Medal Recipients
2023: Robert P. George
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 2023 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal—the nation’s most important award for heroes of the pro-life movement—to acclaimed legal philosopher and constitutional and political theorist Robert P. George at a celebration attended by more than 500 guests on April 29, 2023. George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Professor of Politics at Princeton University and the founding director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.
"In his lifetime of work, study, writing, and teaching, Professor George has insisted, valiantly and joyfully—over and again—on the essential dignity of the human person, the role of the law in defending it, and the possibility of our reasoning together in charity to promote it," said O. Carter Snead, director of the de Nicola Center. "Professor George’s patient, persistent demonstration of the right relationship between the civil and moral law has helped to lay the groundwork for a renewed appreciation of the rights of the unborn and an understanding of the proper role of law in defending those rights, following decades of profound injustice.”
2022: Dr. John Bruchalski
The University of Notre Dame de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 11th annual Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to Dr. John T. Bruchalski, founder of Tepeyac OB/GYN, one of the largest pro-life clinics in the United States, at a Mass and dinner attended by more than 450 guests and friends on April 23, 2022.
O. Carter Snead, director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, commented on the great success of Tepeyac OB/GYN, which Bruchalski founded in 1994 to provide direct care for patients regardless of their ability to pay, calling it "the gold standard for truly holistic pro-life health care." "Rather than treating women’s fertility as a disease to be managed, and their children as threats to be resisted, Tepeyac welcomes mother and child into a network of support and love that carries them into true fullness of life, where 'the divine image is restored, renewed, and brought to perfection in them'" (Evangelium Vitae 2).
2021: Vicki Thorn
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame presented the 2021 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to Vicki Thorn, founder of the post-abortion healing ministry Project Rachel and executive director of the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing, via a virtual celebration video released in July 2021.
“Vicki Thorn’s work is a living witness to the unconditional love and mercy that lies at the heart of the Culture of Life,” said O. Carter Snead, the director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. “We originally wanted to honor Vicki this past April at a gala celebration gathered with hundreds of friends and champions of life, but the pandemic and associated safety protocols necessitated a virtual presentation. We are thrilled and honored to have University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades (Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend), and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann (Chair, USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities) among those who joined us virtually to share their words of congratulations and support for Vicki and her ministry.”
2019: Women's Care Center
The University of Notre Dame de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture presented the 2019 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to the Women’s Care Center, the largest network of pregnancy resource centers in the United States, at a Mass and dinner attended by more than 600 guests and friends on April 27, 2019. The celebration can be viewed on the Center's YouTube channel here.
“The Women’s Care Center has built a model of service rooted in John Paul the Great’s vision of radical hospitality, welcoming women precisely in their moment of greatest vulnerability and deepest need,” said O. Carter Snead, director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. “Theirs is a ministry of love, based not on the proposition of an argument but on an encounter with the unique and unrepeatable individual before them.”
The first Women’s Care Center was established near the University of Notre Dame in 1984 by Dr. Janet E. Smith, then a young professor at the university. From its first location in a “little blue house” next to an abortion clinic, the Women's Care Center has grown to 32 pregnancy resource center locations in 11 states and serves more than 26,000 women annually. The Women’s Care Center provides free, confidential counseling and education to women facing unplanned pregnancies, as well as ongoing support in the form of parenting classes, referrals for mother and baby care, and tangible goods such as diapers and car seats. WCC locations can be found in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
2018: Mary Ann Glendon
In his homily at the Evangelium Vitae Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades praised Glendon's lifetime of witness as a fruit of her Christian faith. "Professor Mary Ann Glendon's intelligent and courageous witness to the Gospel in her profession and in her generous service of the Church is undoubtedly a fruit of her communion with Jesus," he said. "May the Lord bless Professor Mary Ann Glendon and all of us as we celebrate the Gospel of Life this evening!"
In his remarks at the banquet, Center Director O. Carter Snead praised Ambassador Glendon as a personal hero and mentor, and reflected that the annual Evangelium Vitae Medal celebration represents the heart of Notre Dame's mission in and to the world. "Look around you tonight, at this room filled with students, faculty, and friends, gathered to celebrate life and human dignity," he said. "This is Notre Dame!"
2017: Jerome Lejeune Foundation
“Professor Lejeune was a man of great faith, a brilliant geneticist, and a prophetic voice on behalf of people who suffer from intellectual disabilities,” said O. Carter Snead, William P. and Hazel B. White Director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. “He spent his professional life engaged in cutting-edge scientific research into the genetic causes of disabilities like Down syndrome and trisomy 18. He was motivated by deep compassion and an abiding love for disabled people, born and unborn. Today, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation carries on Professor Lejeune’s work by sponsoring ethically-conducted genetic research, securing healthcare for those with disabilities, and performing advocacy on behalf of the disabled in light of our shared human dignity.” Snead concluded, “The Jerome Lejeune Foundation perfectly embodies the spirit of the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal.”
