a settlement pursuant to which the criminal charges against the ND88 have been dismissed. Under the agreement, the ND88 agreed not to sue the University for damages and the University in return agreed to ask the prosecutor to dismiss the charges, which he has done.This is a notable victory for the defendants, who refused to take an easy way out, and a prudent backing off by the University....

... On Thursday, Michael Dvorak, St. Joseph County, Indiana prosecutor, dismissed the criminal trespass charges that he has pressed against almost all of the pro-life protesters, known as the “ND88.” The individuals were arrested for trespassing when they entered Notre Dame’s campus in peaceful and prayerful protest against the University’s bestowing honors on President Barack Obama at the 2009 Commencement. Dvorak dropped the charges as part of an agreement between the Thomas More Society and the University.

Charges Dropped Against Anti-Abortion Protesters at University’s Commencement with President ObamaMay 5, 2011 (Chicago)… Today, Michael Dvorak, St. Joseph County, Indiana prosecutor, dismissed the criminal trespass charges that he has pressed over the last two years against almost all of the pro-life protesters, known as the “ND88,” the individuals arrested for trespassing when they entered upon Notre Dame’s campus in peaceful and prayerful protest against the University’s bestowing honors on President Barack Obama at the 2009 Commencement. Dvorak dropped the charges as part of an agreement between the Thomas More Society and the University. “This is a big step forward...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Even Maya Moore's magic wasn't enough for Connecticut this time.Sophomore guard Skylar Diggins scored 28 points and hot-shooting Notre Dame upset UConn 72-63 on Sunday night, ending the brilliant career of Moore and the Huskies' quest for a third straight national championship.Ten years after their last title, the Irish will be playing for another one Tuesday night against Texas A&M, which beat Stanford 63-62 in the first semifinal.Notre Dame was 0-3 against its Big East rival this season but the Irish had all the answers this time for the Huskies, who lost for just the second time in...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Department of Labor has cited the University of Notre Dame for safety violations in the wake of the death of student-employee Declan Sullivan last October. Sullivan died after strong winds toppled a scissor-lift he was standing on while videotaping a Notre Dame football practice on October 27. He was 20 years old. "We've issued a knowing citation, which indicates the most serious safety violation," said Department of Labor Commissioner Lori Torres during a morning news briefing at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. "The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrated that the university made a decision to utilize its scissor lifts...

There's been a lot of discussion in certain circles on the topic of President Obama's "eligibility." (Incidentally, Dr. William Oddie cogently argues in a recent commentary that Obama is an enemy of the Catholic Church. Click here to read it.) Charles E. Rice, professor emeritus at Notre Dame Law School — and author of the book What Happened to Notre Dame? — argues that it's time for a new approach on the eligibility issue. His commentary is reprinted below.

Categorized | Those Zany Heretics Another View of The Notre Dame Scandal - The March for Life Posted on 07 May 2009 by Steve Skojec Steve Sanborn, founder of the Crossroads pro-life walk, is sort of my brother-in-law, once removed. His sister Maureen is married to my brother Matt, and while we don’t see each other very often, we do keep in touch sporadically online.Last year, Maureen made me aware that Steve was putting together a documentary called “Thine Eyes: A Witness to the March for Life.�  Since then, I’ve been following along as the film progressed, with filming...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- At the March for Life last Friday, pro-life advocates confronted Father John Jenkins. He is the Notre Dame university president who is under fire for allowing President Barack Obama to give the college's commencement speech and by giving him an honorary degree. Jenkins participated in the March for Life for the first time as a way of making amends but he was confronted by pro-life advocates for the fallout from the event.Specifically, they are upset that he has not gotten Notre Dame officials to withdraw the charges against the 88 pro-life protestors arrested on campus...

Over the years governors have given Christmastime pardons to people who have been convicted of some of the most serious crimes on the books. In Wisconsin for example, within the past twenty years at least two murderers were pardoned by the State’s governors. Civil pardons for this kind of offenses happen every year. Acting in a strictly civil capacity, governors have shown the type of mercy and compassion to those who have committed these crimes and set them on their way back to their new life. While such mercy and compassion is also the professed position of the Catholic Church...

