One of Scalia’s nine children, the Rev. Paul Scalia, led the Mass on Saturday at the nation’s largest Roman Catholic church, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
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Scalia, who had been the longest serving justice on the current Supreme Court, died last week on a Ranch in Texas.
“Scalia’s sons and sons-in-law served as pallbearers to carry his flag-draped casket up the steps of the basilica”, the Associated Press reports.
Explaining why the Mass did not include a eulogy, the reverend said his father did not like them, feeling like they led to an overemphasis on the virtues of the deceased and a forgetfulness of the prayers the deceased still needed.
But Ed Whelan, a former Scalia clerk who now heads the Ethics and Public Policy Center commented: ‘I wouldn’t have expected President Obama to attend the funeral Mass, and I see no reason to fault him for not attending’. The White House says Obama regrets that when he was a senator, he supported using a procedural maneuver to block a vote on Samuel Alito’s nomination to the high court.
Thousands attend the funeral Mass for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception February 20, 2016 in Washington, DC. The church, dedicated to Mary, is a pilgrimage site where Pope Francis celebrated the canonization Mass for St. Junipero Serra past year – the first-ever such Mass on American soil.
Earnest refused to be drawn out about why the president would not attend the funeral, saying he didn’t know what the president plans to do on Saturday, and Scalia’s son, Eugene, did not immediately respond to a question about whether the family requested that Obama not attend the funeral. Scalia’s son also will deliver the homily.
Obama, however, along with first lady Michelle Obama, members of Congress and more than 6,000 mourners, did pay respects to Scalia as his casket laid in repose at the Supreme Court building on Friday.
Obama is not attending Scalia’s funeral Mass on Saturday, despite some criticism from Republicans.
I hope President Barcak Obama nominates a replacement to the Supreme Court, confirmed by the Senate this year, a moderate fighting for all our rights today and into the future. As the court’s most prominent conservative voice, Scalia was known for his biting dissents that mixed humor with scathing barbs.
“If there is a political reason, it is because he’s going to be nominating a justice who will want to undo the 30-year legacy of ‘Scaliaism.’ And he doesn’t particularly want a photo-op of those speeches in praise of Scalia”, Krauthammer said.
Asked about the president’s absence, Alzona replied: “As the holy father would say, who I am to judge?” I saw Justice Clarence Thomas go up to the front to read.
They were friends and former colleagues at the University of Chicago Law School, and Scalia had watched her argue cases before the Court as Obama’s Solicitor General.
The funeral Mass marks the second day of public mourning for Justice Scalia’s death.
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That is in contrast from past decades, when Republican appointees such as William Brennan and Harry Blackmun became among the most liberal justices, and conservatives included Democratic-appointed Byron White. As tradition holds, they stood vigil over the casket Friday and into the night at the Supreme Court. Justice Scalia died a week ago in Texas at the age of 79.