2016: Sr. Loraine Marie Maguire and the Little Sisters of the Poor
The Little Sisters of the Poor are an international congregation of women religious dedicated to serving the elderly poor. Founded in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan, the Little Sisters now operate in 31 countries around the world, with 30 homes in the United States that offer health care and assisted living for more than 13,000 low-income seniors.
In 2012, led by Maguire, the Little Sisters of the Poor became the face of religious nonprofit organizations struggling against a federal mandate to facilitate access to contraceptives and drugs that (according to FDA labeling) may function by causing the death of newly conceived human beings.
2015: Carl Anderson and the Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic organization with 1.8 million members worldwide dedicated to good works and informed by the principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism. Anderson has served as Supreme Knight for fourteen years and has led the Knights and their families to unprecedented levels of charitable giving and support for their communities and the Church. Over the past decade, under his guidance, the organization has donated more than 664 million hours of service and $1.4 billion to charity, including the donation of over 268 ultrasound machines valued at more than $14 million to pregnancy resource centers in 44 states and Canada.
2014: Chris and Marie Smith
Representative Smith is the co-chair of the Bipartisan Pro-Life Caucus in the House of Representatives and the former Executive Director of the New Jersey Right to Life Committee. He is the author of the $265 million Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, the groundbreaking law that established—for the first time—a nationwide program for ethical research and medical treatment using umbilical cord blood and bone marrow cells. Smith’s stem cell law was reauthorized in September 2010 for another five years. Another Smith initiative, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Amendment, was first passed in 1983 to prevent the funding of abortion in the federal employee health benefits program. This Smith amendment has been in effect all but two years since. Smith is also the author of the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act, a legislative proposal for a comprehensive government-wide prohibition on taxpayer funding for elective abortion.
Marie Smith is the director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, a non-partisan global outreach of Gospel of Life Ministries that works to identify, unite, and strategize with pro-life groups, lawmakers, and religious leaders to advance respect for life in law and policy. Based in Washington, D.C., PNCI assists lawmakers and religious leaders from around the world in helping elected officials organize working groups in their legislatures to more effectively advance pro-life laws and build sustainable pro-life leadership in capitals around the world.
2013: Mother Agnes Mary Donovan and the Sisters of Life
Founded in 1991 by Cardinal John O’Connor, the Sisters of Life is a contemplative and active religious community of women. As in most religious communities, its members take the three traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, as well as a fourth vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life. In addition to their contemplative prayer, they provide hospitality and support for pregnant women and lead “Hope and Healing” retreats serving women and men who have suffered from abortion.
2012: Helen Alvaré
Helen Alvaré is a law professor at the George Mason School of Law. In 1987, Alvaré joined the Office of General Counsel for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), drafting amicus briefs in leading U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning abortion, euthanasia, and the First Amendment’s establishment clause. For the next ten years, she worked with the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at the NCCB, lobbying, testifying before federal congressional committees, lecturing nationwide, and speaking on numerous television and radio programs for the U.S. Catholic bishops. She also assisted the Holy See on matters concerning women, marriage and the family, and respect for human life.Helen Alvare is a professor of law at George Mason School of Law and a public policy fellow at the Center for Ethics and Culture. Alvaré earned her law degree from Cornell University in 1984 and a master's degree in systematic theology from the Catholic University of America in 1989. She has practiced with the Philadelphia law firm of Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, specializing in commercial litigation and free exercise of religion matters. Before joining George Mason’s law school faculty, she taught at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.
2011: Richard Doerflinger
A tireless leader in the pro-life movement for over 30 years, Richard Doerflinger, the secretariat for pro-life activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been involved in every single life issue, including embryo research, abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and euthanasia, at the very highest level in federal and state governments. Doerflinger’s efforts were integral to the conception, passage, and continued vitality of parental notification and consent, unborn victims of violence, and born-alive infant protection laws, partial-birth abortion bans, conscience protections, the Weldon Amendment (which prevents patenting of human embryos), and abortion funding restrictions, both domestic and international, such as the Hyde Amendment and the Mexico City Policy. Doerflinger was also instrumental in the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to protect the unborn in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition to this work, Doerflinger is a bioethics expert and public policy fellow at the Center for Ethics and Culture.