The “reaction of rightwing Catholics” to the University of Notre Dames invitation to President Obama to deliver its commencement speech and receive an honorary degree “falls into the category of more Catholic than the pope,” Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne writes in an opinion piece.

Dionne adds that to the “dismay of many conservatives,” the Vaticans newspaper, LOsservatore Romano, offered a view on Obamas approach to abortion that was “so positive” that a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee “was moved to criticize Pope Benedict XVIs” newspaper. In the article, LOsservatore Romano foreign affairs contributor Giuseppe Fiorentino wrote that Obama “does not seem to have established the radical changes” on abortion that “he had aired.” According to Dionne, the Vatican newspaper “analysis” came as “Catholic liberals and conservatives are battling fiercely over Notre Dames decision to invite” Obama to speak at commencement. Dionne says the Vaticans “article will strengthen the liberal claim that the Catholic rights overthetop response is rooted at least as much in Republican and conservative politics as in concern over the abortion question.”

“This restrained view contrasts with charges that Obama is the most radical proabortion president in history,” Dionne writes. He notes that although the “consternation on the right over the Vatican article was immediate,” many “[r]ankandfile Catholics do not share in the conservatives gloominess.” Dionne adds that the “extent to which the ferocity on the Catholic right has emboldened moderate and liberal Catholics to fight back” has been “[l]argely lost in the Notre Dame furor.” When Obama delivers the commencement address the “stakes will be highest for moderate and liberal Catholics who insist the president is seeking common ground on the moments most contentious ethical issues,” Dionne says. He writes that Obamas commencement address is “likely to be his most consequential intervention in the debate over religions role in American politics,” concluding, “In accepting the invitation, Obama has assumed a large responsibility that he should not try to escape” (Dionne, Washington Post, 5/7).

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