On Respect Life Sunday, the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture (dCEC) announced that the sixteenth annual Evangelium Vitae Award will be given to the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. First awarded in 2011, the medal recognizes individuals or groups whose outstanding efforts have proclaimed the Gospel of Life by steadfastfully affirming and defending the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.
Ken Hallenius, communications specialist at the dCEC, explained the significance of the award to the university. “It was seen as a way for Notre Dame to proclaim to the world our distinctively Catholic identity as an institution dedicated to the dignity of all human people.” He told the Rover, “It flows out of and is inspired by Pope John Paul II, who was a great influence in the life of David Solomon, our founding director, and it’s tied to the university’s proclamation that we are a pro-life institution.”
Past medal recipients include Anthony and Phyllis Lauinger in 2025, Doctor Elvira Parravicini in 2024, and Robert P. George in 2023. This year, the medal was awarded posthumously to Wm. David Solomon, the founder of the dCEC. These pro-life leaders were recognized for their care and advocacy for beginning-of-life issues, while this year the recipients’ ministry focuses more on end-of-life issues.
The awardee selection process is not taken lightly. “It is years of planning,” Petra Farrell—culture of life program manager at the dCEC—told the Rover. “We discuss different individuals within our advisory committee, and then within our staff. People put out different individuals and groups that have come to mind that have really just represented not only our faith but the greater pro-life movement.”
Farrell pointed out that “each [recipient] shines a light on different ways that we can approach the pro-life movement.” She added, “The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne represent exactly where we need to go as far as respecting life from womb to tomb … They treat [their patients] as if they are Christ, and they treat them as if they’re family.”
The order of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne was founded in 1891 by Venerable Rose Hawthorne Lathrop. Their mission is to “preach God’s love and His healing presence in the world today through our ministry to his sick poor.” Their motherhouse is located in Hawthorne, New York, and they have another home in Atlanta. The sisters aid specifically to the impoverished with incurable cancer.
Recently, the Dominican Sisters encountered legal trouble concerning the Medical Aid in Dying Act (MAID) in New York State. The law took effect on August 5, 2026, and permits terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to appeal for drugs that end their lives. In conjunction with the Palliative Care Information Act, doctors and nurses are required to brief patients on all end-of-life options—including MAID. There is a religious exemption, but the qualifications for it are strict. Even if a religious institution opts out of the law, they are still required by New York State to counsel patients on assisted dying. If a patient wants to transfer to an institution that will assist them in suicide, the sisters would be required to arrange it. On July 30, 2026 the district court ruled that the sisters are temporarily exempted from this law.
Mother Marie Edward, O.P., the mother superior of the sisters, will accept the medal on the sisters’ behalf on April 14, 2027 at the Evangelium Vitae Mass and banquet. The sisters will be awarded with the Evangelium Vitae Medal, along with a ten thousand dollar prize.
Sophomore Jemma Lubbe, who attended the Evangelium Vitae dinner last year, expressed her excitement about this year’s award recipient. “I think it’s good to see that careers and Catholic morals are not mutually exclusive. I’m really excited for this year’s dinner because as a pre-PA student who works in geriatrics, it’s important to see that end of life care is just as important as any other stage of life.”
Aly Rothfus is a sophomore from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania studying history and theology. During this autumn season she’s been indulging in the Cafe J chai latte and listening to the one-hour loop of the Great Pumpkin Waltz. If you need any coffee or song recommendations you can email her at arothfus@nd.edu.