Dr. Miguel Díaz is a Professor of Theology at St. John's University and the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota. He is the co-editor of the book 'From the Heart of Our People: Explorations in Catholic Systematic Theology' and author of 'On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives,' named 'Best Book of the Year' by the Hispanic Theological Initiative at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Díaz taught Religious Studies and Theology at Barry University, the University of Dayton and the University of Notre Dame. From 2001 to 2003, he taught and served as Academic Dean at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. He is a Board Member of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) and Past President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). Dr. Díaz holds a B.A. from St. Thomas University and a M.A. and PhD in Theology from the University of Notre Dame.

Catholics United supports the President's choice.

The President's nomination of Diaz still will need to go before the Senate for approval.

"Now that Reverend Hagee is apologizing for his anti-Catholic comments, does John McCain think that Hagee should also apologize for his other comments? If so will he have the courage to say so publicly? said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Unless John McCain's idea of being a new kind of Republican includes cozying up to radicals who compare women to dogs, hold racially insensitive fundraisers and call one of the worst natural disasters in our country's history God's punishment, he should renounce John Hagee's endorsement immediately. Given John McCain's history of putting political calculations ahead of his principles, we're not holding our breath."

McCain Spent One Year Courting Hagee Endorsement. "In an interview that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee declares, 'It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my endorsement.' McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's views, much as Barack Obama is doing in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and accepted his accolades this year." [Editor and Publisher, 3/20/08]

Rev. John Hagee on Hurricane Katrina: "All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

• Hagee Repeated Claim: "The topic of that day was cursing and blessing… What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God, in time if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can become it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it's called a curse… In the case of New Orleans, their plan to have that homosexual rally was sin. But it never happened. The rally never happened." [Dennis Prager Radio show, 4/22/08]

Hagee on African Americans: The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported: "Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a 'slave sale' to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, 'The Cluster.' "The item was introduced with the sentence 'Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." [San Antonio Express-News, 3/7/96]

Hagee on Women: "Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist." [God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]

More Hagee on Women: "[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family."["Bible Positions on Political Issues," John Hagee]

Hagee on Islamic Beliefs: Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews," to which Hagee replied, "Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly."[NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

“We offer Pope Benedict XVI the warmest welcome as he arrives in the United Statestoday. In anticipation of your historic journey, you have been in our thoughts and prayers for a successful visit.

“Your visit comes at a critical time. In the U.S.and across the globe, the gap between the most fortunate and everyone else is widening. So many families are struggling to meet their basic needs. War and violence are prevalent. Immigrant families are being separated. May your message of hope for peace and freedom be heard and inspire us to work on behalf of the common good for all people.”

"It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho. Our prayers are with the Archbishop's family, parishioners, colleagues and all those who loved and will miss him as his funeral mass is celebrated today. The Archbishop was a voice for peace and religious harmony in Iraq. His kidnaping and death is a sad reminder of the suffering and violence Iraqis face daily as a result of the Iraq war. Our prayers go out to his Chaldean community, from which many members have been forced to flee the country and are living as refugees away from their homeland, while many others have died due to failed policies in Iraq."

"I am very honored by Pastor John Hagee's endorsement..."

And later said -

"I was pleased to have the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee..."

Talking Points Memo provided nearly six minutes of John Hagee's greatest hits. So what exactly is John McCain "proud of"?

Back in 2000, Bush caused a very similar controversy, and back then, McCain's response was far, far different:

And that's not all.

There was also a pro-McCain robocall that went out blasting Bush for campaigning with somebody who has "expressed anti-Catholic views."

