SOUTH BEND, INDIANA (ANS) -- President Obama plunged into the abortion debate in a controversial Notre Dame commencement address Sunday, calling for a search for common ground.

Obama's appearance at the University of Notre Dame's graduation touched off a storm of controversy.

A story by CNN reported that addressing a sharply divided audience at the famous Catholic university, Obama conceded that no matter how much Americans “may want to fudge it ... at some level the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.”

He said, “Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.”

CNN said the commencement ceremony was boycotted by a number of graduates dismayed by the university's decision both to tap Obama as its commencement speaker and to give him an honorary degree.

The president is a supporter of abortion rights and federally-funded embryonic stem-cell research -- positions that are highly offensive to traditional Catholic teachings.

CNN said some graduates attended the ceremony, but expressed their disapproval by wearing mortarboards marked with a cross and the outline of an infant's footprints. Others countered by wearing mortarboards adorned with an Obama campaign symbol.

Protests by pro life advocates before Obama's speech led to 39 arrests, St. Joseph County sheriff's deputy Rachel Zawistowski told CNN. One of those arrested was Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff identified as “Roe” in the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that struck down state laws banning abortion.

All those arrested were charged with trespassing, and two people taken into custody were also charged with resisting arrest, CNN reported an official said. The charges are misdemeanors, and defendants had to post bail of $250 each before being released.

CNN reported that inside, several hecklers who interrupted the start of Obama's speech were loudly booed by the audience.

Obama asked the crowd if it's possible “for us to join hands in common effort.”

“As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate?” CNN reported he asked. “How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?”

Some Catholics did applaud Obama’s speech.

Catholic Democrats President Patrick Whelan said in a news release, “Today is an affirmation of the role that Catholics in the United States and Catholic education play in our national story. More importantly, it was a historic moment in what is already a historic Presidency. Today, President Obama came to Notre Dame in the midst of a political firestorm created by a small minority of outside agitators. He faced his critics and addressed them with compassion, and found the appropriate balance between faith and reason.”

Catholic Democrats is a national organization committed to promoting Catholic Social Teaching and progressive action.

CNN said the president told the audience a story about an e-mail he received during his 2004 Illinois Senate race from a doctor who opposed abortion. The doctor, according to the president, said he voted for Obama during the Democratic primary but felt he might not be able to support him in the general election.

A self-described Christian who “was strongly pro-life,” the doctor had been offended by an entry on Obama's Senate campaign Web site that said Obama would oppose “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman's right to choose.”

“The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable,” CNN reported Obama said.

He said the doctor urged him not to change his views, but rather to speak about the issue of abortion in “fair-minded words.”

After instructing his campaign staff to change the wording on his Web site, CNN reported Obama said he prayed “that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. When we do that -- when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do -- that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.”

The president said that while “maybe we won't agree on abortion ... we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make.”

CNN said Obama urged supporters and opponents of abortion rights to “work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term.”

Obama is the ninth sitting U.S. president to deliver the commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, but none of his predecessors touched off a similar firestorm.

“I have no problem with Obama speaking on the campus (but) I do have a problem giving him (this) honor,” said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League.

CNN said that Catholic Bishop John D'Arcy of South Bend, Indiana, was among those who skipped the ceremony.

“President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred,” CNN reported D'Arcy said in a written statement.

Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins noted in a statement in March that the university has hosted Democratic and Republican presidents, and said the invitation does not mean the university agrees with all of Obama's positions.

However, a story by Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times said the university's invitation to Obama reported dozens of bishops saying the university had forgotten its Catholic mission by awarding the president an honorary degree.

In addition, the Washington Times reported, some alumni have said they would end their contributions, and a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Mary Ann Glendon, declined the school's prestigious Laetare Medal at this year's ceremony.

But the university nonetheless stuck to its invitation, and Jenkins introduced Obama by saying that while the focus has been on Notre Dame's offer, the president deserves praise for accepting it.

CNN said Obama carried the Catholic vote in last year's presidential election by a margin of nine percentage points, 54 to 45 percent.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "The Face of Homelessness." Additional details are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com. Reynalds' latest book is "We All Need a Little Help." It was released on October 3 2008. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 400-7145.