2026 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit: Gala and Awards Dinner Recap
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25
The sixth annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit culminated on Wednesday, July 8 with its Religious Liberty Gala and Awards Dinner at Offshore Rooftop in Chicago.
OPENING REMARKS
Dean G. Marcus Cole
Dean G. Marcus Cole delivered the opening remarks for the 2026 Religious Liberty Summit Gala and Awards Dinner.
"The purpose of the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit is to serve as a forum to exchange ideas and discuss issues and to develop strategies to advance the fight for religious freedom in the United States and around the world. The summit and the conversations that we're having are central to our mission, both our Catholic mission as a law school, but also our mission and our vocation with regard to religious liberty.”
“Our mission for the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic is to promote human flourishing by serving as a source of advocacy, counsel, scholarship, training, fellowship, and hope in defense of the fundamental human right to freedom of religion or belief for all people."
"As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it's important to celebrate those who work tirelessly to preserve the principles expressed in it."
Dean G. Marcus Cole, Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law
2026 RELIGIOUS LIBERTY SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
Professor John Witte
The Law School honored Professor John Witte, the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, McDonald Distinguished Professor, and the CSLR Faculty Director at Emory University School of Law, with the 2026 Religious Liberty Scholarship Award. The award was presented by Professor Rick Garnett (Notre Dame Law School).
“John Witte has been a generous and diligent supporter of the work of countless other scholars and an enthusiastic convener of rich and rewarding conversations. Indeed, it sometimes seems that the entire law and religion field runs on his energy and his relentless Dutch Calvinist work ethic.”
Professor Rick Garnett, Notre Dame Law School
The Religious Liberty Scholarship Award is given annually to a legal scholar in recognition of their accomplishments in the field of law and religion and for contributions to the understanding of protecting the freedom of religion or belief through law. A leading specialist in legal history, human rights, religious freedom, marriage and family law, and law and religion, Witte has published over 300 articles, 18 journal symposia, and 45 books.
“Faith is the foundation of freedom, and religious freedom is the cornerstone of human rights. And orderly freedom, in turn, is the essential condition for the flourishing of both families and of faith in humanity. I am profoundly grateful for the 45 years of work that the good Lord has given me to do in this field.”
“As scholars, we inherit a vast tradition of learning that we cherish and we steward, that we teach and translate, that we might amend and emend, that we might even reform and transform. But then we hand the work on to the next generation to take the lead. And gathered in this room are many leaders of that next generation of religious freedom scholars.”
Professor John Witte, Emory University School of Law
NOTRE DAME PRIZE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
The Law School presented the 2026 Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C., with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths. The award was presented by Dean G. Marcus Cole (Notre Dame Law School).
"Now, when we envisioned the Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty, we always imagined that it would go to one person. But when we think about the Becket Fund, it is an entire team of lawyers, led by Mark Rienzi, who have made a difference in our world, who have made our lives better. And for that reason, we thought it only appropriate to give the award to the Becket Fund as an entity."
Dean G. Marcus Cole, Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law
The Notre Dame Prize for Religious Liberty is awarded once each year in recognition of achievement in preserving religious liberty. The Becket Fund has an unparalleled record at the U.S. Supreme Court. In the last 15 years, Becket has won 13 Supreme Court cases. Six of those victories were unanimous. Almost half of all Supreme Court victories for religious freedom over the last decade were Becket cases. Mark Rienzi, president and CEO, accepted the award.
"An award to the Becket Fund should be an award to the team at Becket. This is an ensemble effort. This is not any one person. The Becket Fund, from the start, has been a collection of highly talented people who decided to jump in and do a big thing together, and it really is a privilege and a blessing to be part of the team at Becket."
"Religious liberty helps real people, and it helps real people live out their faith... Religious liberty protects good things, and it makes those good things happen... It's a great joy and privilege for us to get to work on that."
"Religious liberty is important in its own right... It's important for what it contributes to self-evident truths... and to this conception of the human person as someone created by God, who's got rights, who is equal, who has equal dignity. That is a conception of the human person that is very much supported by religion and religious liberty."
“Thank you to Notre Dame, to the Religious Liberty Initiative, and to Dean Cole for giving all of us this tremendous honor. Marcus, you and your team at Notre Dame... you're doing such incredible work in this field and such great work to train up the next generation of people... It's wonderful to see, and it's wonderful to be on the same team as well."
Mark Rienzi, president and CEO, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Read the other daily recaps from the 2026 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit: