‘Extreme beliefs’?

Richard A. Sokerka

Once again anti-Catholic bias has reared its ugly head in Senate hearings for a federal judgeship.

Omaha attorney Brian Buescher, a Catholic and member of the Knights of Columbus, was nominated by President Trump to serve on the U.S. District Court in Nebraska. But when the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on his nomination, U. S. Senators Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Kamala Harris of California, both Democrats, asked Buescher if he was willing to end his longtime membership in the Knights of Columbus if confirmed because in their view, the organization holds “extreme beliefs,” which they felt would cloud his ability to fairly judge cases.

Those “extreme beliefs?” Believing in the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death and believing in marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

This obviously anti-Catholic line of questioning by the senators is eerily similar to the anti-Catholic statements made in 2017 by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, during confirmation hearings for another Trump nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, a Catholic, to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Feinstein called Barrett’s adherence to “dogma” “a concern” to her, clearly applying a religious test to Barrett’s qualifications, which rightly drew criticism from all sides. Barrett was ultimately confirmed but Feinstein’s anti-Catholic bias was framed for all in the nation to see.

Clearly, the Constitution prohibits religious tests, saying that “ … no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

Yet Democrat senators unfairly continue to hammer away at any judicial nominee who happens to be a Catholic.

In his response to the senators, Buescher, a Knight since he was 18, said that if confirmed as a federal judge, he would follow established rules regarding conflicts of interest and that he would not seek to advance personal opinions, but would make rulings in accord with the judicial precedents established by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kathleen Blomquist, national representative for the Knights of Columbus, called the senators’ questions regarding the Knights “discouraging.”

“We were extremely disappointed to see that one’s commitment to Catholic principles through membership in the Knights of Columbus — a charitable organization that adheres to and promotes Catholic teachings — would be viewed as a disqualifier from public service in this day and age,” she stated.

Here in New Jersey, state senator Joe Pennacchio, (R‑ Morris County) called on the U.S. Senate to condemn Harris and Hirono, in light of reports that they made what Pennacchio cited as anti-Catholic and bigoted comments during their review of Buescher’s judicial nomination. “Religious intolerance and bigotry of any kind has no place in the halls of government,” said Pennacchio. “I have yet to hear either of our U.S. Senate representatives (Corey Booker and Robert Menendez) condemn these remarks. Their silence is deafening. No one should be excluded from serving in the judiciary because of their faith. Make no mistake — the attack on the Knights of Colum­bus was an attack on the Church itself.”

Our religious liberty is one of the great treasures framed by our forefathers in our Constitution. It is time our elected officials condemn any of their colleagues who try in any way to limit that freedom through their biases.