{"id":126,"date":"2014-06-24T18:48:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T23:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-the-supreme-court.html"},"modified":"2015-12-16T21:08:17","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T02:08:17","slug":"a-catholic-in-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html","title":{"rendered":"A Catholic in the Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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For some time I\u2019ve had a curiosity bouncing around in my mind. \u00a0On August 7th, 2010 a truly historic moment happened in the United States when Elena Kagan was sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court. \u00a0For the first time in history there were no Protestants in the highest court of the land. \u00a0Three Jews and six Catholics became the highest ranking judges in the country. \u00a0My curiosity concerns the six Catholic justices. \u00a0What role has their Catholic upbringing played in their thought process and decision making? \u00a0Are there common factors in their Catholic background that somehow placed them at an advantage when it came to their judicial careers?<\/p>\n

While at a bookstore a few weeks ago a picture of Justice Sonia Sotomayor on a book cover caught my eye. \u00a0I picked up the book and realized it was her autobiography My Beloved World published in 2013. \u00a0I bought it and read it immediately. \u00a0The book did not satisfy my initial curiosity, but it gave me an understanding of the role the Catholic Church has played in the life of the third female and first latina Supreme Court Justice.<\/p>\n

Justice Sotomayor grew up in government housing, the daughter of Puerto Ricans who had ventured to New York for a better life. \u00a0Her mother worked long hours as a nurse at a local hospital mostly to pay the tuition at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in the Bronx for both Sonia and Junior to get a quality education. \u00a0Sotomayor\u2019s mother was adamant that a good education would get her children far in the life. \u00a0Justice Sotomayor recognizes that the Sisters of Charity \u201chelped to shape who I am\u201d and launched many of their students toward a productive and meaningful existence. \u00a0Her tone becomes a little resentful though when recalling what Sister Maria Regina wrote about her at graduation from eighth grade. \u00a0Sister described Sonia\u2019s ambitions to become an attorney as odd.<\/p>\n

Sotomayor\u2019s autobiography also reveals a disappointing and frustrating experience with the Church. \u00a0At age nine, her father died suddenly leaving her young mother in a deep depression. \u00a0Sotomayor recounts that the priest from Blessed Sacrament refused to visit her mother because she did not attend Mass on Sunday. \u00a0Sotomayor recognizes her mother did not attend Sunday Mass (Sotomayor did with her brother and the other school students), but raises a legitimate point: her mother may not have attended Mass, but she worked long nights so her children could receive a Catholic education. \u00a0She writes, \u201cshouldn\u2019t Father Dolan be forgiving if she needed help?\u201d \u00a0The nine year old reasoned, \u201ceven if he thought she wasn\u2019t Christian enough, shouldn\u2019t he be more Christian?\u201d \u00a0Since Father did not come, the family sought a Baptist minister who came and met with Sotomayor\u2019s mother and ministered to her.<\/p>\n

When the Archdiocese of New York announced it would close Blessed Sacrament School, Justice Sotomayor said in an interview, \u201cI am heartbroken. \u00a0[The school] is symbolic of what it means for all our families, like my mother, who were dirt-poor\u2026 \u00a0it was a road of opportunity for kids with no other alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book may not have answered my initial curiosity, but it intimately revealed a fascinating woman who rose in a public service career against all odds. \u00a0A Catholic education at Blessed Sacrament served her well, and this very same education is now serving all our country as she sits in the bench of the highest court of the land.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some time I\u2019ve had a curiosity bouncing around in my mind. \u00a0On August 7th, 2010 a truly historic moment happened in the United States when Elena Kagan was sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court. \u00a0For the first time in history there were no Protestants in the highest court of the land. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Catholic in the Supreme Court<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For some time I\u2019ve had a curiosity bouncing around in my mind.  On August 7th, 2010 a truly historic moment happened in the United States when Elena\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Catholic in the Supreme Court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For some time I\u2019ve had a curiosity bouncing around in my mind.  On August 7th, 2010 a truly historic moment happened in the United States when Elena\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-24T23:48:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-17T02:08:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html\",\"name\":\"A Catholic in the Supreme Court\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-24T23:48:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-17T02:08:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"For some time I\u2019ve had a curiosity bouncing around in my mind.  On August 7th, 2010 a truly historic moment happened in the United States when Elena\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/06\/a-catholic-in-supreme-court.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Catholic in the Supreme Court\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. 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