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Antonin Scalia’s funeral reflects the justice’s life of faith Antonin Scalia’s funeral reflects the justice’s life of faith
(about 4 hours later)
Justice Antonin Scalia was prayerfully offered up by his son Paul and Washington’s political and legal elite Saturday in a formal but simple funeral Mass in the American Catholic Church’s grandest venue. Justice Antonin Scalia was prayerfully offered up by his son Paul and the nation’s political and legal elite Saturday in an ageless funeral Mass that set aside Washington’s usual lessons of power and celebrated devout Christian faith.
Vice President Biden, all of the living Supreme Court justices with whom Scalia served save one, congressional leaders and the city’s legal establishment were among the thousands who attended the ceremony in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Vice President Biden, all of the living Supreme Court justices with whom Scalia served save one, congressional leaders and members of the legal establishment were among the thousands who attended a ceremony that Scalia himself might have designed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Washington Archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl welcomed the crowd to the largest Catholic church in North America, and he drew laughter when he said it was a proper setting for the Scalia family’s request for a “simple family parish Mass.” An angelic-sounding choir and scores of white-robed priests filled the massive chamber. The occasion put aside — momentarily — the partisan battle over the court that Scalia’s death has occasioned and was remarkably free of the encomiums that usually mark the send-offs of Washington’s political class.
But despite the setting, the ceremony was free of the encomiums that mark the send-offs of Washington’s political class. Instead, it followed the dictates of religion and placed the emphasis on the Christian promise of resurrection. Instead, it followed the dictates of religion and placed the emphasis on the Christian promise of resurrection and the sinner’s need for God’s grace
[Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79][Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79]
Paul Scalia said his father was a “practicing Catholic” in the sense that he was not yet perfect. He asked those in attendance to pray that his father be freed “from every encumbrance of sin” so that he realize the Christian promise of everlasting life. Paul Scalia, a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, told the throng that there was a purpose in gathering.
“We are gathered here because of one man,” Paul Scalia said. “A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more. A man loved by many, scorned by others. A man known for great controversy and great compassion.” His father “was a practicing Catholic — practicing in the sense that he hadn’t perfected it yet. Or rather, Christ was not yet perfected in him.”
He paused. “That man of course is Jesus of Nazareth. It is he who we proclaim.” Because only those brought to perfection may enter heaven, Paul Scalia said. “We are here then to lead our prayers to that perfecting, to that final work of God’s grace.”
Scalia the Supreme Court justice was not prone to humility. He was revered and hated for his strident views, an unfailingly confident sense of right, his sharp-tongued critique of all things liberal, or even modern, and a larger-than-life personification of conservatism.
The setting for his funeral was perfect in that sense — the largest Catholic church in North America.
It took all seven verses of “O God, Our Help In Ages Past”— and then some — for his wife, Maureen, his eight other children and his three dozen grandchildren to accompany his body to the altar. An angelic-sounding choir provided song, and it appeared that every priest in the region had donned a white robe to stand at attention.
The day before, 6,000 people, including the president of the United States, had filed past his flag-draped casket in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. But before the casket crossed what Paul Scalia called “the holy doors,” the flag had been replaced with an ivory pall, and the powerful leader became supplicant.
Paul Scalia set the tone early in his 15-minute homily.
“We are gathered here because of one man,” the priest said. “A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more. A man loved by many, scorned by others. A man known for great controversy and for great compassion.”
He paused for the effect his father would have appreciated.
“That man of course is Jesus of Nazareth. It is he who we proclaim.”
It was a fitting service for Scalia, who died Feb. 13 at 79. He was a devout Catholic and was the member of the Supreme Court most vocal about his religion. He urged fellow intellectuals to be “fools for Christ” and once used an interview to underscore his belief in the existence of the Devil, whose latest maneuver, he said, “is getting people not to believe in him or in God.”It was a fitting service for Scalia, who died Feb. 13 at 79. He was a devout Catholic and was the member of the Supreme Court most vocal about his religion. He urged fellow intellectuals to be “fools for Christ” and once used an interview to underscore his belief in the existence of the Devil, whose latest maneuver, he said, “is getting people not to believe in him or in God.”
