President Barack Obama has accepted a highly controversial invitation from Notre Dame to speak at its May commencement ceremony — as well as receive an honorary doctorate in law.

The angry reaction to this invitation has been swift and growing, each day bringing new statements from bishops, pundits and ordinary Catholics.

Bishop John D’Arcy, in whose diocese this event will take place, has decided to give the commencement a miss.

He explains, “My decision is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life.”

The Center for a Just Society supports Bishop D’Arcy and expounds on his position:

Bishop D’Arcy’s position is reflective of the outrage of many in the Catholic community. Their angst is understandable since Mr. Obama has pursued a strong anti-life agenda both before and after assuming the office of President.

Indeed, Mr. Obama’s actions are at odds with the very foundations of American law and justice: a belief that…

Barry Blitt, for The New York Times

Martin Marty, frequent commenter on things publicly religious, wrote this week of “the decline of the culture wars.” His Sightings column was citing Frank Rich’s New York Times op-ed on the same subject.

This isn’t the first time people have tried to bring a stalemate to the “culture wars.” But I was reminded of the subject at President Obama’s press conference this week, in an exchange between President Obama and John Ward of the Washington Times. Ward asked the President about stem-cell research (from the Washington Post transcript):

QUESTION: In your remarks on stem cell research earlier this month, you talked about a majority consensus in determining whether or not this is the right thing to do, to federally fund embryonic stem cell research.

I’m just wondering, though, how much you personally wrestled with the morality or ethics of federally funding this kind of research, especially given the fact that science…

December 13, 2008

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

The Vatican issued its most authoritative and sweeping document on bioethical issues in more than 20 years on Friday, taking into account recent developments in biomedical technology and reinforcing the church’s opposition to in vitro fertilization, human cloning, genetic testing on embryos before implantation and embryonic stem cell research.

The Vatican says these techniques violate the principles that every human life — even an embryo — is sacred, and that babies should be conceived only through intercourse by a married couple.

The 32-page instruction, titled “Dignitas Personae,” or “The Dignity of the Person,” was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s doctrinal office, and carries the approval and the authority of Pope Benedict XVI.

Under discussion for six years, it is a moral response to bioethical questions raised in the 21 years since the congregation last issued instructions.

It bans the morning-after…

There are religion blogs and then there are religion blogs.

The Civil Religion blog is civil, the writing is good and the posts are frequent.

(1) When we were discussing the set-up of this blog, religion reporter Tim Townsend suggested we look at the Washington Post religion blog, On Faith, to see what a religion blog looks like. I found it confusingly laid out and not appealing and said so to Tim. Today I have another reason to stay away. Look at this from the Dallas Morning News blog:

“Sally Quinn, the Washington socialite and journalist, attended Tim Russert’s funeral.

Russert was Catholic. Quinn isn’t. In fact, as far as I can tell, she isn’t demonstrably religious at all, despite being one of the founders of the On Faith blog published by Newsweek and The Washington Post.

She decided to receive Communion at Russert’s funeral Mass.

In some churches, this would be no big deal. In the Catholic Church,…