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Former Vice President Dick Cheney, front left, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, center rear, take their seats prior to a funeral mass for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016.(Photo: Doug Mills, The New York Times, via AP (Pool))
WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Forever combative about the law, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saturday as a man whose deeply held religious faith brought<span style="color: Red;">*</span>him peace.
Rather than a star-studded funeral service featuring judges and politicians, Scalia's sendoff at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the largest Roman Catholic church in North America —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is a traditional Mass of Christian Burial befitting a true believer.
USA TODAY
Supreme Court family pays respects to Justice Antonin Scalia
His son<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Rev. Paul Scalia, episcopal vicar for clergy of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., is celebrating<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Mass, along with Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., Archbishop<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Carlo Maria Viganò, the Vatican's ambassador to the United States and Pope Francis' personal representative, and dozens of other bishops and priests.
"In keeping with your desire to have a simple parish family Mass," Wuerl said in opening remarks, to muffled laughter,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"I will confine my remarks to these few words of greeting and welcome to the many many people who are here in this magnificent<span style="color: Red;">*</span>basilica simply to express their respect for this extraordinary man, Justice Scalia."
Scalia's body, laying in a casket covered by a white-and-gold pall, led a procession to the altar with his family during the opening hymn of "O God Our Help in Ages Past."<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Catholic funeral Masses do<span style="color: Red;">*</span>not allow for eulogies by laypeople, and no such tributes are on the program. Instead, Rev. Scalia will eulogize his father during the homily, or sermon.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Justice Clarence Thomas, Scalia's closest ally on the bench, and Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, will recite scripture readings.
A separate, more secular memorial service for family and friends will be held March 1 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, the Scalia family said Saturday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Thousands of Scalia's devoted fans -—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his expansive family, current and former Supreme Court justices, nearly 100 former law clerks and guests, including Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill — filled the medieval-style church for the funeral Mass on a cloudy, breezy, warm winter day. All the current Supreme Court justices attended, along with former justices John Paul Stevens and David Souter,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>sitting on folding chairs in front of the first pew.
Among the many judges in attendance was Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, perhaps the leading candidate among many President<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Obama may nominate for Scalia's seat.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Also seen entering the Basilica: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate, and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
On Friday, more than 6,000 people paid their respects as Scalia's body lay in repose at the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. The building remained open to allow everyone in line to get in.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)
The court's longest-serving justice was a month shy of his 80th birthday when he was found dead last Saturday during a visit to a West Texas ranch. His death has touched off a harsh debate between the White House and Senate Republicans over Obama's right to nominate a successor in the waning days of his presidency and the Senate's right to ignore or defeat that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>nominee.
USA TODAY
Justice Scalia found dead at Texas ranch
That battle will resume following Scalia's public funeral and private burial today.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The president, who paid respects Friday as the late justice lay in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, later was seen carrying a binder with information about potential nominees for weekend reading. Sunday's weekly news shows will reignite the debate amid talk of the South Carolina and Nevada presidential primaries.
For Scalia's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>extended family and followers, however, Saturday loomed as a day to say goodbye to the man who was for many<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the leader among conservative legal scholars. His defense of originalism (that is,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reading the Constitution literally, not expansively) and textualism (reading government statutes the same way) changed the way cases were debated and, in some cases at least, won or lost.
The 79-year-old justice also will be remembered as one of the most gifted writers in the court's history<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and a fierce debater from the bench who changed the nature of oral arguments. His many lectures, speeches and interviews helped to educate and energize younger generations of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>conservative legal thinkers who will carry on his legacy.
"He was brilliant. He never felt you were there to invent law from the bench, you were there to interpret. He was full of life and vigor. He lived life to the fullest," said Dirk Kempthorne, who was sworn in by Scalia as Secretary of the Interior in 2006, before the funeral.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"What a wonderful, delightful man. He was the epitome of life and did not take himself too seriously."
"But the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and no torment will ever touch them," one of Saturday's Bible readings says. "In the eyes of the foolish, they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their<span style="color: Red;">*</span>destruction;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but they are at peace.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality."
Justice Antonin Scalia at a White House swearing-in ceremony in 2006.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: RON EDMONDS, AP)
USA TODAY
Antonin Scalia: Will his conservative legacy live on?
Contributing: Gregory Korte and Christopher<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Doering.
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