Scalia had made known his view that weddings and funerals “but especially funerals, are the principal occasions left in modern American when you can preach the Good News not just to the faithful, but to those who have never really heard it.” Scalia had made known his view that weddings and funerals, “but especially funerals, are the principal occasions left in modern America when you can preach the Good News not just to the faithful but to those who have never really heard it.”
The grand cathedral became a (likely brief) demarcation zone in the partisan wars that have raged since Scalia’s death about whether Senate Republicans will allow President Obama to nominate a successor. His replacement would tip the balance of the court to the left. The grand shrine became a (likely brief) demilitarized zone in the partisan wars that have raged since Scalia’s death about whether Senate Republicans will allow President Obama to nominate a successor. That replacement would tip the balance of the court to the left.
But with Biden in the front row along with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., there was no talk of politics, save Paul Scalia’s note that his father’s faith made him a better citizen. Biden sat in the front along with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.. The rest of Scalia’s colleagues on the Supreme Court were there, too, along with two of the three retired justices: John Paul Stevens, 95, and David Souter, 76. Sandra Day O’Connor, 85 and in frail health, was not there.
The rest of Scalia’s colleagues on the Supreme Court were at the front of the church, too, along with two of the three retired justices: 95-year-old John Paul Stevens and David Souter, 76.
Sandra Day O’Connor, 85 and in frail health, was not there.
Clarence Thomas, a fellow Catholic and the justice most ideologically aligned with Scalia, read Romans 5:5-11.Clarence Thomas, a fellow Catholic and the justice most ideologically aligned with Scalia, read Romans 5:5-11.
[Supreme Court now filled with vocally devout justices][Supreme Court now filled with vocally devout justices]
Thomas ended his reading with the verses: “If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life? Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Of course, politics were not completely absent. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) took time away from campaigning ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina Republican presidential primary to attend, and he and Thomas’s wife, Ginny, hugged in the center aisle. She has endorsed Cruz, who served as a clerk in the 1990s for then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) took time away from campaigning ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina Republican presidential primary to attend Scalia’s funeral Mass. Cruz, who served as a clerk in the 1990s for then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, was expected to resume his campaign events later in the day. And Obama’s decision not to be among the mourners has sparked condemnation from conservatives. He and first lady Michelle Obama paid their respects Friday at the Supreme Court, where they viewed Scalia’s casket and met privately with members of the family. Obama and Scalia were not close, and the White House has noted that Biden and Scalia had a personal relationship.
Obama was not among the mourners. He and first lady Michelle Obama paid their respects Friday at the Supreme Court, where they viewed Scalia’s casket and met privately with members of the family. Obama and Scalia were not close, but the decision not to attend the funeral has sparked consternation among conservatives. The White House has noted that Biden and Scalia had a personal relationship. Scalia liked to attend parishes that offered traditional Latin Mass, and on Sundays he could be found at St. John the Beloved, near his home in McLean, Va., or St. Mary Mother of God in Chinatown. But his funeral Mass was conducted in English.
More than 6,000 people filed past Scalia’s casket on Friday in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. The court extended the visiting hours until 9 p.m. to accommodate those waiting in line. The fact that a Catholic of his stature did not have his funeral Mass celebrated by a high-ranking cardinal or bishop but by his son was seen as important and sentimental, according to the Rev. James Bradley, a D.C. priest who blogs on such topics as liturgy, homilies and church music.
Scalia liked to attend parishes that offered traditional Latin Mass, and on Sundays he could be found at St. John the Beloved, near his home in McLean, Va., or St. Mary Mother of God in Chinatown. “It’s quite a beautiful thing to celebrate your father’s funeral. We all dread doing it, but it’s significant,” Bradley said. “If a cardinal or bishop presided, they may feel bound to celebrate the Mass of a public figure. But his son, he celebrates as a Catholic.”
His funeral Mass was conducted in English. The family plans a memorial service on March 1 that will probably be filled with testimonials, but Scalia’s homily was personal and at times drew laughter.
