President Barack Obama last week nominated Douglas Kmiec, professor of law at Pepperdine University, for the position of United States Ambassador to Malta, the Catholic nation just south of Italy.
The appointment is a controversial one since Kmiec, a committed Catholic, had been instrumental in persuading other Catholics to vote for Obama in the 2008 presidential election despite Obama’s position on abortion and stem cell research, among other moral issues.
Kmiec’s appointment is also expected to generate some controversy in Malta, as the Catholic country has one of the strongest pro-life laws in the European Union. If Malta accepts the appointment of Kmiec, the U.S. Senate will conduct a confirmation hearing before voting to confirm him to the ambassadorship.
Kmiec served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel during the Ronald Reagan administration; as dean of Catholic University’s law school from 2001 to 2003; and as a professor at the University of Notre Dame’s law school.