At his Articles of Faith blog, Michael Paulson rounds up initial reactions to that fact that Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, would be a Catholic justice:
Judge Sonia Sotomayor has much to distinguish her, but one element of her biography stands out in the world of those interested in religion and the public square: she is Catholic, and, if approved as a Supreme Court justice, she will be the sixth Catholic on the nine-member court. That is a remarkable accomplishment for American Catholics, who make up 23 percent of the nation’s population, and will now potentially hold 67 percent of the high court’s seats. Two of the justices are Jewish; the resignation of Justice David Souter, who is an Episcopalian, will leave, amazingly given the history of this nation, just one Protestant on the Supreme Court, 89-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens.
[…]Catholic groups are just now beginning to react to the nomination. Catholics United, a liberal group, reacted positively, and said, “We call on other leaders within the Catholic community to join us in welcoming Judge Sotomayor’s nomination and to approach her confirmation hearings with civility and reason.” I haven’t heard yet from conservative Catholic groups, but in general the reaction from the right has been critical. Ted Olsen, blogging at Christianity Today, reviews the early statements and headlines his post, “Pro-Life Group Consensus on Sotomayor: ‘Activist’.”
Read the entire roundup here.