The fact that Amy Coney Barrett calls herself a Catholic does not make me question anything about her. I call myself a Catholic, too. But I do have to ask: If we must have another Catholic on the Court, are there no Catholic lawyers who are just, well, lawyers and Catholics? Why can't we have a Catholic on the Supreme Court who does not look like a character from a Dan Brown novel?
What I wonder about is Amy Coney Barrett's obvious certainty that she lives the only right way there is to live. The foundation of my own Catholic faith is an awareness that I am not perfect. "Who am I to judge" is not just a throw-away remark from Pope Francis. It is a basic principle of our Catholic faith You might even say it comes from Jesus Christ.
(Photograph by Doug Mills / New York Times)
That being said, what I wonder about is Judge Barrett's seemingly untouchable certainty. She doesn't just belong to the Catholic Church, as I do. I too attended charismatic prayer groups and such, but that was during college. Judge Barrett belongs to a group, the People of Praise, that she has belonged to since she was a little girl. Her POP is more than a charismatic prayer group.
She has grown into a position of power in that small group. She has reportedly become one of its leaders entrusted with the faith lives and sometimes the secular lives of their followers, by all accounts.
The Supreme Court is another small group. Is it a goal for Judge Barrett to be a power there as well? Is it another goal for Judge Barrett to impose her beliefs of certainty on other people who are not members of her small group? In short, can she be a fair and impartial Justice even as it seems that she is being anointed for the job?
So, to say at the end what I said when I began, are there no Catholic lawyers who are just, well, lawyers and Catholics? Why can't we have a Catholic on the Supreme Court who does not look like a character from a Dan Brown novel?
I plan to write separately about questions that Judge Barrett should be asked at her confirmation hearing.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
Comments