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(RNS) — After weeks of backlash from anti-abortion Catholics, the University of Notre Dame associate professor who had been appointed to lead the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies will not be accepting the post, a dean announced in an email Thursday (Feb. 26).

Susan Ostermann, a scholar of regulatory compliance in South Asia, had contributed to opinion pieces promoting abortion rights and arguing that anti-abortion laws are built on lies and white supremacy. 

“At present, the focus on my appointment risks overshadowing the vital work the Institute performs, which it should be allowed to pursue without undue distraction,” wrote Ostermann in a statement shared by Mary Gallagher, dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs, in an email announcing the decision.

More than a dozen Catholic bishops, as well as Notre Dame students and alumni and other anti-abortion Catholics, had vocally opposed the appointment since it was announced Jan. 8, arguing that the university’s Catholic identity is under threat due to the appointment and other decisions made by the administration. 

On Tuesday, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, Bishop Kevin Rhoades led a rosary and prayer service on Notre Dame’s campus attended by about 50 people opposed to the appointment. Another protest had been planned by students for Friday. Though Rhoades is the bishop of Notre Dame’s diocese, the university is run by the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Rhoades had made his opposition to Ostermann’s appointment clear in a Feb. 11 statement, writing, “Professor Ostermann’s extensive public advocacy of abortion rights and her disparaging and inflammatory remarks about those who uphold the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death go against a core principle of justice that is central to Notre Dame’s Catholic identity and mission.”

Rhoades was joined in his criticism by more than a dozen other bishops, including several who graduated from the school. Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, weighed in, writing on X, “I fully support Bishop Kevin Rhoades in his challenge to Notre Dame to rectify its poor judgement in hiring a professor who openly stands against Catholic teaching when it comes to the sanctity of life, in this case protection of the unborn.”

Bishops often hesitate to publicly criticize Catholic institutions in their own diocese, even when Catholics complain that the schools are failing to uphold church teachings. But the U.S. bishops’ conference continues to teach that “the threat of abortion” is the “preeminent priority” of U.S. Catholic political engagement, according to their “Faithful Citizenship” guidance, and that threat seems to be the red line that prompts bishops to publicly intervene.

Still, it isn’t as simple as Rhoades forbidding the university from making the appointment.

Earlier this week, a Notre Dame spokesperson had defended Ostermann’s appointment in a statement to the student newspaper, The Observer, saying Ostermann “has stated clearly that she respects the University’s position on the sanctity of life, and that as director, she understands her role is to support the diverse research of the Institute’s scholars and students, not advance a personal political agenda.”

In the email announcing that Ostermann had decided not to accept the director position, Gallagher praised her work, saying her “research and teaching reflect the intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary excellence at the heart of both the Liu Institute and the Keough School of Global Affairs.”

“I am grateful for her willingness to serve and for the thoughtfulness with which she approached this decision,” wrote Gallagher. (Ostermann noted in her own statement that she had not applied for the position.)

Despite official teaching, more than 6 in 10 U.S. Catholics say abortion should be legal in most or all cases (64%), though that number drops to 36% among weekly Mass attenders, according to Pew Research Center.

Ostermann’s research has focused on conservation, education and child labor regulations in Nepal and India and how the countries strategize for compliance, as well as inter-caste marriage in India and anti-female genital mutilation laws in Burkina Faso, Mali and Kenya.

In her statement, Ostermann expressed a hope that a variety of perspectives could “flourish” at Notre Dame. “It has become clear that there is work to do at Notre Dame to build a community where a variety of voices can flourish,” she wrote. “Both academic inquiry and the full realization of human dignity demand this of us.”

Though she is turning down the director position, Ostermann said, “I look forward to collaborating with colleagues across the university to build a campus community where all can speak openly on the issues that matter to them most.”

Whenever we engage in a mitzvah, we create connection — and from that connection, light emerges.

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TELL, West Bank (AP) — Israeli settlers vandalized a mosque in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Monday, spray-painting offensive phrases and setting a fire, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Worshippers arriving for the day’s first prayers found the damage and a smoldering fire that spewed black smoke across the entrance of the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in the town of Tell, near Nablus, and stained the ornate doorway.

“I was shocked when I opened the door,” said Munir Ramdan, who lives nearby. “The fire had been burning here in the area, the glass was broken here and the door was broken.”

Security camera footage showed two people walking toward the mosque carrying gasoline and a can of spray paint, and running away a few minutes later, Ramdan said.

