WASHINGTON – Notre Dame made the right call to invite President Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree, most Catholics who have heard about the issue say.

But a new poll released Thursday found a deep division between the most-observant Catholics and those who are less observant, as defined by frequency of worship service attendance.

Early in his administration, Obama made two decisions opposed by many Catholics, a critical swing vote that Obama carried in 2008.

Obama lifted restrictions on stem cell research. He also said he will allow federal money be sent to international planning organizations that may also perform abortions or provide information about the procedure.

When the university announced last month that Obama will deliver May 17 the commencement address, reaction from some Catholics was sharp and immediate.

Bishop John D’Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese said he would boycott the event; a Catholic scholar who was to receive an award at the graduation ceremony declined rather than appear with Obama and seem to support the university’s choice; and thousands have signed petitions asking the university’s president to reconsider.

But the poll by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life found that only about half the country’s Catholics have heard about the controversy.

Of those that knew about it, 50 percent said Notre Dame was right to invite Obama; 28 percent said it wasn’t.

Among Catholics who go to Mass at least once a week, however, 45 percent said it was wrong of Notre Dame to invite Obama and to give him an honorary degree. Catholics who attend church less often had the opposite reaction: 56 percent said Notre Dame made the right choice.

The general public was also polled. Slightly less than half said they had heard of the controversy. Of those who had, 48 percent said it was right to invite Obama to the commencement; 25 percent said it was wrong.

Obama out-polled Republican John McCain among Catholics in the 2008 election, getting 54 percent of their votes. The poll taken in April said two-thirds of Catholics think Obama is doing a good job as president, slightly more than the 63 percent of the public at large.

Only two other groups – black Protestants and people not affiliated with a religion – had a stronger positive evaluation of Obama’s first three months in office. The poll found that 96 percent of black Protestants approve of the job he is doing; 81 percent of those who are not members of a church approve.

But the poll said Obama’s approval rating among Catholics who attend church at least once a week has slipped. In February, 20 percent said they disapprove of the job Obama is doing; in April, 45 percent gave him a thumbs-down.

sylviasmith@jg.net