SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican says she won't accept the University of Notre Dame's top honor at commencement next month because of the Roman Catholic school's decision to have President Barack Obama speak to graduates.
Harvard University law professor Mary Ann Glendon says in a letter to the school president that giving Obama an honorary degree violates the U.S. bishops' 2004 statement that Catholic institutions shouldn't honor people whose actions conflict with the church's moral principles.
Obama supports abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research.
Glendon was ambassador to the Vatican in the final year of George W. Bush's administration. She was to receive the school's Laetare Medal.
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