The Catholic Battle for Constitutionalism, by Ethan Savka

Over the past five years, conservative constitutional theory has fractured over two competing visions: the dominant originalism and textualism seen across the federal courts, and the rising common good constitutionalism movement rooted in the classical legal tradition and Catholic natural law teachings. Although the conversations remain mostly esoteric, in recent months, the divide between originalists who prefer the traditional textualist approach and classical constitutionalists has reached even Supreme Court justices, and it has ignited debates over whether a Catholic jurist must be textualist or classical.

Catholic lawyers, judges, and legal scholars have long played influential roles in shaping constitutional interpretation. Catholics have held a majority of seats on the Supreme Court for 19 years, have sent 15 justices to the Court, and founded many major law schools in America. In recent times, the esteemed Justice Antonin Scalia won the admiration of not only Catholic legal minds but of the entire conservative legal movement, while trailblazing the path to the current Supreme Court’s jurisprudence. Through the efforts of Justice Scalia and his students, the Court has begun the monumental work of restoring meaning to the Constitution. …

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