The resignation of the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican presents President Obama with the same dilemma he faced three years ago in trying to find a pro-life Democrat to fill the diplomatic post in the Holy See, which is angered by Mr. Obama's push to force Catholic institutions to provide health insurance coverage for abortion and birth control.
Student groups in devoutly Catholic Malta are praising U.S. Ambassador Douglas Kmiec, who announced his resignation after State Department bureaucrats criticized him for spending too much time discussing religion.
The U.S. ambassador to Malta, an important Roman Catholic supporter of President Obama's, said Sunday he would resign after a State Department report criticized him for spending too much time writing and speaking about his religious beliefs.
Only three months after President Obama took office, Poland felt abandoned by the new Democratic administration, which was suspected of moving quietly to kill a Bush-era, Polish-based missile-defense shield for Eastern Europe that Russia strongly opposed.