Obama has done what the Pope cannot, he has united Catholics. Most Catholics think Obama stinks as president. 59 percent of Catholics don’t approve of his job performance. Yup, the same Catholics who are responsible for Obama, now disapprove.

In what is the first major public measurement of the Catholic backlash Obama faces, a new Rasmussen poll finds 59 percent of Catholics don’t approve of his job performance. That poor standing with one of the major electoral constituencies that Obama needs this November may make it more difficult for him to win a second term.

“Catholics strongly disapprove of the job President Obama is doing as the debate continues over his administration’s new policy forcing Catholic institutions to pay for contraception they morally oppose,” notes pollster Scott Rasmussen in the new survey. “While the president’s overall job approval ratings have improved over the past couple of months, they have remained steady among Catholics.”

The new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 59% of likely Catholic voters nationwide at least somewhat disapprove of the president’s job performance, while 40% at least somewhat approve. But the passion’s on the side of those who don’t like the job he’s doing: 44% Strongly Disapprove versus 19% who Strongly Approve.

According to the survey, 54 percent of Catholics voted for Obama in November 2008. However, Republican hopeful Mitt Romney currently leads the president among Catholic voters by a 52% to 35% margin. Among all voters, however, President Obama leads Romney and all Republican hopefuls.

It seems Obama is a uniter not a divider after all.