We've got the text of that robocall right here:

"This is a Catholic Voter Alert. Governor George Bush has campaigned against Senator John McCain by seeking the support of Southern fundamentalists who have expressed anti-Catholic views. Several weeks ago, Governor Bush spoke at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Bob Jones has made strong anti-Catholic statements, including calling the Pope the anti-Christ, the Catholic Church a satanic cult! John McCain, a pro-life senator, has strongly criticized this anti-Catholic bigotry, while Governor Bush has stayed silent while seeking the support of Bob Jones University. Because of this, one Catholic pro-life Congressman has switched his support from Bush to McCain, and many Michigan Catholics support John McCain for president"

So how about McCain be held to the McCain standard? Or does he, once again, think ethics apply to everybody but himself?

Hagee on Hurricane Katrina
"All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on Islamic Beliefs
Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews," to which Hagee replied, "Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on African Americans
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:

"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a 'slave sale' to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, 'The Cluster.'

"The item was introduced with the sentence 'Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." [San Antonio Express-News 3/7/96]

Hagee on Catholicism
"Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews." [Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee]

Hagee on Women
"Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist." [God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]

"[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family." ["Bible Positions on Political Issues," John Hagee]

Hagee on LGBT Americans
"The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on Jewish Americans
"It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day." [Matthew Yglesias, The Atlantic Online, 2/29/08]

"Well I think it's important to note that pastor John Hagee who has supported and endorsed my candidacy supports what I stand for and believe in. When he endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for and believes. And I am very proud of the Pastor John Hagee's spiritual leadership to thousands of people and I am proud of his commitment to the independence and the freedom of the state of Israel. That does not mean that I support or endorse or agree with some of the things that Pastor John Hagee might have said or positions that he may have taken on other issues. I don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy. They are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions." [McCain Media Availability, 2/29/08]

Hagee on Hurricane Katrina
"All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on Islamic Beliefs
Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews," to which Hagee replied, "Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on African-Americans
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:

"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a 'slave sale' to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, 'The Cluster.'

"The item was introduced with the sentence 'Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." [San Antonio Express-News 3/7/96]

Hagee on Catholicism
"Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews." [Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee]

Hagee on Women
"Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist." [God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]

"[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family." ["Bible Positions on Political Issues," John Hagee]

Hagee on LGBT Americans
"The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on Iran
"The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty," Hagee wrote [in 2006] in the Pentecostal magazine Charisma. "Israel and America must confront Iran's nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons. For Israel to wait is to risk committing national suicide." [The Nation, 8/8/2006, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/new_christian_zionism]

John McCain proudly touted picking up the support of Texas preacher John Hagee at a town hall meeting this morning in Houston.

But Hagee's endorsement doesn't come free. He's said some derogatory things about Catholicism in the past.

So naturally William Donahue, outspoken head of the conservative Catholic League issued a scathing press release today, calling on McCain to disavow Hagee's backing.

Donahue notes Hagee has called the Catholic church "‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’

Religion will play an important role in today's South Carolina Democratic primary, just as it did in last week's South Carolina Republican primary. The difference is that we'll learn less about how religion affects today's vote than we learned about how it influenced last week's contest.

Last week, thanks to exit polls, we understood the religious breakdown, how often voters attended religious services, whether they considered themselves born-again or evangelical Christians, whether they said the candidates' religious beliefs mattered and what they thought about abortion. And the polls helped to shape the news coverage, so we saw headlines such as: "Evangelical Republicans Drive S.C. Primary" and "Ideology, Religion Important in S.C."

If previous exit polls this cycle are any indicator, religion will be much less central to the exit polls today. At most, Democrats have been asked which religion they identify with and how often they go to church. In Iowa and Michigan, Democrats weren't asked about religion at all. And that, in turn, has shaped the news coverage, making it appear that one party has a monopoly on religion in this race.

I'm chief of staff of the Democratic National Committee and CEO of the 2008 Democratic Convention. I'm also an ordained Pentecostal minister. So I've been encouraged by the growing attention paid to the role of religion in politics as we go about the important task of electing our next president. I've been disappointed, however, with the focus of the discussion so far.

