Scalia Reflects on Catholic Faith, Work Life at Villanova

(Hat tip: Fumare)

Justice Scalia on Catholic judges:

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Although he views both the law and his Roman Catholic faith through a prism of strict conservatism, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says his faith plays little role in his work life.

Scalia, speaking Tuesday at Villanova University, said his job is only to determine the intent of the Constitution's framers, not to contort the text to fit his religious beliefs.

"I am really hard put to tell you of a single decision or opinion of mine that would have come out differently if I were not a Catholic," Scalia said Tuesday at the Catholic university's law school.

Scalia, who joined the bench in 1986, now serves on a court that for the first time in U.S. history is predominantly Catholic. The other Catholic members are Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.

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He said he opposes Roe v. Wade not on theological grounds but because he can find no reference to abortion in the Constitution.

"The reality is that the Constitution says nothing about abortion either way and the states are therefore allowed to permit it or to prohibit it," he said.

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Scalia frequently referred to himself in Tuesday's hour-long session as a "textualist," and reminded his mostly Catholic audience that they should not wish for judges who meld religion with their work.

"If it's proper for Catholic judges to do that, it's proper for atheistic judges, for secularistic judges, for judges opposed to all Christian and religious beliefs, to do the same thing," Scalia said.

"And just between you and me, there are more of them than of us," he said.

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My Comments:
I agree with this comment by Phlogizo at Fumare:

While I don't doubt his sincerity, I wonder if he isn't underestimating the role his Catholic intellectual formation has played in his jurisprudence.