The fact that a Catholic of his stature did not have his funeral Mass celebrated by a high-ranking cardinal or bishop but by his son was seen as important and sentimental. He thanked God for blessing his father with “55 years of marriage to the woman he loved, a woman who could match him at every stage and even hold him accountable.”
The Rev. James Bradley, a D.C. priest who blogs on such topics as liturgy, homilies and church music, said it showed the priority of Scalia the Christian over Scalia the public figure. He recounted how his father could not always call the children by the right name — “there are nine of us” — and told of how his father one Saturday afternoon had found himself in his son’s confessional line.
“It’s quite a beautiful thing to celebrate your father’s funeral. We all dread doing it, but it’s significant. If a cardinal or bishop presided, they may feel bound to celebrate the Mass of a public figure. But his son, he celebrates as a Catholic,” Bradley said. “I suspect [Justice Scalia] would be happy that it’s focused on the gospel, the Christian belief and the resurrection. It won’t be taken up by the political side of things.” The elder Scalia quickly departed. “As he put it later, ‘Like heck am I confessing to you,’ ” Paul Scalia recalled. “The feeling was mutual.”
The political impact of Scalia’s judicial rulings, however, was on display outside the funeral. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrated outside the basilica. In 2011, Scalia joined in the majority opinion that said the group had a First Amendment right to protest at funeral services. Paul Scalia’s remarks became political just once, when he noted that his father agreed that God’s blessings “could be lost when faith is banned from the public square or when we refuse to bring it there.”
One aspect of Scalia’s judicial rulings greeted his mourners. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who picket the funerals of the famous and infamous, were outside the basilica. In 2011, Scalia joined in the majority opinion that said the group had a First Amendment right to protest at funeral services.
“That was his duty to us,” the group said on Twitter. “Now we are doing our duty to him, and all the living pouring in to lie over his dead body.”“That was his duty to us,” the group said on Twitter. “Now we are doing our duty to him, and all the living pouring in to lie over his dead body.”
It’s standard at Catholic funerals to omit a eulogy, but Paul Scalia offered a homily. The family has planned a memorial service March 1. Chad C. Pecknold, a theology professor at the Catholic University of America, adjacent to the basilica, said Scalia was something of an ambassador for the Catholic Church.
“The Mass is a celebration of Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins,” said Chad C. Pecknold, a theology professor at the Catholic University of America, adjacent to the basilica. Long eulogies about the deceased distract from that central point. He promoted the Red Mass, the annual celebration for judges and lawyers that some justices attend on the Sunday before their new terms begin in October. And Scalia created a social-media storm when he attended Obama’s second inauguration wearing a hat modeled after one worn by Saint Thomas More, the patron saint of politicians and statesmen.
Nevertheless, Pecknold said Scalia’s death has struck the region’s Catholic community. “This is a very important moment for Catholics in Washington,” Pecknold said.
“This is a very important moment for Catholics in Washington,” he said. In his homily, Paul Scalia cited a letter Scalia wrote that received attention this week when the American Conservative published it. It was praise for James C. Goodloe, a Presbyterian minister who presided at the funeral of Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
Scalia was something of an ambassador for the church, Pecknold said, promoting the Red Mass that the justices attend on the Sunday before their new terms begin in October. And Scalia created a social media storm when he attended Obama’s second inauguration wearing a hat modeled after one worn by Saint Thomas More, the patron saint of politicians and statesmen. Scalia said flowery eulogies missed the religious significance of funerals.
Paul Scalia cited a letter Scalia wrote that received attention this week when the American Conservative published it. It was praise for James C. Goodloe, a Presbyterian minister who presided at the funeral of Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. “Even when the deceased was an admirable person — indeed, especially when the deceased was an admirable person — praise for his virtues can cause us to forget that we are praying for, and giving thanks for, God’s inexplicable mercy to a sinner.”
Scalia said he did not approve of flowery eulogies. “Even when the deceased was an admirable person — indeed, especially when the deceased was an admirable person — praise for his virtues can cause us to forget that we are praying for, and giving thanks for, God’s inexplicable mercy to a sinner.” Michelle Boorstein and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report.
Michelle Boorstein contributed to this report.