WASHINGTON (CNS) --- In a nationwide poll, half of U.S. Catholics overall supported the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Barack Obama to address college graduates while 28 percent opposed it. But when the Catholics polled were divided into categories of those who attended weekly Mass and those who did not, the numbers shifted. Thirty-seven percent of those attending weekly Mass supported the Indiana university's decision while 45 percent opposed it. The poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, was released April 30. It was based on telephone interviews April 23-27 with 2,003 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The overall Catholic response to the survey was similar to the nationwide views on the issue: 48 percent approved, 25 percent disapproved and 27 percent said they didn't know. Of Catholics who attended Mass less than once a week, 23 percent found fault with the university's decision and 56 percent favored it.

Jack Kemp dies at 73; shared political views of many Catholics
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Jack Kemp, a Presbyterian Republican politician who championed causes important to many Catholics, died in his Bethesda, Md., home May 2 at the age of 73, following a battle with cancer. Kemp was praised by President Barack Obama, who offered condolences to his family. The former congressman, GOP vice-presidential nominee, secretary of Housing and Urban Development and longtime professional football player was diagnosed with cancer in January and was surrounded by members of his family when he died, according to a statement issued by Kemp's family. Kemp's political positions tended to be aligned with the U.S. Catholic bishops. He opposed abortion, supported school prayer, sought outreach to minorities, urged compassion for the poor and pushed for immigration reform, including a guest-worker program and regularization of the status of illegal immigrants already in the country. "Jack Kemp was a man who could fiercely advocate his own beliefs and principles while also remembering the lessons he learned years earlier on the football field --- that bitter divisiveness between race and class and station only stood in the way of the common aim of a team to win," Obama said in a May 3 statement released by the White House.

'Angels and Demons' fails to generate Vatican outrage
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- On the eve of its world premiere, "Angels and Demons" was a film in desperate search of controversy. At a press conference in Rome May 3, director Ron Howard tried to pick a fight with the Vatican, suggesting that the long arm of the Holy See was somehow behind unspecified problems in shooting the film, a pseudo-religious thriller based in Rome. The Vatican wasn't taking the bait, though. The only real criticism in Italy on the eve of the film's premiere came from a 102-year-old Italian bishop --- not exactly the kind of publicity storm that marketing gurus dream about. Tom Hanks, the film's star, put his finger on the problem at the press conference when he was asked if the movie's marketing people might try to exploit potential conflict with the Vatican. "Every movie is exploited by the marketing people. There's no such thing as a movie that is not exploited by the marketing people," Hanks said. The movie, based on a novel by Dan Brown, was set to premiere in Rome May 4, and was to open in the United States May 15. It tells the tale of a secret society that kidnaps papal candidates at the start of a conclave, forcing the Vatican to turn to the mystery-solving symbologist Robert Langdon, played by Hanks.

It is a 'shameful tragedy' people go hungry in the world, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- One of the most urgent and critical social problems afflicting the world today is the "shameful tragedy that one-fifth of humanity still goes hungry," Pope Benedict XVI told members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. "Assuring an adequate food supply, like the protection of vital resources such as water and energy, requires all international leaders to collaborate in showing a readiness to work" toward eliminating social inequalities between countries and communities, he said in an address May 4. "For Christians who regularly ask God to 'give us this day our daily bread,' it is a shameful tragedy" that so many people go hungry and are malnourished, he said. Some 25,000 people die from hunger every day and one child dies every six seconds of malnutrition or starvation, according to the United Nations' World Food Program. The pope made his remarks during an audience with about 55 participants attending a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Pope prays for those hit by flu pandemic
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the people of Mexico to keep their faith in God, who will help them as they face a deadly flu outbreak. After praying the "Regina Coeli" with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square May 3, the pope expressed his spiritual closeness to all those hit by the swine flu, which is spread by human contact. He said he was praying "for the victims of the influenza that is affecting Mexico and other countries." Speaking in Spanish, the pope called on Mexicans to "stand firm in the Lord; he will help you overcome this difficulty." He invited families to pray together to Our Lady of Guadalupe, asking that she assist and protect them. According to the World Health Organization, there were 1,085 confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, which causes swine flu, in 21 countries, as of late May 4.

Polls say Canadians want at least some legal protection of unborn
OTTAWA (CNS) --- Despite polls showing a majority of Canadians oppose unlimited abortion, Canada does not legally protect the unborn throughout nine months of pregnancy. "Consistently, our polls and polls running back to the 1970s show that two-thirds of Canadians want to see some restrictions on abortion," said Gudrun Schultz, executive director of LifeCanada, an advocacy group for a variety of life issues. Since 2002, LifeCanada has been commissioning polls that show about one-third of Canadians support full protection for unborn children from conception to birth; another third want some restrictions; and a third want no restrictions at all. Schultz described Canada's legal vacuum as a "free-for-all" that results in about 100,000 abortions a year. "Most Canadians are not OK with that," she said. "It's way past due for legislation that would really reflect what Canadians want on the issue of abortion."

Financial crisis cannot lead to neglect of the poor, pope tells donors
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- With finances tight everywhere and a global financial crisis making life difficult even for those with money, people can be tempted to worry only about their own situation and that of their family, Pope Benedict XVI said. "At moments such as these it is tempting to overlook those without a voice and think only of our own difficulties," the pope told members of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation. "As Christians we are aware, however, that especially when times are difficult we must work even harder to ensure that the consoling message of Our Lord is heard," the pope said during the meeting May 2 at the Vatican. The Papal Foundation was established in 1990 and, in the name of the pope, has given more than $54 million in grants for the building of churches, seminaries, schools, hospitals and other projects for the care of the poor around the world. In the midst of the financial crisis, the pope told the benefactors, "rather than turning in on ourselves, we must continue to be beacons of hope, strength and support for others, most especially those who have no one to watch over or assist them."