The liberal press, in seeking to justify Obama's commencement speech, was quick to point out that not only were the majority of students and faculty at Notre Dame in favor of his appearance, but that 54 percent of Catholics voted for him in the recent election.

There are those who identify themselves as Catholics by their own definition, believing only in those areas of the religion that they wish to believe in and obeying only those commandments with which they feel comfortable.

These are some of the factors to be considered when determining the true percentage of Catholics who either voted for Obama or are in favor of his stance on abortion.

Dan Clemens

Marlboro, NJ

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Obama may be a good speaker and able to pass off his agenda, but we all know that he's for keeping abortion legal.

Giving Obama an honorary degree at Notre Dame is the same as putting lipstick on a pig.

Joe DePascale

Brooklyn

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I wonder if many of those who go to Notre Dame and tried to drown out the pro-life protesters by shouting "We are ND!" even know that the school's name is Latin for "Our Lady," the Virgin Mother.

Obviously, they spend too much time at football games and not enough time in chapel.

Lord knows, they couldn't shout, "We are Catholic!"

Patrick Grant

Brooklyn

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There are between 3,000 and 4,000 abortions every day in the United States. I simply cannot open my heart and mind to someone who doesn't think that even one is wrong.

Obama doesn't seem to care that there are over a million babies aborted each year. So why does he tell the assembled throng that it "must decide how to save God's creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it"?

Are not these babies God's creation as well?

Michael J. Hanley

Park Ridge, Ill.

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I am a Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus, and I believe that life starts at conception and that abortion is the destruction of human life.

I applaud the demonstrators who prayed and protested outside Notre Dame, and wish I could have been one of them. I especially applaud the students and graduates who engaged in a prayer vigil at the grotto while Obama gave his address.

These pro-life graduates and students ought to be praised for saying and doing what is right for life.

Frederick Bedell Jr.

Glen Oaks Village

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There was no reason to award Obama an honorary degree. In fact, he should never have been extended an invitation to speak at the commencement exercises.

Obama goes out of his way to offend people whose moral compass is diametrically opposed to his.

Obama's presence at the Notre Dame graduation was a bold exercise in hubris. His ego would not let him back down in the face of mounting protests, so he used his position as president to justify his address.

Obama's lecturing tones are becoming tiresome, and his staff should have informed him that the polling from last week put the voters who are pro-life in this country at 51 percent.

There is very little that the church can do about Obama, but I think the Vatican should come down very hard on those officials at Notre Dame who invited Obama in the first place.

Tom Cahill

Manhattan