How Clarence Thomas Found a Catholic Way Home
Justice reveals unexpected journey in “Created Equal”
His path kept changing but a way emerged for Clarence Thomas. A Catholic grandfather, a politician/Episcopal priest and a journalist steered him in totally unexpected directions.
“Someplace in my life, the roads had split off,’’ he recalls. “I had gone to the seminary. I had gone to all-white schools. I was never gonna be a part of that world, I was never gonna be white. The problem is I can never go back completely to the world I came from.’’
“I am decidedly and unapologetically Catholic,” Thomas said in a 2018 speech at Christendom College.
“It is a guide, the way, the truth and the life… I spent 25 years of my life in the wilderness away from the Church, and yet the clarion call of Sunday church bells never went away.’’
In nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, Thomas has avoided the public eye. After a screening of “Created Equal,’’ a lady in the audience asked if he’s still on the Court (he’s served longer than his eight colleagues) while an activist asked if he might retire (at 71, he could match peers by serving another two decades).
