Amy Coney Barrett, the Notre Dame law professor nominated by President Trump to serve on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and whose Senate confirmation hearing was marred by the religious bigotry of Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, has an ally in the president of Notre Dame.

Rev. John I. Jenkins sent a strongly worded letter (full text below) to Feinstein on September 9th, decrying what he calls her “chilling” attack on Barrett’s Catholicism.

It is chilling to hear from a United States Senator that this might now disqualify someone from service as a federal judge. I ask you and your colleagues to respect those in whom “dogma lives loudly”—which is a condition we call faith. For the attempt to live such faith while one upholds the law should command respect, not evoke concern.

What did Feinstein say to Barrett to evoke such a strong rebuke from Rev. Jenkins?

“Dogma and law are two different things. And I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different. And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern.”

In short, Dianne Feinstein condescendingly – and with great prejudice – asserted that Barrett could not possibly render independent judgment on legal and policy matters due to the “dogma” that “lives loudly within” her.

Feinstein is as transparent as a window pane. Fact is, Feinstein doesn’t want Barrett on the court because Barrett may just possibly wield a strict constitutionalism that scares leftists. Barrett’s religion is a convenient excuse for Feinstein to attempt to disqualify a conservative Trump nominee.

Democrats everywhere should find Feinstein’s comments disquieting, as Catholics in their party have famously faced similar religious prejudices. John F. Kennedy, one of the Democrats’ shining stars from the past six decades, was questioned repeatedly if he’d be able to practice his religion whilst simultaneously upholding the Constitution. It was outrageous then, and it’s outrageous now.

But what about the dogma that drives Dianne Feinstein herself? Her religion is called progressivism, and she is a slave to it. The utopia of progressivism has no place for a person like Amy Coney Barrett, whose belief system, as Jenkins points out, is much like those of many of our founding fathers and countless patriots who’ve paved the way for religious bigots like Dianne Feinstein to spew their intolerance.

This is what the party of John F. Kennedy has become.

FULL TEXT OF REV. JOHN I. JENKINS’ LETTER TO SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN:

Dear Senator Feinstein:

Considering your questioning of my colleague Amy Coney Barrett during the judicial confirmation hearing of September 6, I write to express my confidence in her competence and character, and deep concern at your line of questioning.

Professor Barrett has been a member of our faculty since 2002, and is a graduate of our law school. Her experience as a clerk for Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is of the highest order. So, too, is her scholarship in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law and statutory interpretation. I am not a legal scholar, but I have heard no one seriously challenge her impeccable legal credentials.

Your concern, as you expressed it, is that “dogma lives loudly in [Professor Barrett], and that is a concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.” I am one in whose heart “dogma lives loudly,” as it has for centuries in the lives of many Americans, some of whom have given their lives in service to this nation. Indeed, it lived loudly in the hearts of those who founded our nation as one where citizens could practice their faith freely and without apology.

Professor Barrett has made it clear that she would “follow unflinchingly” all legal precedent and, in rare cases in which her conscience would not allow her to do so, she would recuse herself. I can assure you that she is a person of integrity who acts in accord with the principles she articulates.

It is chilling to hear from a United States Senator that this might now disqualify someone from service as a federal judge. I ask you and your colleagues to respect those in whom “dogma lives loudly”—which is a condition we call faith. For the attempt to live such faith while one upholds the law should command respect, not evoke concern.

Respectfully,

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

President