First published May 5, 2009
From a raw political point of view, it’s hard to top Sonia Sotomayor to be Obama’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. She’s Hispanic, a key group that Obama won over and must keep. She’s a woman and, though liberal, was appointed by a Republican.
I haven’t been able to determine whether she’s Catholic, but she’s Puerto Rican (most of whom are Catholic) and went to Catholic schools as a child.There already are five Catholics on the court but they’re all conservative so they haven’t been attacked for being bad Catholics (i.e. being pro-choice despite the church’s teaching).
But pro-choice Catholics face a different obstacle course. As John Kerry and Kathleen Sebelius can attest, if you’re a pro-choice Catholic, you will be challenged not only on whether you’re a good public official but also whether you’re a good Catholic.
If Sonia Sotomayor is Catholic, and pro-choice, we may get a wave of discussion about whether the Supreme Court justice should be denied communion.