Catholic judges and a higher authority

It's interesting to note that Catholic judges who abide by Roe vs. Wade -- or say they will -- have been bystanders in the recent debate over potential conflicts between a public official's religious beliefs about abortion and his official duties. But that is changing with the Supreme Court nomination of John G. Roberts Jr., who, if confirmed, would be the fourth Catholic on the Rehnquist court.

According to a column on this page by Jonathan Turley, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois asked Roberts how he would react if the law required a ruling that the church considers immoral. Roberts reportedly replied that he probably would have to recuse himself. That exchange has been denied by Durbin, but whether it happened or not, the report has unleashed a furor over what trumps what for a sitting judge, faith or law?

In the case of Roberts, I'd say we already know the answer.

As a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that "nothing in my personal views would prevent me" from applying Roe as an appeals court judge. That doesn't mean that he might not overturn Roe as a Supreme Court justice, given that the high court isn't as constrained to follow precedent as a lower court. But on the basic question of whether or not the law trumps faith for a judge, Roberts has spoken.

Amore interesting question arises from the other side of the equation: If law trumps religion for a Catholic judge, how will his church respond?

Catholic antiabortion activists and some bishops have suggested that canon law requires that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights be denied Holy Communion. Two provisions are often cited in this regard: Canon Law 1398, providing for the excommunication of anyone who "procures" an abortion (a stretch even for some pro-lifers as they try to apply it to politicians) and Canon Law 915, which denies Communion to those who "obstinately persist in manifest grave sin."

On the website of the American Life League, President Judie Brown has urged Catholic bishops to warn 72 pro-choice Catholics in Congress that they are in violation of Canon Law 915.

"It is clear that each of these elected officials is either ignorant of church teaching or has made a conscious decision to ignore it," Brown said. "The job of the bishop is therefore quite simple and straightforward: to teach the truth, to warn the offender, and if that does not work, to deny the sacrament to the offender."