Thousands turn out for Scalia’s funeral Mass in Washington

And he saw in that founding, as did the founders, a blessing – a blessing quickly lost when faith is lost from the public square or when we refuse to bring it there.

Thousands of mourners gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on Saturday for the funeral of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

WASHINGTON -Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Saturday as a man who loved God, country and family at a funeral Mass capping two days of mourning for a jurist who left a long and sometimes controversial legacy on the nation.

Over 150 people filled the law school to hear Scalia, who is often referred to as the most prominent legal thinker of his generation, share his opinion on a variety of issues that included gay marriage, abortion and the death penalty. He was the father that God gave us for the great adventure of family life. “How he blessed him!”

Reverend Scalia then read the homily where he thanked everyone for the outpouring of support, “On behalf of our mother and the entire Scalia family, I want to thank you for your presence here, your many words of consolation and even more for the many prayers and masses you have offered at the death of our father, Antonin Scalia”. “The feeling was mutual”.

He was known as a champion of originalism – interpreting the Constitution according to the meaning understood when it was adopted.

At the funeral, Justice Clarence Thomas read a passage from the New Testament, and the executive director of the Federalist Society, Leonardo Leo, read a passage from the Old Testament.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama paid their respects Friday, going to the Supreme Court’s Great Hall where Scalia lay in repose.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama’s decision about the Mass was a “respectful arrangement” that took into account his large security detail.

A Catholic funeral Mass isn’t like a memorial service or funerals from other religious traditions. “Very sad that he did not go!”

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was also there, as was Republican presidential candidate and Texas Sen.

CNN spoke to Cruz after the funeral. All the current Supreme Court justices attended, along with former justices John Paul Stevens and David Souter, sitting on folding chairs in front of the first pew. “Justice Scalia has been a personal hero of mine, virtually my entire life”.

The Catholic priest assured the many lawyers in the audience who may have felt the sting of Scalia’s barbed questions during Supreme Court arguments that he shared their pain.

Adele Scalia, originally from Trincity and a former student of St Josephs Convent, has been married to the late Justices son Christopher since July 2010. “We have an election in just a few months and I think the American people should be able to choose the direction of this court”.