Notre Dame’s practice Tuesday gave coach Brian Kelly a good indication that the Irish (7-5) are ready to play Miami (7-5) in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas. Notre Dame completes practices in South Bend today before the team disperses for Christmas, and the coaches and players will reconvene in El Paso on Sunday. The Irish will head to Texas with no major injury issues. Kelly is also making sure there is no chance his players will wander into Juarez, Mexico, which is plagued by drug-related murders, by taking their passports. “That’s serious. Don’t go over...

The Big East's football expansion plans leave the conference with 17 universities, including non-Football members. That's a terrible number for scheduling; the only way the basketball teams can schedule an even number of games is if they play every other team only once. 18 teams would allow three divisions of six teams each. Any team would play the other five teams in its division twice, and one half of the twelve other teams in the conference. 18 sounds like worsening the problem of too many teams, but having three divisions could actually restore some rivalries, and return the conference to...

A 19-year-old Northbrook woman died of an apparent suicide nine days after telling University of Notre Dame police that she had been sexually attacked by a football player in a dorm room, the Tribune has learned. Elizabeth "Lizzy" Seeberg, a freshman at neighboring St. Mary's College who had battled depression, apparently overdosed on prescription medication in her own room during the third week of classes in September. The player, meanwhile, has remained on the field. More than two months later, Notre Dame refuses to publicly acknowledge the case, and what actions university officials have taken to investigate her allegation remain...

A Notre Dame student killed Wednesday in a tower collapse tapped out two chilling Twitter posts before his fatal 30-foot plunge. In the first post, Declan Sullivan, who was perched on a scissor lift to film a Fighting Irish football practice, made a dark joke predicting his horrific fate. "Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well today will be fun at work. I guess I’ve lived long enough," Sullivan wrote at 3:22 p.m., just as practice was getting started. More than 40-minutes later, the 20-year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., was frozen with fear as wind-gusts approached 50 mph....

American Life League 28 October 2010Washington, DC – American Life League president Judie Brown issued the following statement on the news that contributions to the University of Notre Dame fell by over $120 million during the fiscal year in which [Alleged] President Barack Obama, a zealous abortion advocate, delivered a speech and was honored at commencement ceremonies.As one of the first responders to the scandal, American Life League and its supporters insisted that the university had forfeited its right to be called Catholic and thus petitioned for the school’s removal from The Official Catholic Directory.“It is heartening to hear that Notre...

Thursday October 28, 2010 South Bend Council Rejects Pro-Homosexual Employment Discrimination Bill By Peter J. SmithSOUTH BEND, Indiana, October 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The South Bend Common Council has decided to vote down a proposed bill which could have forced employers, especially those of faith-based companies, to hire homosexuals.The Council voted 6-3 to defeat Bill 30-10, which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s employment non-discrimination code.The city’s Human Rights Commission unanimously supported the measure, which was sponsored by homosexual activists under the banner of South Bend Equality. Had Bill 30-10 passed, the Human Rights...

In April, 6' 8" football recuit Matt James fell off a 5th story balcony in Florida. He was scheduled to attend Notre Dame this fall. Later blood alcohol tests found him to have blood alcohol levels twice the legal limit. On October 26, 2010, student manager for the football team died when the tower he was on fell over. The conditions were unsafe for the student to be on the platform -- the platform was unsafe for winds over 25 mph. Winds were gusting to 50+ mph. This was the tragedy of Delcan Sullivan. It seems odd that there have...

An Academic “Ruling Class” Fr. Norman Weslin, O.S., at the complaint of Notre Dame, was arrested in May 2009 and charged as a criminal for peacefully entering the Notre Dame campus to offer his prayer of reparation for Notre Dame’s conferral of its highest honor on President Obama, the most relentlessly pro-abortion public official in the world. The university refuses to ask the St. Joseph County prosecutor to drop the charges against Fr. Weslin and the others arrested, still known as the ND 88 although one, Linda Schmidt, died of cancer this past March. Judge Michael P. Scopelitis, of St....

