Michael Paulson at the Boston Globe has picked up on something that may have eluded most Americans — and even, most Catholics: if Sonia Sontomeyer is approved as a justice to the Supreme Court, the nation’s highest court will become overwhelmingly Catholic.

Read on:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has much to distinguish her, but one element of her biography stands out in the world of those interested in religion and the public square: she is Catholic, and, if approved as a Supreme Court justice, she will be the sixth Catholic on the nine-member court. That is a remarkable accomplishment for American Catholics, who make up 23 percent of the nation’s population, and will now potentially hold 67 percent of the high court’s seats. Two of the justices are Jewish; the resignation of Justice David Souter, who is an Episcopalian, will leave, amazingly given the history of this nation, just one Protestant on the Supreme Court, 89-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens.

Undoubtedly, Sotomayor’s Catholic-ness will be the subject of some debate. Just how Catholic is she? Steven Waldman, blogging at Beliefnet, quotes a White House official saying, “Judge Sotomayor was raised as a Catholic and attends church for family celebrations and other important events.”

David Gibson, also at Beliefnet, suggests there may be a strategic reason for Sotomayor to downplay her faith affiliation:

“The (awful) question will now be, what KIND of Catholic is she? She is divorced, without kids. Heck, she may want to downplay her practice of the faith as that will be a huge target–and it’s easy to guess who’ll be lobbing most of the heavy ordinance.”

And Cathy Lynn Grossman, blogging for USA Today, makes a similar prediction:

“Next up: Expect her nomination to re-ignite the ongoing Catholic blogosphere wars over who is Catholic enough. If confirmed, Sotomayor, who grew up in Catholic schools in the Bronx, would be the sixth Catholic on the high court. It may be that her life experiences will align her with the social justice issues pushed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on race, poverty, immigration and economic issues. But for some outspoken Catholics, the ‘life’ issues — abortion, family planning, so-called ‘conscience clauses’ for health workers, embryonic stem cell research and end-of-life choices — are the litmus test.”

Read on at the Globe link for more.

UPDATE: CNN has also taken note of the court’s tilt toward the Tiber:

“It’s most unusual,” said Barbara Perry, a government professor at Sweetbriar College who was already writing a book about Catholics on the Supreme Court when Sotomayor was named as the next nominee.

“Presidents used to reserve a Catholic seat and a Jewish seat on the Supreme Court,” Perry told CNN Radio. “Now we’ve moved from a Catholic seat on the court to a Catholic court.”

Of the 110 people who have served on the Supreme Court, 11 have been Catholic. Five of those justices — Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts — are currently on the court.

“It is more than a random selection process that yielded the current five Catholics on the bench,” Perry said.

The five current Catholic justices were appointed by Republican presidents, which Perry notes may be a key reason why so many Catholics have joined the high court in recent years.

“It’s their tie to conservative Catholicism which made them agreeable to (Republican) presidents’ ideology,” she said.

Perry sees Catholics as swing voters with a base of socially conservative principles, and therefore naturally attractive for Republican presidents.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue goes further, hypothesizing that Catholics have conservative credentials on issues such as abortion, without the political baggage of terms such as the “religious right” or “evangelicals.”

“Is it safer to nominate a Catholic as opposed to an evangelical to get votes? I think the answer is decidedly yes,” Donohue said.

Donohue also suggests the vigorous education in Catholic schools during the 20th century produced sharp legal minds.

“I think there might be a certain kind of Catholic edge, so to speak, as a residual property of a Catholic education,” he said.

There’s more at the CNN link.