The Catholic nominee; religion and health

Kevin Eckstrom and Jason Kane write in Wednesday’s RNS report on President Bush’s new Supreme Court nominee. If Judge Samuel Alito is confirmed as the next member of the U.S. Supreme Court, he will become the fifth Catholic on the current court and will usher in the court’s first-ever Catholic majority: Alito would join fellow […]

Kevin Eckstrom and Jason Kane write in Wednesday’s RNS report on President Bush’s new Supreme Court nominee. If Judge Samuel Alito is confirmed as the next member of the U.S. Supreme Court, he will become the fifth Catholic on the current court and will usher in the court’s first-ever Catholic majority: Alito would join fellow Catholics Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts on the court. The development is significant in a number of ways, most notably as near-certain proof that Catholics have finally exorcised the ghosts of anti-Catholicism from politics past. And in a related way, Alito and Roberts’ strong support from evangelical Christians shows how much relations between the two faiths have improved over the past 40 years, when many Protestants were deeply skeptical of Catholic John F. Kennedy’s run for the White House in 1960.

Jeff Diamant and Joe Malinconico continue with some background on Alito’s personal life: His neighbors have always known Samuel A. Alito Jr. was an important guy. After all, his work as a federal prosecutor and judge often made the newspapers. But in the western suburbs of Essex County, N.J., he is also known for his life away from work. Thrilled by his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Alito’s friends and acquaintances spoke about his calm on the baseball diamond coaching his son’s youth league, his dedication to high school mock trial competitions, his attendance at Sunday Mass, and his friendly manner in the yard or across the backyard fence. The Alito family has belonged to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Roseland, N.J., for nearly 20 years.

We also report on faith-based groups jumping into the international health arena. Nicole LaRosa writes: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders joined Bill Clinton and Bill Gates at Time magazine’s global health conference in New York this week to discuss religion’s role in combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other health threats. United Methodist officials announced an anti-malaria initiative using mosquito nets and wind-up radios in sub-Saharan Africa. Evangelical pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren publicized his PEACE plan, for which he has recruited 15,000 congregants for church-to-church health ministry overseas. Pointing out the unique advantage of faith-based groups, Warren said rural villages in developing nations may not have a post office or a clinic, “but they got a church.”


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