Thomas More Society Charges Forward in ND88 Case, Winning the Right to Take a Deposition of Former Notre Dame Official Posted by Thomas More Society (September 22, 2010 at 9:03 am) For Immediate Release South Bend, Ind.—Late Monday, a St. Joseph County Circuit Court Judge ruled that attorneys from the Thomas More Society may depose a former official recently fired by the University of Notre Dame—a key ruling for the defense in the case of the “ND88,” the 88 pro-life demonstrators arrested at the University for protesting President Obama’s receiving honors at the commencement ceremonies in 2009. Chief Judge Michael...

Wednesday September 22, 2010 Former Notre Dame Official Will Now Testify in ND 88 Case By Peter J. SmithSOUTH BEND, Indiana, September 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Attorneys representing the 88 pro-life demonstrators arrested at the University of Notre Dame for protesting President Barack Obama at the 2009 commencement ceremonies, won the right Monday to require a former ND official to testify under oath about the treatment of the pro-life protestors.In St. Joseph County Circuit Court, Chief Judge Michael Scopelitis ruled that Thomas More Society's (TMS) special counsel, Tom Dixon, may depose William Kirk, former associate vice president for residential life...

Monday September 20, 2010 Notre Dame Protesters Win Right to Individual Jury Trials SOUTH BEND, Indiana, September 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 88 pro-lifers (known as the ND88) who were arrested on the campus of the University of Notre Dame last year during President Obama’s controversial visit have won the right to have their own individual jury trials, thanks to the efforts of the Thomas More Society. The prosecution had sought instead to consolidate the cases, and thus expedite the legal process - a request that was denied by Chief Judge Michael Scopelitis.According to the TMS, the longer the trials...

Noted Catholic scholar and Notre Dame Law School professor emeritus Charles Rice is not happy about a Labor Day e-statement issued by his niece, Kathleen Rice, the Nassau County district attorney and a candidate for New York attorney general. Sadly, Kathleen Rice is pro-abortion. When asked by Paul Likoudis, news editor of The Wanderer, for comment on the candidate's e-statement, Charles Rice responded as follows: Dear Mr. Likoudis: You asked my opinion about Kathleen Rice's e-mail statement for Labor Day. Kathleen, as you know, is my niece. She is the district attorney of Nassau County and is running for New...

"You are already satisfied, you have already grown rich; you have become kings without us...We are fools on Christ's account...we are weak but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute" --1 Cor. 4: 7-13. "I saw a lot of kelly green shirts. It's cool. It was nice to have that crowd of 81,000...[so] obviously into it, rooting for your team" --Fighting Irish Coach Brian Kelly, when asked what struck him the most about coaching his first game at Notre Dame Stadium. Sitting in Mass Saturday morning, and listening to the day's first reading from Paul's...

"There is, however, another angle. For many people, Notre Dame symbolized more than just 'the Catholic thing.' It symbolized the need -- in a culture of meaninglessness -- for a champion, for somebody to stand for 'the permanent things.' The Fighting Irish are my team on Saturday, many would say, because Notre Dame means something. When you pulled for Notre Dame, you pulled for a truth...[for] the one place that held fast" --Charles E. Rice, Notre Dame Law Professor Emeritus, from his book What Happened to Notre Dame? "This school, even though it's a Catholic church school, it's created...

The University of Notre Dame says it has fired an electrical engineering professor because he improperly spent more than $190,000 in federal grant money and matching university funds to buy cameras and accessories to take pornographic pictures. But the professor, Oliver M. Collins, contends the university fired him unjustly and cannot prove he took the sexually explicit and pornographic images, only that the photographs were stored on computers for which he was responsible. Collins filed a lawsuit last month in federal court in South Bend alleging he was improperly fired. He seeks more than $75,000 in damages.

Thursday August 12, 2010 Catholic University Turns Down Obama Appearance Over Timing Issues By Kathleen GilbertAUSTIN, Texas, August 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - St. Edward's University, a Catholic institution of higher education that shares its founder with the University of Notre Dame, has rejected a request by President Obama to give a speech at the school. University spokeswoman Mischelle Diaz stated that "St. Edward's University is honored to have been considered a potential venue for President Obama's recent visit to Austin," but "Regretfully, it was not a good time for us to consider this." "With the short notice provided -...