Democrats have been, are and will continue to be people of faith. My own support for the party stems from my sense that it is most emblematic of gospel values. Democrats believe in equal opportunity for all Americans, that no child should go to bed hungry or go without health care, that we should be good stewards of the earth, that we shouldn't pass on debt to our children, and that people who work hard should be able to earn a living wage so they can support their families.

As a "big tent" party, we embrace and represent people from a number of faith traditions. The religious diversity of our party reflects the rich religious diversity of our nation -- and this includes those who don't identify with a religious tradition.

But, for too long, we allowed the other side to define us and our values. Some Democrats were reluctant to talk about faith on the campaign trail. While strong, our faith was a personal, not partisan, matter.

Following the 2004 election, it became clear that Republicans used religion to create a divide. And, as people of faith and as Democrats, we had a responsibility to speak out. That's what we're doing now. The DNC has been actively engaging people of faith who share the core values and principles of the Democratic Party. We've assembled a team of religious leaders -- including pastors, theologians and organizational leaders -- to open a dialogue and build coalitions around our shared values. And America has seen the Democratic presidential candidates sharing their own faith journeys, talking about how faith informs their politics.

We know the support is there -- and growing. In fact, Democrats narrowed the Republican advantage among weekly churchgoers in the 2006 election, and a recent Pew survey found that the number of young evangelicals who identified themselves as Republican dropped by 15 percentage points, from 55 percent in 2001 to 40 percent today.

Yet the exit polls and the media reports and the pundits have largely missed this story. They often fail to acknowledge that people of faith are and can be Democrats.

To be sure, exit-poll questions asking Republicans if they are born-again or evangelical Christians may be trying to approximate questions in years past about identification with the "Religious Right." But this is an outdated script that leaves the impression that religion and faith matter only to Republicans.

Religion will continue to play a prominent role in the Democratic nominating process as well. And pollsters and pundits and all the media would do well to examine this interesting and important dynamic.

The writer is chief of staff of the Democratic Party and CEO of the Democratic Convention in Denver.

Catholic News Services' Judith Sudilovsky reports:

Archbishop Chacour, known for his outspokenness, said he felt Bush was trying "to find a way out" of the failures in his Mideast policy and that his visit was a little too late to accomplish anything given his past history and the short time left of his term.

"The sermon was calling for action in a certain direction," the archbishop said in a telephone interview with Catholic News Service. "This is where Christ was calling on all his followers to get up and do something to get their hands dirty, protect the poor, heal the sick, release the prisoners -- including those in Guantanamo Bay, and I will tell him that."

Depending on the conditions, Archbishop Chacour said he may also speak to Bush about the "blood on his hands."

"I think that if he knew how may people have been killed because of his policies (here, in Iraq and in Afghanistan) he would be very sad," the archbishop said...

The presiding priest delivered an impassioned homily recounting the tragic events of 9/11, praying for the victims of terrorism and for an end to the war in Iraq. He challenge the failed policy in Iraq by declaring it "unjust" and built upon "seductive false philosophies" and offered a special blessing for the Members of Congress to have strength and wisdom to pursue peace and reconciliation.

Just as the congregation was preparing to receive communion, the Church bells began to toll commemorating the exact moment when the first plane struck the twin towers six years ago. The large congregation of Catholic leaders and electeds stood as a sign of solidarity.

The Mass was sponsored by a number of Catholic organizations including: Catholics United, NETWORK, Maryknoll, Pax Christi USA, the Office for Social Concerns of the Archdiocese of Washington, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, the Jesuit Conference, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Columban Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office.

Catholics will be praying for an end to war across the country in the coming weeks as part of the campaign--"Catholics for an End to the War in Iraq."

(John Kelly is Catholic Outreach Liaison for the Democratic Party)

"Protection of water resources and carefulness toward climate change are issues of the utmost importance for the entire human family," he told the crowd.

This follows his address to "300,000 Roman Catholics at an environment festival in Loreto, Italy." The event has been called "Save Creation Day."

The Vatican is already planning to become carbon neutral and started installing solar panels on the roof of the main auditorium.