Catholics In Public Office: Keeping Nominees' Faith In Perspective

From Catholic News Service:

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Both supporters and detractors of Judge John Roberts' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court have walked a delicate line that seems to surface only when a nominee -- whether for the judiciary, a political post or high elected office -- is Catholic.

The line lies between when it is and isn't OK to bring up someone's religion in the context of their suitability for service at high levels of the government. The line shifts, depending on who is raising the subject and why.

Identifying a nominee as a Catholic is sometimes a way of signaling certain assumptions about his or her positions on issues including abortion. Others emphasize the religion of Catholic nominees or politicians as a way of drawing attention to what some people see as a failure to live up to church teachings.

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