‘The dogma lives loudly’

Richard A. Sokerka

The confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a mother of seven children and a devout Catholic, to the Supreme Court of the United States to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, should be smooth sailing.

After all, she is one of the most highly qualified judges in America and a more than worthy successor to Justice Ginsberg.

Here is what Holy Cross Father John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, said about her: “An alumna and a faculty member of Notre Dame Law School, Judge Barrett is a person of the utmost integrity who, as a jurist, acts first and foremost in accord with the law.”

Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean of the Notre Dame Law School, added, “Judge Amy Coney Barrett is an absolutely brilliant legal scholar and jurist. On a personal note, she is one of the most thoughtful, open-minded, considerate and kind people I have ever met. She lives a life of humility and grace, devoted to her family and community.”

However, the tsunami-like waters of partisan politics will not allow the Democratic Party to see the nominee of a Republican president seated on the Supreme Court without scurrilous assassination attempts on Judge Barrett’s pristine character and unending bigoted attacks on her Catholic faith.

Writing in the magazine First Things, retired Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia warned, “Those who value our First Amendment right to religious freedom should realize that tests about belief are attacks on religious liberty.”

Criticism of Barrett has focused on her faith, and her family life, and some media outlets said Barrett’s membership in “People of Praise,” a charismatic ecumenical community, is akin to being a member of a cult.

This line of criticism, said Archbishop Chaput, is “a harbinger of future attacks on the Church itself and on any Catholic who holds with [the Church’s] enduring moral witness.”

Judge Barrett certainly knew before accepting the nomination, these attacks would be forthcoming. It happened before during her 2017 Senate confirmation hearings after she was nominated for the U.S. Court of Appeals. During that process, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) stated, “The dogma lives loudly” within Barrett and “that’s a concern.”

This blatant anti-Catholic remark from the Democrats will happen again. As Arch­bishop Chaput put it: “Disdain for vigorous religious convictions, especially the Catholic kind, is a virus that’s going around. It seems to infect a number of Democratic senators.”

The archbishop added, “Positioning dissenting Catholics as ‘mainstream Americans’ and believing Catholics as ‘extremists’ is now a ‘common and thoroughly dishonest culture war technique,’ and ‘a particular affront to the free exercise of religion.’ ”

In her speech accepting the nomination, Judge Barrett, a highly respected expert on the Constitution, said, “A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policy makers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.”

The anti-Catholic questioning of Senate Democrats must end. Need they be reminded that Article VI of the Constitution specifies “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

“The dogma lives loudly” in Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s life as a devout Catholic and it is not a “concern.” And under the Consti­tution as written, it cannot preclude her from serving on the Supreme Court.