Democrats Trash Judicial Nominee’s Catholic Faith: “Do You Consider Yourself a Catholic? That’s a Concern”

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 7, 2017   |   10:26AM   |   Washington, DC

Senate Democrats are under fire today for trashing a judicial nominee’s Catholic faith. Senate Democrats grilled one of President Trump’s nominees for a federal court.

Democrats asked offensive questions of federal judicial nominee Amy Barrett. They demanded to know how her faith would influence her decisions as a member of a federal appeals court. She replied that she holds a sincere Catholic faith but that it would not interfere with her decision-making as a judge.

Top pro-abortion Democrats like Senator Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin are coming under fire today for their questioning. The two made it appear that people who hold sincerely-held pro-life Catholic beliefs are somehow not qualified to serve as federal judges.

“When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for, for years in this country,” Feinstein said.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) interrogated Barrett over her use of the term “orthodox Catholics” in an article she wrote previously.

“Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” Durbin asked.

“If you’re asking whether I take my faith seriously and I’m a faithful Catholic, I am,” she told the senator. “Although I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear on the discharge of my duties as a judge.”

Amazingly, the abortion activist defended the questioning.

“I prefaced my remarks by saying that going into a person’s religion is not the right thing to do in every circumstance,” he said. “But she’s been outspoken. As a law school professor at Notre Dame she has taken on the tough challenge of how a person with strong religious beliefs becomes a judge and looks at American law.”

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The Catholic Association is weighing in and told LifeNews that Senator Feinstein’s attacks on judicial nominee Amy Barrett on the basis of her Roman Catholic faith during yesterday’s confirmation hearing was repugnant.

“Senator Feinstein’s shockingly illegitimate line of questioning sends the message that Catholics need not apply as federal judges. Rather that unconstitutionally discriminating against Amy Barrett on the basis of her faith, Senator Feinstein should focus on her exceptional qualifications for the job,” said Ashley McGuire, Senior Fellow with The Catholic Association.

Maureen Ferguson, Senior Policy Advisor with The Catholic Association, told LifeNews: “Senators Feinstein and Durbin know full well that the Constitution prohibits any religious test for office, yet they proceeded with an offensive grilling of a highly qualified judicial nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, asking inappropriate questions about her Catholic faith. Senator Durbin asked directly, “Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” Imagine the universal outrage had a nominee of a different faith been asked the same questions; there is clearly a double standard at work.”