Catholic Justices Scalia, Alito, Thomas are no-shows for the pope

[ellenrr]

It’s possible that all three had scheduling conflicts. Perhaps they were finally able to score tickets to “Hamilton” and decided to make a day of it in the Big Apple. The three have skipped the State of the Union in the past (Alito calls it “a childish spectacle”), objecting to the partisan nature of that gathering.

More likely, however, the three justices were simply more discreet than Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., who announced to media this week that he was boycotting the pope’s talk over concerns that the pontiff was acting “like a leftist politician.”

The conspicuous absences were a bit surprising, given that the current Supreme Court is sometimes characterized as the “Catholic court.” Six of the nine justices are Catholic — the other three, John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor, were in attendance — and the most conservative members of the court have not been shy about identifying with their church.

https://popevisit2015.yahoo.com/post/129797498159/catholic-justices-scalia-alito-thomas-are

Shameful

[mmonk]

1. They didn't want their feathers ruffled.

[Human101948]

2. Excommunication would be appropriate...

The church does it for everything else, why not this?

[sorechasm]

3. I thought Scalia was the real Pope.

He seems to think so, anyway: infallibility, personal and rigid interpretations of the Constitution, and random references to the Bible to defend the indefensible arguments.

Don't burst his bubble by introducing authentic sincerity from the real deal.

[Jerry442]

4. Imagine Scalia's apoplexy...

...if it had been the previous pope, Benedict XVI, and someone had declined to attend because he'd been in the Hitler Youth.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. Scalia and Thomas are Opus dei

I think. They probably hate this pope.

[Hortensis]

6. Aside from any disapproval they may have chosen to express

by their extremely conspicuous absences, my best guess is their primary motivation was to not encourage the media to discuss the differences between their decisions and the Pope's message of morality. No faces for the TV screen.

Or as mmonk said it, to avoid getting their feathers all ruffled up.

[Jerry442]

8. Can dish it out but they can't take it. Typical bullies. NT

[Hortensis]

10. Probably something to that. Social cons love to dish it out and are often bullies.

[oberliner]

7. Breyer and Kagan were also no-shows

They are not Catholic, but I am surprised they did not attend.

[MohRokTah]

11. Breyer and Kagan are NOT Catholic

They are both Jewish and their absence is understandable given the timing of the event.

[oberliner]

13. I wrote "They are not Catholic" in the body of the message

I just would've thought they would have attended given the historic significance of the event, regardless of their religious backgrounds.

[MohRokTah]

14. Yom Kippur had ended a sundown the day before.

If they had been with family, it's perfectly understandable why they would not attend.

[jberryhill]

15. "it's perfectly understandable why they would not attend"

Who needs to "understand" why any justice did or did not attend some event?

It's not like they needed a note from their mom if they weren't showing up.

The OP calls it "Shameful" that some Catholics didn't attend the speech as if, I suppose, government appointees have religious obligations it is our duty to police for them.

Scalia et al. are awful justices, but whether any of these people do or do not engage in activities which are or are not, in someone's opinion, consistent with their professed religious preferences, is just not a seemly line of discussion.

None of them needs a rationale of any kind for attending or not attending.

[bklyncowgirl]

9. In my Irish Catholic family we used to say about a revoltingly sanctimonious person...

that he (or she) was more Catholic than the Pope.

I am pretty sure that Scalia at least believes that he is.

[crazylikafox]

17. best answer

[TheBlackAdder]

12. Perhaps it's better to pretend to be Catholic, like a mobster does, than to be shown you are not? nt

[lonestarnot]

16. They appear to be nothing really. Devils.

[kairos12]

18. They are too busy restarting the Inquisition.