Capizzi Pick Reassures Notre Dame Catholic Identity Advocates| National Catholic Register
Advocates for the University of Notre Dame’s Catholic identity are welcoming the selection of a prominent moral theologian to lead an on-campus “Catholic think tank,” nearly two years after a leadership shakeup raised concerns about the influential institute’s future.
The university announced on June 15 that Joe Capizzi, the current dean of theology at The Catholic University of America, will serve as the next director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, beginning July 1. The McGrath Institute, which specializes in applying Catholic scholarship to real-world pastoral needs, has been led for the past 25 years by renowned Notre Dame theologian John Cavadini.
The succession process, which was initiated abruptly in July 2024 by university administrators without consulting McGrath’s advisory board, had been dogged by concerns that a successor might be chosen who would steer the institute in a different direction than the one Cavadini had led it in. Under his watch, McGrath earned a reputation for creative fidelity to Church teaching and fruitful collaboration with the U.S. episcopate, with Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, describing the institute as “a jewel of the U.S. Church.”
Concerns continued after the search for a successor fizzled out at the end of the 2024-25 academic year without securing a new director, leading to a broader national search over the 2025-26 school year.
But those who had feared the worst about whom university officials might select to succeed Cavadini are now confident that the McGrath Institute is in good hands with Capizzi.
“It’s a home run,” said Tony de Nicola, a Notre Dame benefactor and longtime collaborator with the institute, describing the appointment as being “in harmony” with Cavadini’s vision and legacy. “Those hoping that McGrath will move in a different direction will be sorely disappointed.”
Those excited about Capizzi’s appointment cited his leadership abilities, fidelity to Church teaching and theological creativity as reasons for their confidence.
“He’s an ideal choice to head the McGrath Institute,” said Gerry Bradley, a retired Notre Dame law professor who has known Capizzi for over 20 years. “If anyone could successfully carry on the great work of John Cavadini, it is Joe Capizzi.”
Under Cavadini, McGrath became a major hub of Catholic ingenuity, applying the Church’s intellectual resources to help bishops address emerging challenges, from religious disaffiliation to gender dysphoria. Widely regarded as the institute’s “second founder,” Cavadini oversaw the launch of signature McGrath initiatives, such as the Echo high school theology teacher formation program and the influential Church Life Journal.
For his part, Capizzi told the Register that he is “thrilled and honored” to succeed Cavadini, a former teacher of his during graduate school at Notre Dame.
“Under his leadership, McGrath has done incredible work for the Catholic Church in the United States, and I look forward to working with the incredible McGrath staff on that same mission,” said Capizzi.
A “Concerted Effort”
Leadership of the Sycamore Trust, a Notre Dame alumni group focused on promoting the university’s Catholic identity, also expressed approval of Capizzi’s selection, noting that the selection of Cavadini’s successor was being watched by many “as an important test” of university leaders’ commitment to McGrath’s “distinctive mission.”
“For that reason, we regard his selection as a welcome sign that Notre Dame intends to build upon, rather than redirect, the institute’s remarkable legacy,” said Tim Dempsey, the group’s executive director.
At the same time, Dempsey said that the unceremonious way in which the effort to replace Cavadini was pushed forward is part of a broader pattern of questionable personnel decisions by Notre Dame administrators, linking the development to the recent controversial appointment of Susan Ostermann to head Notre Dame’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies. Ostermann, a vocal advocate for abortion access, stepped back from the appointment after widespread pushback.
“Although that appointment ultimately collapsed under intense external pressure, the two episodes raised broader questions about how the university’s academic leadership approaches appointments to positions of significant institutional influence, and the degree to which Catholic mission and identity factor into those decisions,” said Dempsey.
De Nicola, who along with his wife is the namesake benefactor of Notre Dame’s De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, said that a “concerted effort” from key stakeholders helped ensure that Notre Dame administrators selected a figure like Capizzi to lead the McGrath Institute.
“Many of us believe that some in leadership did not want to go in that direction, but because of the ill-conceived removal of Cavadini and because of the recent Liu scandal, the university is facing increasing pressure from alumni and donors to maintain the Catholic mission of the school,” he said.
Shortly after the news broke that Cavadini would be replaced, advisory council members told the Register that they would “monitor the succession process” to ensure that the new director “will carry on the mission of the [McGrath Institute] as it has been established and grown over these many years.” Bishops, including the local ordinary, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, also spoke out, urging Notre Dame’s administration to pick a successor in line with Cavadini’s vision of “service to the Church.”
In the university’s statement announcing the appointment, Notre Dame provost John McGreevy expressed gratitude to Cavadini for his “passion for connecting the worlds of the University and Church,” and highlighted Capizzi’s “deep understanding and commitment to the university’s Catholic mission” and “passion for the life and future of the Church” as factors that led to his selection.
A “Born Leader” and “Faithful Catholic”
A specialist in the areas of political and social theology, Capizzi taught at CUA for over 25 years before being tapped in 2023 to lead the university’s theology department. He had also served as the longtime executive director of CUA’s Institute for Human Ecology, a research center devoted to integrating the Catholic intellectual tradition with contemporary questions of human flourishing.
“Joe is a born leader who is committed to the fullness of the Church’s teaching in ways which resist both secular academic orthodoxies and liberal or conservative ideologies,” said CUA moral theologian Charlie Camosy, who did his doctoral work at Notre Dame and served with Capizzi on CUA’s theology faculty. “I’ve seen firsthand how his loyalty to the magisterium, represented in the authority of very different kinds of prelates, comes first.”
De Nicola called Capizzi a “faithful Catholic,” noting that the theologian has consistently spoken out for the right to life of the unborn, religious freedom, and the Church’s social teaching.
And Notre Dame political scientist Daniel Philpott described Capizzi as “a first-rate scholar, a proven administrator, and thoroughly committed to the teachings of the Church and to the welfare of the Church grounded in these teachings.” He also lauded Capizzi’s book Politics, Justice, and War: Christian Governance and the Ethics of Warfare as a vital contribution to the field of “just-war ethics.”
Camosy added that Capizzi, who earned his doctorate from Notre Dame in 1998, knows the landscape of the high-profile Catholic university well, including the “constituencies, pitfalls and opportunities which need to be navigated.”
“He did it at CUA and I predict he’ll do a great job at Notre Dame and McGrath,” said Camosy. “Nobody does ‘wise as serpents, peaceful as doves’ better than John Cavadini, but if there is a close second, it could very well be Joe Capizzi.”
