In both their awareness and views of the Notre Dame commencement controversy, Catholics look very much like the public overall. Overall, about half of Catholics support the decision to invite Obama to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree in spite of his support for abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Far fewer (28%) say Notre Dame was wrong to have invited Obama and more than one-in-five Catholics (22%) express no opinion on the matter. Among the population overall, 48% say Notre Dame made the right decision to invite Obama, 25% say it was the wrong decision and 27% express no opinion. Only about half of Catholics have heard about the controversy and fewer than one-in-five (19%) have heard a lot about it. Among the general population, 48% have heard of the controversy and 16% have heard a lot about it. Among Catholics who have heard at least a little about the issue, 54% say the university’s invitation was the right decision. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.