Young Catholics Protest Fr. Martin at Notre Dame
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, TFP Student Action held a peaceful protest at the gates of the University of Notre Dame to oppose a talk by Fr. James Martin, S.J.
Young Catholics gathered at the intersection of Angela Boulevard and Notre Dame Avenue as Fr. Martin spoke inside the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. They prayed the holy Rosary and stood along the public sidewalk holding banners and signs.
One banner read:
“We support Catholic teaching & reject Fr. Martin’s attempt to normalize homosexual acts.”
Another stated:
“Fr. Martin’s bridge to sin offends God.”
John Paul Tomba, who attended the protest, said, “Despite the controversy surrounding the Rosary rally, most of the reactions we got were positive.”
Reflecting on Notre Dame’s Irish heritage, another Catholic remarked, “While the university is associated with Ireland, it now has a snake,” and suggested that the spiritual assistance of St. Patrick is needed to expel it—a reference to the traditional story of St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland.
The Rosary rally sought to call attention to the serious contradiction between Fr. Martin’s public advocacy and Catholic moral teaching, particularly regarding homosexuality and transgender ideology.
Fr. Martin’s Record
Fr. Martin has emphasized the importance of making people who identify as LGBT “feel welcome” within the Church. He is the founder of Outreach, “a Catholic ministry and website about the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning Catholics within the Church.”
Fr. Martin’s appearance at Notre Dame consisted of a conversation with Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Global Catholic Research Institute. Cummings is a faculty member associated with Gender Studies and is the author of New Women of the Old Faith: Gender and American Catholic Identity in the Progressive Era.
She has also spoken in favor of canonizing Fr. Mychal Judge, a Franciscan friar who publicly identified as homosexual. Discussing Fr. Judge, Cummings revealed her misguided notion of sanctity, stating what would make him a “relevant saint for our times is his openness about his own homosexuality. Canonizing this people’s saint would compel the Catholic Church to be more welcoming to LGBT Catholics.”
The pairing of Fr. Martin and Cummings reflects the broader ideological currents challenging traditional Catholic teaching on homosexuality, gender, and Catholic identity.
Insult to Our Lady
Notre Dame was founded under the patronage of Our Lady. This raises a serious question: Why would a Catholic university provide a public platform to someone whose views contradict Catholic teaching?
If Notre Dame claims to embody the Catholic intellectual tradition, why give a platform to a priest whose public advocacy undermines the virtue of holy purity within the Church?
Fr. Martin: A Symbol
Fr. Martin has become a symbol of the LGBT movement within the Church and of efforts to change Catholic teaching. However, God’s truth does not change with the mood of the world.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law” (CCC 2357).
“Remaining silent about the issue would amount to passively accepting the public normalization of a grave moral error,” said Evan Olwell.
Call to Catholic Courage
Catholics should not remain indifferent when institutions identified with the Catholic Church provide platforms for ideas that contradict perennial Catholic teaching.
More than 15,000 people signed TFP Student Action’s petition, urging the University of Notre Dame to disinvite Fr. Martin and “find a replacement speaker who respects God’s law.”
Sacred Scripture and the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church throughout the past 2,000 years bear witness to the Church’s perennial moral teaching, which faithful Catholics will always follow, defend, and proclaim.
The Rosary rally was also an appeal for Our Lady's intercession—that Catholics might always receive the heroic courage to defend the Faith in public.