As Catholic bishops gather in San Antonio this week, they face some tough questions. Their most recent engagements with politics sharpened divisions within the church and left the bishops shaken, even embarrassed.

Many church leaders harshly criticized the University of Notre Dame, long beloved by Catholics, because its administration invited President Obama to give the commencement. The local bishop decided to boycott the event, and one of the country’s most respected lay leaders, Mary Ann Glendon, turned down an honor that she had earlier accepted. Highly publicized attacks on Notre Dame and on the president of the United States took place as the most radical anti-abortion groups harassed university officials and students.

But Notre Dame’s graduates and their families enthusiastically welcomed President Obama, listened attentively to his persuasive address, and cheered an eloquent introduction by Notre Dame President John Jenkins, C.S.C. Notre Dame emerged strengthened by the controversy while the bishops seemed isolated and at odds with a significant portion of their Catholic flock.

The shrill reaction of many bishops to President Obama’s election and visit to Notre Dame reflected a grim image of an embattled church hunkered down against hostile enemies. This defensive posture seemed curious, given the fact that a majority of Catholics voted for Obama, and the president appears to echo Catholic moral priorities when he calls for fair economic recovery, universal health care, comprehensive immigration reform, nuclear disarmament and steps to combat global climate change.

The bishops worry about Obama’s earlier support for legislation to remove restrictions on abortion, but he has made it clear this is not among his legislative priorities. Instead, on issues of profound disagreement such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research, the president consistently reaches out to pro-life leaders and demonstrates a genuine desire to find common ground. At Notre Dame, he promised to support a “reasonable conscience clause” and again invited pro-life and pro-choice factions to join together in efforts to reduce the number of abortions.

With the support of Republican politicians who benefit from the abortion “culture wars,” well organized extremists like Randall Terry -- a recent convert to Catholicism-- exert powerful pressure on the bishops to single out this issue from the seamless fabric of Catholic social teaching.