More than two centuries of Protestant domination on the Supreme Court will end if Samuel Alito is confirmed as its next justice. For the first time in the nation's history, five Roman Catholics, a majority, would be on the high court. Cue the Hallelujah Chorus!
Yet news that the son of an Italian immigrant father, someone who grew up in a suburban New Jersey parish where he served as a lector and later married, doesn't carry quite the power it might have in the days when Kennedys ran for the White House.
Protestants have been so dominant on the court that half of the justices have come from just three denominations: the Episcopal, Presbyterian and Congregational churches.
Only two Protestants would remain on the Supreme Court,David Souter and John Paul Stevens. The two other justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer are Jewish.
Two of the Catholics on the current court, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas are abortion foes. Scalia, whose son Paul is a priest, and Thomas are sometimes seen walking together to the court after attending Mass on holy days of obligation.
The third Catholic, Anthony Kennedy voted with the majority in a 5-4 ruling in 1992 reaffirming the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, despite some apparent inner turmoil. Newly installed Chief Justice John Roberts, the fourth Catholic, is solidly conservative and his wife, Jane, volunteers for Feminists for Life, but it is unclear how he will vote on abortion cases.
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Washington Post
2 comments:
Personally, I don't see what it matters if they are Catholic or not. As long as they are going to be conservative and overturn Roe V Wade, it doesn't matter to me. I'd take a conservative "Protestant" to a liberal Catholic any day.
As I have noted at my blog, the fact of a Catholic majority could pose a problem if the "Catholic block" becomes self-conscious about its Catholic identity.
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