Interesting points

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

The bid to name the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall a saint of the Episcopal Church (AP: Jan. 24) raises some interesting points.

Marshall, who died at age 94 on Jan. 24, 1993, served on the Supreme Court for 24 years. He was the first African-American justice on the High Court and a long-time champion of civil rights. He first gained national attention by successfully arguing the landmark 1954 Brown v Board of Education case before the Supreme Court. That case struck down the "separate but equal" segregation laws in American schools.

However, Marshall was also a champion of abortion rights - voting with the majority in the High Court's historic Roe v Wade decision and in defense of abortion rights in several other abortion cases. He also voted (1990) against keeping comatose Nancy Cruzan alive and for a legally protected "right to die."

Delegates from St. Augustine Church in Washington, D.C, where Marshall attended, presented the sainthood proposal to the Episcopal Diocese of Washington on Jan. 27. In the Episcopal Church - unlike current practice in the Roman Catholic Church - saints are proclaimed by local congregations. The criteria for sainthood include living an heroic life as a servant of God, and being an example to at least two generations. Among Episcopal saints are Sojourner Truth (a former slave who became an abolitionist and women's suffrage preacher and a Methodist), Florence Nightingale (founder of the Red Cross and an Anglican) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (civil rights leader and a Baptist minister).

There's no doubt that Thurgood Marshall would not be declared a Catholic saint.

However, this move by members of his church reminds us of a truth taught by the Catholic Church - there are many more saints than we can ever know. They surround us as "a cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1) that we call the communion of saints.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that this communion of saints consists of all members of Christ's church - those on earth, those in heaven and those who are being purified. Each member of this communion prays with and for every other member, and participate together in the sacraments, the gifts of the Spirit and the benefits of charity.

It is Christ who calls us to this communion of saints. And it is God, through Christ, who determines who is finally blessed in heaven.

It is for us - members of the communion of saints - to help each other, to pray for each other, and to offer God's love to all.

We leave the rest to God.