No, really, he did! (UPDATE: see clarification below.) Check this out, from today’s Boston Herald:
Minutes after receiving the Eucharist at a special Mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had a special blessing of his own for those who question his impartiality when it comes to matters of church and state.
âYou know what I say to those people?â Scalia, 70, replied, making an obscene gesture under his chin when asked by a Herald reporter if he fends off a lot of flak for publicly celebrating his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs. âThatâs Sicilian,â the Italian jurist said, interpreting for the âSopranosâ challenged.
Although it’s not 100% clear from the article, it sounds as though Scalia did this while he was still inside the Church! Apparently Scalia and Dick Cheney share, in addition to a fondness for duck hunting, a fondness for inappropriate behavior in formal public spaces.
And apparently, the whole thing is on film:
The conduct unbecoming a 20-year veteran of the countryâs highest court – and just feet from the Mother Churchâs altar – was captured by a photographer for the Archdiocese of Boston newspaper The Pilot, whose publisher is newly minted Cardinal Sean OâMalley. Although one of his sworn duties is to uphold the freedom of the press, a jocular Scalia told the shutterbug, âDonât publish that.â
Won’t it be interesting to see whether the Pilot decides to go public with those particular photographs.
By coincidence, I attended the annual Catholic Lawyers Guild lunch that follows the Red Mass, at which Scalia was the invited speaker. His talk was not at all law-related; instead, he exhorted those in attendance to be willing to be “fools for Christ’s sake” (quoting this passage from Corinthians). If those pictures become public, Scalia may indeed be shown to be a fool, though whether this qualifies as being the kind of “fool for Christ’s sake” that the Apostle Paul had in mind strikes me as questionable at best.
CLARIFICATION: As several news outlets and one of our commenters have noted, the gesture that Scalia made is not accurately described as “obscene” – the Herald appears to have gotten that wrong. And I may have added to the confusion by using the term “flips off” in the title of this post. If anyone came away from reading this post with the impression that Scalia gave someone the finger, I apologize – he did not. This story has a more accurate description of what Scalia actually did.
Why should we care if the newspaper of the Cathlic Church decides to print the picture? Why should we care if Scalia made this gesture. Many Italians will tell you it is not ‘obscene’ but rather rude and insulting. Big difference. But who cares. This is the kind of issue that, if progressives continue to bitch and moan about, hurts more than helps.
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There are real issues to be debated. You may see Scalia as a fool but I see him as a regular guy, unlike many, if not most, of the pompous, arrogant, condescending judges sitting on benches in all courts through out the land.
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Gay Catholics were disrespectful to the Church in that very same cathedral.
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Hey David, you skipped the wedding and just went to the reception, huh?
But let’s be clear about one thing: Scalia is no “regular guy.” Regular guys don’t fly to Louisiana for hunting trips on Air Force II. Furthermore, “pompous,” “arrogant” and “condescending” are all words that have been aptly used to describe Scalia himself.
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As for the wedding and reception, I’m not Catholic, so I would have been a tad out of place at the mass. I sat at my law firm’s table at the lunch.
David,
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Just so you know, the Catholic Church welcomes all* for it’s wedding ceremonies, so even if you aren’t Catholic, you’re very welcome to attend. Just don’t go eat the cookie (AKA: The Body of Christ).
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p> * This might be slightly wrong… perhaps excommunicated persons aren’t invited, etc. In any case, I suspect that you’ve not been blacklisted.
This should be hate speech, calling Christ’s body through communion a cookie. How dare you. Can you liberals answer me this-if someone was speaking disparingly about Jews, or Muslims, or homosexuals, wouldn’t that person be attacked as being insensitive and a hate-mongerer? STOMV, you should be indicted for hate speech
you need to get a grip. Now. I deleted your other comment which was one of the most appalling things I’ve yet seen on this blog. (“Wearing your yarmulke on your ass instead of your head”? Nice.)
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One more like that and you’re banned.
Why would you have been out of place at the Mass David? Can you please answer that question for me? WHY? Also, the most OUTRAGEOUS comment on this site is the reference to Christ’s body in the Eucharist as a cookie? How disparaging of one’s faith. Disgraceful, oh and typical reply from you David, threatening to throw me off this blog but that was my point. As outraged as you were with my Yarmulke comment, I am at your anti-Catholic ravings.
John, stomv made the cookie comment, and I seem to recall he is Catholic. So perhaps you should aim your blunderbuss of outrage a little more carefully. Judging by your postings on this site, I don’t really think you’ve earned the right to be the PC cop around here.