Vatican Rejects Caroline Kennedy as U.S. Ambassador Nominee Over Abortion

A diplomatic tug of war between the Catholic Church and the Vatican is taking place behind the scenes as the Vatican reportedly rejected a third nominee from President Barack Obama for the post of U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. According to reports, the Vatican informally brushed aside Caroline Kennedy, a prominent Obama backer from the presidential campaign, for the post last week. At issue is the Obama Administration's support for abortion and embryonic stem cell research, both of which the Church considers to be grave moral evils. According to veteran Vatican watcher Francis Rocca, of Religious News Service, the Church will not accept an ambassador that shares the president's pro-choice views.

"Given the Vatican's record of refusing or at least discouraging ambassadors whose actions conflict with Catholic teaching, it is easy to imagine that they would reject a Catholic who explicitly or effectively supports abortion rights."

Officially, the Vatican says that no one has been rejected for the ambassadorship because no one has been formally named to the post. But unnamed Vatican officials say that doesn't mean that names have not been privately floated and rejected. That is apparently the case with Kennedy, who is an outspoken supporter of abortion rights; and Douglas Kmiec, the former Pepperdine Law School professor who is a pro-life Catholic but has broken with the Church recently saying that Catholics could support a pro-choice politician like Obama. Kmiec publicly endorsed Obama for president, angering many conservative American Catholics.

The flap over the U.S. Ambassadorship to the Vatican is the second controversy involving the Catholic Church in which the Obama Administration has become embroiled. The University of Notre Dame is taking criticism from U.S. Catholic bishops and lay Catholics for inviting President Obama to give the commencement address at the school next month. While Obama cannot control where he is invited to speak, he can decide to accommodate the Vatican's wishes by selecting a pro-life nominee to represent the United States diplomatically to the Catholic Church. But that may prove harder than it seems. Former Clinton Administration Ambassador to the Vatican Raymond Flynn sums up the dilemma. "There is a very small field of pro-life Democrats," for Obama to choose from, he said.