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The University of Notre Dame must provide birth control to employees and students after a federal appeals court ruled Friday, a move the school says will force it to violate its religious beliefs. In a blow to religious colleges and universities across the country, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago denied Notre Dame's request for an injunction to the ObamaCare birth control mandate that requires the school to provide coverage for contraception. The injunction would have given Notre Dame a temporary reprieve from the birth control mandate, as the Roman Catholic school challenges the rule in court....

An assistant football coach at the University of Connecticut who made a reference to Jesus in huddles has resigned, the school said. Ernest T. Jones's resignation was effective immediately, according to a statement released Monday from UConn Athletic Communications. "The University or the Division of Athletics will have no further comment on the matter as it is personnel related," officials said. Jones made headlines when he said that UConn's players will understand that, "Jesus Christ should be in the center of our huddle." The comment created a firestorm of controversy that forced President Susan Herbst to release a statement on...

In a powerful statement encouraging fidelity and strong Catholic identity in Catholic higher education, Pope Francis today urged the University of Notre Dame to be an “uncompromising witness… to the Church’s moral teaching” and to resist “efforts, from whatever quarter, to dilute that indispensable witness,” according to a translation by Vatican Radio.

I missed this until late yesterday, but the New York Times offered space on Thursday to Notre Dame philosophy professor Gary Gutting on the topic of abortion. Gutting, who also edits the Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews for the Catholic university in Indiana, argued that Pope Francis really should get with modern times and show love to women by allowing for abortion. According to Professor Gutting, the lack of “an all-out effort to prevent spontaneous abortions” and the “purely biological” humanity of the fetus means that the Catholic Church shouldn’t really care whether babies get aborted or not. Small wonder the...

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, May 21, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a coordinated defense of religious liberty, at 11 a.m. 43 Roman Catholic organizations filed a dozen lawsuits nationwide to strike down the HHS mandate. The plaintiffs include some of the most significant organs of the U.S. church, including the Archdioceses of New York, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis; the Dioceses of Dallas, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ft. Worth, the Michigan Catholic Conference, Pittsburgh, and Rockville Centre; the University of Notre Dame, Catholic University of America, and the Franciscan University of Steubenville; and Our Sunday Visitor. The Archdiocese of Washington has created a...

...But on Jan. 2, 2014, Notre Dame told faculty and staff that a third-party administrator would notify them about access to “free” contraception and other mandated provisions of the federal law. The news marked the university’s failure to obtain emergency relief from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, after a U.S. district court refused to issue a temporary injunction before the Jan. 1 deadline. “Having been denied a stay, Notre Dame is advising employees that, pursuant to the Affordable Care Act, our third-party administrator is required to notify plan participants of coverage provided under its contraceptives payment program,”...

Leave it to the Fighting Irish to vanquish the sheepish, the snobbish and the priggish. This month, the University of Notre Dame (UND) re-filed its lawsuit “for relief against” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate which is set to take effect January 1, 2014. Forget the Audacity of Hope. There’s nothing audacious or courageous about a president who flits about, attacking religious freedom, while he poses for selfies during funeral ceremonies. Let’s come together under the Courage of Catholics at the University of Notre Dame. Certainly, the Catholic Church and some of her leaders have stumbled....

The Rev. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame, explained in a recent article in The Observer that he created an Oversight Committee on Diversity and Inclusion to create a welcoming atmosphere on campus that “go[es] across all areas” of campus for students, faculty, and staff. He said that the committee “seeks to implement concrete changes on campus, but noticeable progress will not occur overnight.”In the article, Fr. Jenkins is quoted lauding the steps already taken towards this goal:I think that we have made progress. The creation of the GLBTQ group [Prism-ND] is a big step forward, and I hope that’s successful…...

An ecumenical group of religious historians and other scholars will convene at the University of Notre Dame’s McKenna Hall on Dec. 5-6 (Thursday-Friday) for a conference titled “Catholics and Mormons: A New Dialogue.” The conference will explore relationships among Catholics and Mormons as their churches are increasingly allied in common social, political and relief efforts. Its themes will include “The Lay of the Land: Contemporary Mormonism and Catholicism,” “Catholicism and Mormonism in Historical Context,” “Revelation: Scriptures, Traditions, and Authoritative Teachings” and “Theologies of Encounter, Unity, and Diversity.”

When Frank Tripucka first arrived in Denver in 1960 to work for the newly-formed Broncos of the newly-formed American Football League, he was only supposed to help assist head coach Frank Filchock in a coaching capacity. Funny thing about that. Tripucka was apparently the best option the team had at quarterback. Thus, though he hadn't played in the NFL since 1952, he took over the starting spot and proceeded to throw for a career- and league-high 3,038 yards that season. Tripucka -- who died Thursday morning at the age of 85 -- started for two more seasons (and led the...