"The University is where the Church does its thinking" --former president of Notre Dame, Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh. "The Catholic university today must be a university in the full modern sense of the word...[it] must have a true autonomy and academic freedom in the face of authority of any kind, lay or clerical, external to the academic community itself" --from the 1967 "Land O'Lakes Statement," sponsored and co-written by Fr. Hesburgh, which severed Notre Dame and many Catholic universities' juridical ties with the Church. "The fundamental dogma of the Enlightenment is that man must overcome the prejudices inherited from tradition;...free...

SOUTH BEND The son of former Notre Dame standout Joe Montana was among 11 Fighting Irish athletes arrested on misdemeanor charges of underage drinking at a party Friday night. A total of 44 people were arrested after city police responded to a call about a fight near a roadway and discovered the party, said St. Joseph County Police assistant chief Bill Redman. Two non-athletes face a misdemeanor charge of providing alcohol to minors. The arrests were handled by state excise police, who didn't immediately return a message seeking comment on Saturday. The most recognizable athletes arrested were Nate Montana, a...

"The priority for our players is to recognize they are at the University of Notre Dame to play for Our Lady" --new head football coach of Notre Dame, Brian Kelly, in his (fundraising) letter to the alumni. "Father Jenkins' decision [to invite President Obama to speak at Notre Dame and award him an honorary degree] is a deliberate thumbing of the collective nose at the Catholic Church...Notre Dame has forfeited the right to be called a Catholic University" --from recently deceased professor of philosophy, Ralph McInerny, who taught for over 50 years at Notre Dame (and who recalled when the department's...

The conference expansion talk surrounding Notre Dame joining the Big Ten is an issue that has been mostly separated into two factions pitted against each other, there are those in the yay column and those in the nay. Those in the nay are arguing for Notre Dame to keep its traditional independence. They are usually those who cheer for one team loyally, the golden domers. Those in the yay argue for Notre Dame to join a conference. This group is usually the fans that cheer for two teams every Saturday in the fall—their personal favorite, and whoever is playing the...

A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Notre Dame and Miami are close to a deal for a three-game series, starting with a game at Soldier Field in 2012 and continuing with a home-and-home likely in 2014 and 2016.

When the BCS meetings took place in Scottsdale, Ariz., recently, conference expansion was not officially on the table, but it didn't take long to notice the elephant in the room. The American Association of Universities seems focused on using the Big Ten as a vehicle to dominate and increase its revenues from college sports. Notre Dame could be the cherry on top of its expansion sundae. The Irish may no longer have their perch on top of the national rankings but they still captivate their legion of followers. They are a brand name that helped build college sports, that could...

"It's been a while since I saw a priest here in a Roman Collar. Except Fr. Hesburgh, but he's not on campus much since his retirement." "So you're at Notre Dame?" "My husband's doing graduate work." She hesitated. "In theology..." "Good God!" — Kate, to Father Dowling, from A Cardinal OffenseWhat he objected to was substituting generic excellence — conceding that was what the university was getting with these clowns... — and an excellence peculiar to Notre Dame. "They [the current faculty] would be equally happy or unhappy at Meatball Tech, providing the salary was as astronomical as here." "You...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Is the CIA's secret program of drone strikes against terrorists in Pakistan and Yemen a case of illegal assassinations or legitimate self defense? That was a central question Wednesday as the program came under fire from several legal scholars who called for greater oversight by Congress, arguing the attacks may violate international law and put intelligence officers at risk of prosecution for murder in foreign countries. The CIA strikes are "a clear violation of international law," said Mary Ellen O'Connell, law professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, who added that going after terrorists should...

ND 88 attorney may subpoena Notre Dame officials, judge rules Dr. Alan Keyes is arrested on Notre Dame's campus. Credit: Thomas Uebbing. South Bend, Ind., Apr 27, 2010 / 06:08 am (CNA).- The legal defense team for the 88 pro-life protesters arrested at the University of Notre Dame may now seek testimony from university officials after a judge’s ruling lifted a stay.The protesters, called the ND88, were arrested for trespassing during their demonstrations against the May 2009 commencement speech of President Barack Obama, who was granted an honorary degree by the university.St. Joseph County, Indiana Superior Court Chief Judge Michael...

CINCINNATI (AP) - A "drunk and belligerent" 17-year-old Notre Dame football recruit was killed in a fall from a fifth-floor hotel balcony during his senior-year spring break in Florida, authorities said Saturday.