The American Spectator

BACK, THEN, TO VISCHER’S questions. On the evidence of the intelligence he has shown so far and the fact that everyone watching the proceedings knew Specter would bloviate until his time ran out, it’s safe to assume that John Roberts meant nothing revolutionary in agreeing with Kennedy’s timeworn assertion. His answer is either a delineation of roles or a simple failure of nerve. In other words, said the nominee, “I’m Catholic, but I’m a judge, not a spokesperson for the Catholic Church. You want Fulton Sheen, you’re a little late. You want Benedict XVI, you know where to find him. Meanwhile, here’s the soundbite you all knew was coming. It’s a crying shame you guys are still asking questions you asked forty-five years ago.”

Anyone so inclined could also read Roberts’ answer as a tacit admission of Christian failure. If you accept the twin Catholic propositions that we live in a fallen world and that the church speaks not simply for Christians but also for Christ, then any divergence between what the church says and what individual Christians say, while not necessarily regrettable, is at least cause for pause. Individual Christians (never mind Americans) can’t presume to have the benefit of doubt if we’ve ignored the voice from the clouds saying “This is my Son, on whom my favor rests. Listen to him.”

It’s safe to say that Roberts did not have such theology in mind, not because he’s incapable of humility or lofty thought, but because a Senate committee hearing run by the likes of Joe Biden, Arlen Specter, Ted Kennedy, Pat Leahy, and Dianne Feinstein is more properly cause for meditation on verses like “By their fruits you shall know them,” “I send you forth as sheep among wolves,” and (too late for Roberts on this one) “shake the dust of that town from your feet.”