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People pray for Judge Amy Coney Barrett outside the U.S. Supreme CourtDanielle Zuccaro / LifeSiteNews

Author’s note: The author has been made aware after publication that there were Catholics present in the crowd outside the Supreme Court during the ACB hearings (though the author did not see them). That being said, efforts on the part of the local Catholic Church as a whole were negligible, especially in comparison to the magnitude of organization exhibited by the Evangelical Christians in attendance.

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 13, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Song and prayer filled the air on the ground at the Supreme Court and at the U.S. Senate buildings as Judge Amy Coney Barrett embarked on day one of her confirmation hearings in D.C. Faithful Christians bussed in from all up and down the East Coast; one woman we met even drove from Arizona—just to be here in support of Judge Barrett. After a rally in front of the Senate Office building where the hearing was to take place, a prayer hour was scheduled for 12:00 noon in front of the Supreme Court. LifeSite’s Jim Hale and I went over to report on it and what I saw there stunned me.  

About a dozen evangelical faith leaders of various Christian organizations from all across the United States gathered with about 75 prayer warriors to pray for Amy Coney Barrett and her family and to ask God to bring this country back to Him. These prayers were so heartfelt and passionate, they left many nearly in tears.  

Then Cassie Pfitzmeier prayed and spoke. She said that for four years she and many of those in her group, Justice House of Prayer D.C. have been praying specifically for Judge Barrett, that she would make it to the Supreme Court. They have been praying for years for this powerhouse woman, who as we all know, is a devout Catholic. That was when I was struck. These non-Catholic Christians were the only Christians I witnessed on the ground and were the most “pro-Amy” people I had seen.  

By all accounts, Barrett is a devout Catholic, a pro-life stalwart, and a prayer warrior herself. These Christians see that in her and they know she is on their side.  

So, though surrounded by a chorus of “How Great Thou Art,” to me, the silence was deafening. I had not seen a single visible Catholic – clergy or lay – all day long. No rosarypraying groups. No Catholic churches from the area, never mind from across the country. “Barrett is one of our own,” I kept thinking to myself, and yet the Church was nowhere to be found to cheer her on and pray her to the finish line. 

On the one hand, it surprised me because the laity have taken it upon themselves in their defense of the Church during these unspeakable times when the hierarchy has shortchanged us. But then, on the other hand, I was not surprised. Sadly, the example of the hierarchy has made it so that Catholics have become all too comfortable in their own spheres of influence, in their own homes, afraid to speak up. This is such that, at time like this when one of our own fellow Catholics gets nominated by the most pro-life president to the highest court in the land, we’ve completely missed the boat.  

We Catholics must take this as our wakeup call. Our evangelical brothers and sisters know that this is our time to get out in the public sphere and stand for our common Christian faith and values. Our Lord said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” Fellow Catholics, let us arise from our slumber.