Ambassador Miguel H. Diaz, a Roman Catholic theologian, announced last week that he is leaving Rome to become professor of faith and culture at the University of Dayton in Ohio.
The Cuban-born ambassador spent much of his term at the Vatican trying to deal with tension over the Obama administration’s pro-abortion policies.
Most recently, U.S. Catholic bishops publicly denounced Mr. Obama for issuing regulations from the Health and Human Services Department that will require Catholic universities and charities to cover abortion and birth control in health insurance policies in violation of the church’s pro-life teachings.
Mr. Diaz bid farewell to Pope Benedict XVI last week.
The ambassador, a pro-life Democrat, was Mr. Obama’s third choice for the diplomatic post.
The Vatican rejected Caroline Kennedy because of her support for abortion and Douglas Kmiec, a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
Although Mr. Kmiec also is a pro-life Democrat, he had publicly urged Catholics to support Mr. Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
Mr. Kmiec was later appointed as ambassador to Malta.