American studies and history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings, who has led the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism for the past 11 years, will step down from the position in June, with Notre Dame historian Darren Dochuk and theologian David Lantigua becoming co-directors. Cummings, the Rev. John A. O'Brien College Professor of History, has been associated with the center for nearly 30 years, starting when she arrived at the University as a doctoral student in history.

Students in Notre Dame’s Master of Divinity program cited a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the emotional highlight of their pilgrimage to Mexico City. Seminarian Johnny Ryan, C.S.C., said getting to experience Mary’s maternal love for everyone was more powerful than he expected even though he was familiar with the story of Mary’s appearance before Juan Diego in a vision in 1531. He brought back prayer cards with the iconic image that thrilled his Latino students at Saint Adalbert…

J.J. Wright wanted to reconceive a project he'd started with the Notre Dame Children's Choir when the annual President's Forum asked the campus to reflect on the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The project was an original composition of the Passion, the Gospel stories leading up to and including Jesus's crucifixion and burial. Wright immediately saw parallels between the religious story and the sexual abuse crisis, ranging from betrayal and cover-up to an unwillingness to stand up for those who are most vulnerable.…

Guests including anti-death penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean, of “Dead Man Walking” fame, and Bishop Alfred Agyenta of Ghana will deliver remarks during the upcoming Catholic Social Tradition Conference from March 23 to 25 at the University of Notre Dame.

Sister Rosemary Connelly, R.S.M., former executive director of Misericordia and lifelong advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities, will receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2023 Laetare Medal — the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics — at Notre Dame’s 178th University Commencement Ceremony on May 21 (Sunday).

A March 6 panel discussion, “Global Catholicism: The Past, Present, and Future of the Church,” drew upon Provost John McGreevy’s book “Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis” and featured comments from several experts.

The McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame has received a $1 million implementation grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish a three-year program titled Savoring the Mystery: Catholic Preaching in an Age of Disaffiliation. This initiative, based out of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy at the McGrath Institute, proposes a renewal of Roman Catholic preaching.

Citing the important work of previous popes and U.S. Catholic bishops over the past 60 years, Cardinal Robert McElroy, bishop of San Diego, led a discussion on the moral challenges of war and nuclear arms at the University of Notre Dame on Wednesday (March 1).   

On Ash Wednesday (Feb. 22), the Notre Dame Folk Choir will release its latest album, “The Passion.” Through song and spoken word, the album’s 40 tracks present the events of Holy Week through the eyes of Jesus’ disciples, led by a character called Memory who guides them as they grieve the loss of their friend.

Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic has assisted efforts to secure authorization to operate a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma despite provisions of Oklahoma law that prohibit charter schools from being affiliated with religious organizations and that require the schools to be “nonsectarian.”

On Thursday (Jan. 19), the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame will mark the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in Washington, D.C., with an expert roundtable discussion on how best to care for and protect mothers, babies and families in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision.

The University of Notre Dame’s eighth annual Walk the Walk Week will take place Jan. 19 (Thursday) through Jan. 27 (Friday).

On Dec. 31, the retired Pope Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95. As the University of Notre Dame joins the Church and the world in mourning Pope Benedict’s passing, the University’s faculty experts reflect on his life and legacy.

In many religions — including the Islamic and Jewish traditions — the heart is the center of thought and the seat of wisdom. And for a growing number of faculty and students of these faiths, their hearts are leading them to the University of Notre Dame.

“The University of Notre Dame joins with the Congregation of Holy Cross in celebrating with the family and friends of Rev. Patrick M. Neary, C.S.C., his appointment by Pope Francis as the new bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota,” Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., said today.

University of Notre Dame students gathered on campus Wednesday (Dec. 7) to celebrate Las Posadas, a Latin American tradition. 

In the mid-2010s, Church and parish leaders from St. Austin Parish in Austin, Texas, realized their 50-year-old school, ministry and rectory maintenance costs would soon overwhelm their financial resources. Updates or reconstruction of the old buildings would cost more than the urban parish could afford, said Patricia Dolese, a graduate of Notre Dame and Texas and a volunteer project manager for the parish.…

From life-changing experiences in the classroom and moments of stillness at the Grotto, to warm remembrances of friends and family, tales of sacred and meaningful moments abound at the University of Notre Dame.