The president of Ohio State University said Notre Dame was never invited to join the Big Ten because the university's priests are not good partners, joking that 'those damn Catholics' can't be trusted, according to a recording of a meeting he attended late last year. Gordon Gee also took shots at schools in the Southeastern Conference and the University of Louisville, according to the recording of the December meeting of the school's Athletic Council that The Associated Press obtained under a public records request. The university called the statements inappropriate and said Gee is undergoing a 'remediation plan' because of...

Notre Dame QB Golson Allegedly Kicked Out For Academic Violation Everett Golson, whose heroics under center last season led the Fighting Irish to the BCS Championship game, is no longer enrolled at Notre Dame due to academic violations, according to the Chicago Tribune. The news broke late Saturday night, with sources telling the Tribune Golson had committed a Residence Life violation before clarifying to reporter Brian Hamilton that an academic violation was the reason for Golson's departure from Notre Dame. That's an important distinction, because as NCAA bylaws expert John Infante points out, an academic violation would render Golson ineligible...

I am healthy in body and mind, and I am filled with love for my wife and children. I love life and expect nothing beyond the perpetuation of my race and my mind. However, in the evening of this life, in front of huge dangers for my French and European country, I feel the duty to act while I still have strength. I think I need to sacrifice myself to break the lethargy that plagues us. I offer the rest of my life with the intention of protest and foundation. I chose a highly symbolic place, Notre Dame de Paris...

Candida Moss, a professor of early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame and a practicing Catholic, wants to shatter what she calls the “myth” of martyrdom in the Christian faith. Sunday school tales of early Christians being rounded up at their secret catacomb meetings and thrown to the lions by evil Romans are mere fairy tales, Moss writes in a new book. In fact, in the first 250 years of Christianity, Romans mostly regarded the religion's practitioners as meddlesome members of a superstitious cult. The government actively persecuted Christians for only about 10 years, Moss suggests, and even then...

Two weeks ago, you could say St. Patrick got the short shrift, for because March 17 fell on a Lenten Sunday, the patron saint of Ireland was not celebrated in church, at least not liturgically. Of course, while some priests did in fact mention Patrick (the wise ones, that is) I doubt on this greatest Christian feast of the year, that few will even think about the "feast" of that other great (Fighting) Irish icon, Knute Rockne. For as 3-31-31 (the day Rockne died) flips around to 3-31-13, Christ's triumph over death and evil certainly trumps over Rockne's victories over...

Notre Dame de Paris, the Gothic cathedral that is one of the most famous churches in the world, turns 850 years old this year and has gotten a new set of nine bells for a birthday present. The new bells range in size from 767 kilos (1691 lbs) to 1.91 tons. They were blessed in a ceremony at the cathedral on February 2nd (see this YouTube for the full ceremony; the top comment lists the times they were rung), but since they were lined up in the nave, their rings were only heard individually when their clappers were struck against...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Notre Dame is joining the Atlantic Coast Conference a season earlier than expected, following the split among the Big East's football schools and seven Catholic schools that are leaving to form a basketball-focused conference. Notre Dame announced the move Tuesday, six months after it surprised the college sports world by opting to join the ACC in all sports except football and hockey.

According to an article in The Observer, graduating seniors at the University of Notre Dame have mixed feelings about New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan delivering the 2013 Commencement address. While the article profiled three students who were supportive of the address, and three who were not, it gave more space to the students who were disappointed with the selection. Some are concerned that Cardinal Dolan's address won’t be relevant for students. Said senior Camille Suarez: I feel like this choice isn’t perfect for this moment. I was hoping Notre Dame would use this opportunity to kind of move the University...

Eight feminists flashed their breasts in the heart of Paris's Notre Dame cathedral on Tuesday to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI's shock resignation announcement. The members of the Femen movement entered the Gothic cathedral dressed in long coats which they whipped off inside while ringing three bells near the altar. "Pope no more!" they cried. "No more homophobe" and "Bye bye Benedict!" Scandalised visitors voiced their disapproval. "This is a sacred place, you can't strip here," said a Frenchwoman....

Of course it ended in a cliffhanger -- and also raised more questions than it put to bed. As the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax saga entered its third week, and with America seemingly desperate to finally look away, Part I of Dr. Phil McGraw's two-part grilling of admitted hoax mastermind Ronaiah Tuiasosopo turned out to be largely an appetizer for Part 2. The Dr. Phil show ended Thursday with McGraw confronting Tuiasosopo about the latter's assertion he was the actual voice of Lennay Kekua. Kekua is the character Tuiasosopo created and Te'o purportedly fell in love with, through on-line contact...