[Richard M. Doerflinger] said the pope's language leaves no openings for the kind of compromise being explored by such Republican negotiators as Sen. Bill Frist (Tenn.). Frist would limit research to embryos developed through in vitro fertilization procedures that are to be discarded, would require informed consent from donors, and would prohibit the laboratory creation of embryos for research.

In the 2000 campaign, [Bush] sought to win over Catholic voters, who have been inclined to back Democrats. Bush succeeded in winning a majority of white Catholics, 52 percent to 45 percent, in contrast to his father and 1996 GOP presidential candidate Robert J. Dole, who both lost that voting bloc.

Recently, however, Bush's approval numbers have been dropping faster among Catholics than among voters overall. While down 8 points to 55 percent among all voters, Bush has dropped 17 points, from 65 to 48 percent, among Catholics from April to June, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.