Notre Dame distances from Lou Holtz after he questions Biden’s Catholic faith

The president of the University of Notre Dame warned Thursday that “we must never question the sincerity of another’s faith” after former football coach Lou Holtz said this week that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is “Catholic in name only.”

Holtz, who spoke during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, said Biden’s presidential ticket “is the most radically pro-abortion campaign in history.”

“They and other politicians are Catholic in name only and abandon innocent lives,” he said. “President Trump protects those lives.”

WATCH: In RNC speech, Lou Holtz insults Joe Biden by suggesting that Biden is a “Catholic in name only.”

Biden has described his faith as “the bedrock foundation of my life.” pic.twitter.com/GiGDziWROj

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 27, 2020

“While Coach Lou Holtz is a former coach at Notre Dame, his use of the University’s name at the Republican National Convention must not be taken to imply that the University endorses his views, any candidate or any political party,” Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins said in a statement Thursday.

“Moreover, we Catholics should remind ourselves that while we may judge the objective moral quality of another’s actions, we must never question the sincerity of another’s faith, which is due to the mysterious working of grace in that person’s heart,” Jenkins added. “In this fractious time, let us remember that our highest calling is to love.”  

Holtz, who has head coach at Notre Dame from 1986 to 1996, drew criticism from a number of prominent Catholics, including “The View’s” Sunny Hostin and comedian Jim Gaffigan.

As a proud graduate of Notre Dame and a Catholic, I’m disgusted that Lou Holtz would question @JoeBiden’s Catholic faith in support of a President who is an adulterer, racist and xenophobe. #Shameful

— Sunny Hostin (@sunny) August 27, 2020

Fuck Lou Holtz. Biden is Catholic in name only? Compared to who? How many abortions did trump pay for? How many women has he raped? How many times did pull the shit he did in Ukraine. Wake up. He’s a crook and a con man.

— Jim Gaffigan (@JimGaffigan) August 28, 2020

Biden responded to the attacks on his faith from the GOP convention, calling them “preposterous.”

The Trump campaign has hammered Biden, a lifelong Catholic, over his abortion stance. Biden’s platform promises to “protect the constitutional right to an abortion” and “codify Roe v. Wade.”

Trump, the first sitting president to address the annual March for Life anti-abortion rally in person, has promoted himself as a defender of “unborn children.”