Vatican, Obama 'At War'

From Paola Totaro of the Sydney Morning Herald:
The Vatican has signalled that it will not accept President Barack Obama's choices as ambassador to the Holy See because of their views on stem cell research and abortion.
The Italian newspaper Il Giornale - and its well-placed Vatican specialist, Andrea Tornielli - has reported that a tug of war has erupted between the American Catholic church hierarchy and the new US Administration:
"The tenant of the White House is highly criticised for his choice in favour of abortion and stem cell embryos, while the impasse for the designation of the new US ambassador in the Vatican continues … the tension between the US church and the Vatican and the President, Barack Obama, is growing … indeed there is an impasse over the nominee who should replace Mary Ann Glendon, (designated by Bush and notoriously, extremely close to Benedict XVI)," Mr Tornielli wrote in his blog and newspaper article.
He further wrote: "At least three names - but there are some that say more - of candidates … have been 'burned' even before the proposal of nomination could be made formally, because they were unwelcome to the church. "
The Holy See would like to see a professional diplomat and not a Democrat who is in need of reward for supporting the presidential campaign … furthermore it is not easy to find a Democrat who is not pro-choice."
According to Il Giornale, those rejected before they could even be nominated formally include Caroline Kennedy and Professor Douglas Kmiec, a specialist in constitutional law at Pepperdine University who was also former head of the Office of Legal Counsel for presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Both candidates offered high profile endorsements to Mr Obama during the presidential campaign.
The news comes in the wake of controversy sparked within the American Catholic Church's hierarchy after the Catholic university, Notre Dame, invited Mr Obama to give a major address and receive an honorary degree next month.