John McCain defended his endorsement from evangelical pastor John Hagee Friday, balking at a request to denounce the San Antonio megachurch leader given his past controversial statements about Catholicism.

In doing so, McCain found himself in the same situation as Democrat Barack Obama, who was pressured to "reject" the support of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan at a debate Tuesday.

McCain said in Round Rock, Texas -- and later in a written statement -- that the recent endorsement does not mean he agrees with all of Hagee's views.

"I don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy. They are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions," he said.

Hagee cited McCain's pro-life and pro-Israel stances in his endorsement Wednesday. But the announcement drew instant backlash from the Democratic National Committee, the Catholic League and Catholics United.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue called on McCain Thursday to reject Hagee's support, citing statements in Hagee's book Jerusalem Countdown that linked Adolf Hitler to the Catholic Church.

"There are plenty of staunch evangelical leaders who are pro-Israel, but are not anti-Catholic. John Hagee is not one of them," Donohue said in the statement. "He has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church."

Democrats quoted Hagee as saying the Catholic Church conspired with Nazis against the Jews and that Hurricane Katrina was God's retribution for homosexual sin, and they recited his demeaning comments about women and flip remarks about slavery.

"Hagee's hate speech has no place in public discourse, and McCain's embrace of this figure raises serious questions about John McCain's character and his willingness to do anything to win," said Tom McMahon, executive director of the Democratic National Committee.

Donohue made a direct challenge to McCain, saying: "Senator Obama has repudiated the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, another bigot. McCain should follow suit and retract his embrace of Hagee."

Farrakhan, who has made controversial statements about Judaism, caught Obama in a bind when he gave a de facto endorsement to the Illinois senator Sunday.

Obama was asked during a debate with Hillary Clinton Tuesday night if he would reject that support.

"I can't say to somebody that he can't say that he thinks I'm a good guy," Obama said. "You know, I have been very clear in my denunciations of him and his past statements."

Clinton then chimed in to say she rejected support from an anti-Israel group during her 2000 Senate run, and that Obama's denunciation of Farrakhan is not as strong as a rejection.

Obama relented: "I have to say I don't see a difference between denouncing and rejecting. There's no formal offer of help from Minister Farrakhan that would involve me rejecting it. But if the word 'reject' Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word 'denounce,' then I'm happy to concede the point, and I would reject and denounce."

Sen. Sam Brownback issued a statement Friday in defense of McCain, saying ""Let me be clear, John McCain would never do anything to insult any citizen on the basis of their religious beliefs. Most especially, he would never condone anti-Catholicism or even the slightest whiff of it."

On Thursday, McCain's GOP challenger Mike Huckabee also ripped on Hagee -- not for his statements on Catholicism, but for picking politics over principles, in his words.

"(Hagee) just thought, you know, that the political rationale was that he wanted to get on Senator McCain's team. He thought he was going to win the nomination so I don't think that's a foregone conclusion. And even if I did, I would stand on principle more than just politics," he said.

FOX News' Mosheh Oinounou and Serafin Gomez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.