Expert on Obama, Notre Dame controversy

UNDATED (AP) - - An expert says the debate over Notre Dame's invitation to President Barack Obama to speak at commencement in May is shining a spotlight on Catholicism.

Catholic author David Gibson says whether people are for or against the invitation is "morphing into kind of an X-ray of where everybody stands in the Catholic church."

Critics say Obama shouldn't have been invited because of his record on abortion and stem cell research. Bishop John D'Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend is boycotting the ceremony.

The Notre Dame president, the Rev. John Jenkins, says the invitation doesn't condone or endorse Obama's positions on stem cells or abortion but the visit is "a basis for further positive engagement."

But Catholic theologian George Weigel says commencement isn't an occasion for debate.