Most would agree that President Barack Obama is pretty good at giving speeches.

At the University of Notre Dame's Commencement ceremony Sunday (see my live Twitter coverage here), Obama's message of dialogue and working together was well-delivered and well-received, but University President Father John Jenkins stole the show.

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Ever since the school announced March 20 that Obama would be the primary Commencement speaker, Notre Dame -- and Father Jenkins in particular -- has been under fire for allowing a pro-choice president to speak at a Catholic University and receive an honorary law degree.

The protests have ranged from the peaceful, such as pro-life Notre Dame students leading prayer vigils and holding masses, to the less respectful. A hired plane flew above campus with a banner depicting an aborted fetus, and protesters including anti-abortion activists Randall Terry and Alan Keyes pushed strollers with bloodied baby dolls onto campus.

It all came to a head today. I walked into graduation past members of the media interviewing students, through metal detectors and into the Joyce Center, Notre Dame's basketball arena and the site of Commencement exercises.

When he walked in shortly after 2 p.m., Obama received a standing ovation from the graduates and the crowd. He received another one when he was presented with an honorary degree. But it was Father Jenkins, who has been the president of Notre Dame for four years, who delivered the most important speech of the day.

Jenkins has spoken only once to the media -- to Notre Dame's student newspaper, The Observer -- since he announced that Obama would be the speaker, but he sent a letter to graduates last week acknowledging that the University's decision has caused a furor.

At Commencement, he addressed those criticisms of Notre Dame, many of which accused the school of choosing prestige over its Catholic belief in the sanctity of human life. Jenkins tends to be a soft-spoken, thoughtful, rather long-winded man. In my time at Notre Dame, I've listened to quite a few of his speeches, but none of them were particularly memorable. In his introductory remarks Sunday, however, Jenkins was articulate, passionate and forceful in his defense of Notre Dame's invitation of Obama. It was the best speech I've ever heard Jenkins make.

Jenkins said the world graduates entered Sunday is "torn by division," and these divisions must be acknowledged. As a Catholic university, Jenkins said, we must be motivated by our faith, but we must also engage in dialogue that appeals to reason.

"When we face differences with fellow citizens, we will be tested: do we keep trying, with love and a generous spirit, to appeal to ethical principles that might be persuasive to others -- or do we condemn those who differ with us for not seeing the truth that we see?" Jenkins said. "The first approach can lead to healing, the second to hostility. We know which approach we are called to as disciples of Christ."

Jenkins said the Church, and the University, have an interest in fostering dialogue with "people of good will," and that the dialogue should not start and end in an afternoon, but rather, should be an ongoing process.

Great attention was given to Notre Dame's invitation to Obama, but less attention was given to Obama's decision to accept the invitation, Jenkins said.

"President Obama has come to Notre Dame, though he knows well that we are fully supportive of Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life, and we oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem cell research," Jenkins said. "Others might have avoided this venue for that reason. But President Obama is not someone who stops talking to those who differ with him."

"Mr. President: This is a principle we share," Jenkins said.

The dialogue at Commencement was not completely respectful. Obama's speech was interrupted four separate times by individual protesters sitting among the crowd. The second protester, sitting only a few rows behind me, shouted out "Abortion is murder" before he was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd saying "Yes, we can!" and "We are ND!" The protesters were quickly taken out of the arena, and Obama continued on with his speech.

Obama did not shy away from discussing abortion, the topic that has so thoroughly consumed the campus for the past two months. He spoke about the importance of discovering the common ground people have in the debate, receiving applause from the audience when he discussed ways he wants to address the abortion issue.

"Let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let's reduce unintended pregnancies," he said. "Let's make adoption more available. Let's provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women."

Obama said the debate about abortion should continue, but that we should be able to discuss it "without reducing those with differing views to caricature."

Obama referenced Catholics who have had an impact on his life, such as Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the Archbishop of Chicago when Obama was working as a community organizer, and former Notre Dame president Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, who worked extensively with the civil rights commission.

It wasn't the best speech I've ever heard Obama give -- it had familiar Obama themes of a challenging road ahead and how we need to help each other -- but it was well-received by the audience in the Joyce Center.

I was inside the Commencement the whole time, so I did not see any of the protesters on the edges of campus, though the South Bend Tribune reported that 37 were arrested. Early in the day, I did walk by a mass held by members of Notre Dame Response, a group of students opposed to the Obama invite. They held the service on one of Notre Dame's quads and later, the South Bend Tribune reported, about two dozen of them received their degrees at the Grotto.

Obama has left campus, I have graduated, but that protesting plane circled overhead hours after Commencement finished. The debate continues.


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