The attackers spray-painted graffiti denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, as well as the words “revenge” and “price tag.” In “price tag” attacks, hard-line Israeli nationalists attack Palestinians and vandalize their property in response to Palestinian militant attacks or perceived efforts by Israeli authorities to limit settlement activity.

The ministry said settlers vandalized or attacked 45 mosques in the West Bank last year.

The latest incident occurred as Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan.

“The provocation is directed especially at the person who is fasting, because you are fasting and entering a month of mercy and forgiveness from God,” said Salem Ishtayeh, a resident of Tell. “So they like to provoke you with words. It’s not that they are attacking you personally, they are attacking your religion, the Islamic faith.”

The Israeli military and police said they responded to the incident and were searching for suspects. The military said it “strongly condemns” harm done to religious institutions.

Palestinians and rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers or hold them accountable for violence.

There has been a recent surge in violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. Last week, settlers killed a Palestinian-American man, Nasrallah Abu Siyam.

According to information released by Israel’s military last month, there were 867 attacks by settlers against Palestinians and security forces in 2025, an increase of 27% over 2024.

The number of serious settler attacks including shootings, arson and other violent crimes has increased sharply each year since far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who spent his law career defending Jews who attacked Palestinians, became national security minister. The number of serious attacks increased from 54 in 2023 to 83 in 2024 and 128 in 2025.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

GALAXIDI, Greece (AP) — The Greek seaside town of Galaxidi exploded into a messy and colorful “flour war” on Monday for its annual end of carnival season festivities that mark the start of the Lent season.

Galaxidi’s main coastal road became a flour-strewn mess as revelers pelted each other with bags of dyed flour. Most of the town’s residents, and many visitors, merrily took part, while the more prudent ones enjoyed the show from the safety of their balconies.

Within a couple of hours, the celebration was mostly over, but some diehards were determined to stretch it far into the night.

“This custom was brought here by (our ancestors) in their sailboats, in 1800. It only exists here,” said Panayiotis Paphilis, a local resident.

It’s an explosion of color that takes place every Clean Monday, an Orthodox Christian holiday marking the start of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting that ends on the Easter holiday, and the end of the carnival season that holds onto many of the country’s pre-Christian traditions.

Many of the visitors were young people who had come to Galaxidi for the first time.

“We had a great time. We’ll come back,” said Stephanos Kapetanakis, 28, who was accompanied by several of his friends.

In most of the country, Clean Monday celebrations are rather more sedate, consisting mainly of flying kites and consuming copious amounts of shellfish and other seafood.

But in Galaxidi, a former major port about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Athens, the festivities are raucous and participants do their best to turn it up another notch, if they can.

Many similar celebrations have their roots in ancient, pagan times, and have blended seamlessly into the Christian calendar.

In the case of Galaxidi, however, the flour war seems to be of more recent vintage, namely from the 19th century, when traveling mariners took their inspiration from similar happenings in Sicily. It was the time when locally-built white-masted ships plied trade routes around the world.

But the glory days wouldn’t last, and Galaxidi, a town with a population of 1,700 people, lost its contact with the outside world, with traffic to its two harbors shrinking and no road connection to the rest of the country, hemmed in by looming mountains.

A road wouldn’t be built until the 1960s, but the isolation helped preserve the town’s unique character.

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Demetris Nellas contributed to this report from Athens.

(The Conversation) — Louisiana can proceed with a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, according to a federal court decision on Feb. 20, 2026. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals voted that it is too early to determine whether the requirement violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, which protects religious liberty and prohibits the government from establishing religion. The judges heard arguments in Louisiana’s law and a similar Texas one in January 2025 but have yet to rule on the latter.

One of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Texas law is Rev. Griff Martin, a Baptist pastor. Martin has criticized the Ten Commandments mandate as not just a violation of American precepts but religious ones as well. In a press release by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, which is representing the plaintiffs, he stated that “the separation of church and state (is) a bedrock principle of my family’s Baptist heritage.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who represents Louisiana, is also the country’s most prominent Baptist politician – and perceives the matter differently. The Louisiana law is not an effort to establish religion, but to acknowledge the country’s “history and tradition,” he told reporters in 2024.

Baptists have long advocated for religious freedom. But as a scholar of Baptist theology and history, I know that this record is far from simple. In fact, both Martin and Johnson have ample precedent for their opinions on Baptist identity and the relationship between church and state.

Historians and political scientists often divide interpretations of the First Amendment into two broad categories: “separationism” and “accommodationism.” According to separationists, government and religion should have no formal relationship. Accommodationists, on the other hand, believe government depends on and should encourage religion in general – or Christianity, specifically.

