For the last five years, the Office of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, responsible for interfacing with the Catholic Church and stewarding Notre Dame’s Catholic and Holy Cross mission, has been led by Fr. Austin Collins, a priest and art professor whose contemporary monochromatic sculptures are dotted across campus and South Bend.
In June, French professor and priest Fr. Gregory Haake will succeed Collins as vice president for mission engagement and Church affairs. Twenty years younger than his predecessor, Haake is the first clergyman University President Fr. Robert Dowd has named as vice president. He has named four other vice presidents during his term.
In a press release, Dowd praised Haake for his dedication to the University.
“Father Greg is widely admired for his scholarly achievements, his deep commitment to Notre Dame’s mission, and his pastoral gifts. He is uniquely situated to work closely with me and with colleagues across the University to steward and deepen Notre Dame’s Catholic mission and to forge strategic partnerships both at the University and beyond in service of the Church,” he said.
Haake currently serves as superior of the priests and brothers of Holy Cross at Notre Dame, a role he describes as “pastor the pastors.” He is also an ex-officio member of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees and Board of Fellows. He lives on campus as a priest in residence in Coyle Hall.
In an interview with The Observer, he said that he was surprised by the invitation to serve in the leadership but also “honored and humbled that Father Bob has that kind of confidence” in him.
On campus, Haake is the regular celebrant at Notre Dame’s only weekly Traditional Latin Mass, which takes place on Sundays in Alumni Hall’s chapel.
The office Haake will lead is responsible for serving as a liaison between the University and the Catholic Church at multiple levels, including the Vatican. Collins described Notre Dame’s engagement with Rome as growing.
“We have never been more involved with the Vatican, with the dicasteries, than we are now,” he said.
Senior University leadership officials, including Collins and Dowd, met with Pope Leo XIV in November. Collins will serve as a special adviser to Dowd after his term as vice president ends.
Haake’s appointment comes after more than a dozen bishops publicly criticized Notre Dame earlier this year for its appointment of professor Susan Ostermann to lead the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies because of her advocacy for legal abortion. Ostermann’s appointment prompted a group of students to plan a protest focused on what organizers described as Notre Dame’s failure to live up to its Catholic mission. Organizers shifted that protest to a prayer service after Ostermann declined her appointment.
As vice president, Haake will be responsible for maintaining relationships between Notre Dame and the American episcopate and for ensuring that “University decision-making and initiatives are informed by Notre Dame’s Catholic and Holy Cross character,” according to the office’s website.
Collins said that he believed Notre Dame’s relation to the Church has “never been better.”
“That has nothing to do really with me. It has to do with the administration, faculty and staff and students of this University that have really taken the Catholic mission, in its broadest sense,” he said.
Haake also said he viewed Notre Dame as being important to life of the Church in both the United States and globally.
“I don’t think it’s too bold to say that that we have a significant contribution to make to the Church in the United States and throughout the world,” he said.
He explained that the University embraces different beliefs while still remaining faithful to Catholic principles.
“Notre Dame is a really special place,” he added. “I see it as being very welcoming and open to a lot of different points of view, a lot of different perspectives, but also firmly within the heart of the Church. And I think that’s a great place to be. It’s a great opportunity for Notre Dame and for the Church.”
Haake also emphasized the office’s role in deepening faculty and staff understanding of the University’s Catholic mission. He said he hoped to “invite people, no matter what their relationship with the church is” into the institution’s Catholic mission.
“The University is an instrument of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said.
Fr. Gerry Olinger, who was vice president of mission engagement and Church affairs from 2018-2021, described Haake as “academically gifted” and said he believed Haake’s experience as a tenured faculty member would be beneficial to him in his new role.
“I think that will give him a really nice opportunity to have had some excellent relationships with faculty, with academic administration,” he stated.
The position of vice president for mission engagement and Church affairs was created by then University President Fr. John Jenkins in 2012.
“He wanted someone waking up each day and thinking about Notre Dame’s relationship to the Church,” Collins said.
Fr. William Lies was the first to hold the role, from 2012-2018. In a statement to The Observer, he expressed his support for Haake’s appointment.
“Fr. Greg Haake is an exceptional priest and colleague — bright, thoughtful, kind, and deeply pastoral. He serves on my provincial council, where he consistently offers wise and measured judgment. He is an excellent choice for this role,” he stated.
Lies had previously appointed Haake to his current position as religious superior.
“Fr. Greg was an obvious choice because of his steady leadership, pastoral sensitivity, good judgment, and the respect he enjoys among his brothers and faculty colleagues. He brings a collaborative style and a deep commitment to community and university life,” he stated, explaining why he chose him as superior.
Collins was likewise effusive in his support for his successor.
“New energy and new ideas are exactly what this role needs,” Collins said. “I think he’s going to be a wonderful addition. He’s a good and holy priest, and he’s been a very successful professor at the University."
