Antonin Scalia at Boston for Red Mass

The Boston Herald ran a front page story today (March 27, 2006) "Bada-Zing" about Justice Antonin Scalia flipping an obscene Sicilian hand gesture beneath his chin as he spoke to a Herald reporter at the Red Mass at the Boston Cathedral. The reporter had asked about the Justice's attitude toward those who doubt his impartiality when it comes to matters of church and state.

“You know what I say to those people?” Scalia, 70, replied, making an obscene gesture under his chin when asked by a Herald reporter if he fends off a lot of flak for publicly celebrating his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs.


“That’s Sicilian,” the Italian jurist said, interpreting for the “Sopranos” challenged.

“It’s none of their business,” continued Scalia, who was the keynote speaker at yesterday’s Catholic Lawyers’ Guild luncheon. “This is my spiritual life. I shall lead it the way I like.”

From the Boston Herald story linked in the title above. I am amazed. This may be the only thing on which I agree with Antonin Scalia. His faith is separate from his work as a jurist. I believe that, and agree with him, Sicilian gestures in the cathedral notwithstanding. Bada-zing!