An honest look at their history reveals that Baptists have taken various stances in this debate, reflecting their overall diversity.

Call for separation

The phrase “separation of church and state” is famously traced back to an exchange between Thomas Jefferson and a group of Baptists.

The official presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson, painted by Rembrandt Peale in 1800.
White House via Wikimedia Commons

After Jefferson’s election as president in 1800, the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut wrote a letter of congratulations. Jefferson responded, celebrating their shared beliefs in religious liberty. He cited the First Amendment, which says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In Jefferson’s interpretation, religion is a matter between individuals and God, and so these clauses rightly erected a wall that defended conscience from the government.

But the image of a barrier between church and state is older than Jefferson’s letter. It first appears in the writing of Roger Williams, a radical preacher who founded Rhode Island in 1636. This was the first American colony to grant religious freedom for all people. Williams also helped organize America’s first Baptist church. In one of his works, Williams explained that the “hedge or wall of Separation” protected the “Garden of the Church” from the world.

Baptist separationism goes back to the beginning of the movement. The first Baptists were a group of English exiles living in Amsterdam in 1609. The church split, and part of the community returned to Britain under the leadership of Thomas Helwys.

The title page of Thomas Helwys’ ‘A Short Declaration of the Mistery of Iniquity.’
Early English Books Online database/Bodleian Library, University of Oxford/Wikimedia Commons

In 1612, Helwys boldly delivered a book to King James called “A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity.” In it, he offered the first defense of absolute religious liberty in the English language.

Helwys declared the king was mortal and not God. Therefore, a ruler “hath no power over the mortal soul of his subjects” in matters of religion. He argued for tolerance not just of different Christian sects but other religions and nonbelievers: “Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews, or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure.”

King James had Helwys thrown in prison for his impudence, where he eventually died.

Baptists who argue for strict separation of church and state have done so for several reasons. They believe that the conscience of each individual must be respected. They contend that government is not competent to judge between true and false religion. And they fear that an alliance with state power corrupts the church’s witness to the gospel.

Seeking accommodation

As much as contemporary Baptists quote Helwys, his work was forgotten for many years following his death. In the American Colonies, many people saw Williams’ Rhode Island colony as a land of dangerous anarchy.

The First Baptist Church in America, located in Providence, R.I.
Filetime/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Baptists faced legal obstacles and sometimes violent persecution in colonies with established churches, such as Massachusetts and Virginia. They became fierce advocates for religious liberty during the American Revolution and the framing of the Constitution. But even as they believed in liberty for individuals and churches, many Baptists also believed government should support Christian faith and morals.

A significant figure who illustrates accommodation was Isaac Backus, a Massachusetts pastor. Backus fervently opposed taxation to benefit the Congregationalist Church in some New England colonies. But he also felt that the state should reflect shared religious tenets. As a result, he endorsed various morality laws, religious tests for office and the government printing of Bibles.

Baptists who support accommodation – the idea that government should cooperate with religion – tend to see the United States as a Christian nation, not simply a nation with Christian citizens. Today, 63% of Americans identify as Christian.

Second, they argue that successful governance relies on the population being virtuous, and that the best guarantee of virtue is practicing Christianity.

Religious faith as a prerequisite for civic stability was a common belief in early America. George Washington expressed this view in his farewell address.

Johnson advocates a similar perspective today. In a 2022 lecture at Louisiana Christian University, the Baptist college that formerly employed him, Johnson asserted that God lies at America’s foundations, and decline has occurred because biblical morality has been abandoned. He has also declared in a social media post that “just government” depends on the fear of “eternal judgment.”

Divided by faith

Are you a good Baptist if you oppose government-mandated displays of the Ten Commandments? Or are you a good Baptist if you support them? From a historical perspective, the answer to both questions is yes.

Religious liberty and church-state separation remain contested concepts not just politically but theologically. Some Baptists support a neutral government and the full equality of religious minorities. At the other end of the spectrum, a few explicitly embrace Christian nationalism.

The historian Barry Hankins proposed that Baptists’ opinions on church and state depend on their perceptions of culture. Separationists see themselves comfortably finding their place in a pluralistic society. Accommodationists, meanwhile, worry that a secularized country will curtail the free exercise of religion.

On this issue, and many others, I believe Baptists will long remain a people divided by their shared faith.

(Christopher Schelin, Assistant Professor of Practical and Political Theologies, Starr King School for the Ministry . The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)