The New York Times ran an article which attempted to exonerate the actions of Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, and Dick Durbin, D-IL, who grilled Amy Barrett over her Catholic faith during confirmation hearings for her nomination to the federal bench.
The article is written by religion reporter Laurie Goodstein, and is not of her typical caliber. It begins by attempting to exculpate the senators who grilled her by blaming Barrett for their questions. She suggests that they were not bigots but only asking Barrett legitimate questions that arose from her writing. It was really her fault she was asked about the dogma living loudly within her, because she had failed to cleanse all of her scholarship at the University of Notre Dame from mention of religion.
Then the story darkly suggests that she was not being truthful when she said she could be a fair appellate judge, because she’s a member of a group that the senators would have liked to grill her about even more had they known she was a member…
We’re told that the practices of the group would surprise “many” faithful Catholics because members swear covenants to one another and are given personal advisors to help them remain faithful in their Christian vocations. What’s more, they practice the Christian teaching of men being heads of households. Heaven forfend. It is perhaps worth noting that Pope Francis named a member of this group auxiliary bishop of Portland in 2014, so membership in the group must not be disqualifying in the eyes of the Vatican.