Black scholar Shelby Steele published a splendid article not long ago in the National Review on Justice Clarence Thomas. He called the jurist the freest black man in America, meaning that Thomas thinks for himself and is not the slave of any ideology, including the concoction of self-pity, hostility, and left-wing politics preached by generations of civil rights leaders. Thomas is a conservative on most things by choice, Steele points out, and he is unafraid to disagree sharply with anyone when he believes that his position on an issue is morally and intellectually correct. Justice Thomas will stand alone if necessary, defying Court colleagues on the Right as well as the Left.

This contrasts sharply with the fear, expressed by some leftists and others, that the Supreme Court lacks balance these days because five of the nine Justices, including Thomas, are Roman Catholics. In April, Robin Toner wrote on the New York Times website, “The five justices who turned the Supreme Court around last week and upheld the ban on ‘partial birth’ abortion had much in common. All are men. All were nominated by conservative Republican presidents. And, it was widely noted, all are Roman Catholics.” A law professor called the majority in the Carhart case “faith-based justices.” A blogger described the decision as “a chill wind blowing from Rome.”

Are these five Justices, for all of their legal expertise, really free to seek justice, as defined by the rule of law, the intent of Congress, and the wishes of the majority? Some fear that Catholics are truly unable to think and speak freely on such controversial matters as abortion because of the dogmatic declarations of their church. It will be recalled that John F. Kennedy, the only Catholic to be elected President, had to swear publicly that his faith would not influence his official conduct. (In fact, it didn’t influence his unofficial conduct either.)

In theory, critics have a point. For while there are many Catholics who simply ignore what the Church teaches, those who are faithful and orthodox are pledged to follow what the Magisterium declares in all areas of faith and morals. The Magisterium is the teaching body of the Church, consisting of the pope and the bishops in communion with him. On matters of faith and morals, its teachings are infallible. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, numbers 888-92.) The Catechism clearly defines right and wrong, supplementing its definitions with detailed documentation and careful reasoning. Catholics believe, or are supposed to believe, that there is objective truth concerning the most critical areas of human life, and that the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church knows what it is. Few declarations clash more strongly with modern, multicultural, politically correct thinking.

Catholics, then, are free to think for themselves about politics, economics, war, business, scientific theories, historical interpretations, and so on. Intellectual independence is a virtue enjoyed by all Church members. But the line is drawn by the Church officially on faith and morals. Every four years, at their conclave, the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops issues some stern statement on fidelity to Church teaching, stressing opposition to abortion. The bishops recently met. Was anyone paying attention?

In fact, Catholic members of the United States Supreme Court, are free to think and speak for themselves on all issues. This freedom covers virtually all Catholic public officials. The Church hierarchy in this country, with a few exceptions, does very little or nothing to enforce conformity to Church teaching. It is highly conscious of public opinion about the separation of church and state and of their status as a minority in the United States. The simple desire to avoid controversy, especially in a period noted for clergy scandals and strained budgets, no doubt accounts for much of the inactivity. In addition, many conservatives suspect that bishops do not back up their words with action because they themselves do not support some positions taken by the Church.

So Catholics Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Patrick Leahy, Rudy Giuliani, and John Kerry are as free to defend abortion in public and private as anyone. So is California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Justice William Brennan, a Catholic, was a key supporter of the move to constitutionalize abortion.

How defiant are Americans toward the Vatican? Every major Catholic university in this country has thumbed its nose at a papal demand to conform to a series of religious standards, designed to go into effect in 1991. (See Pope John Paul II’s Ex Corde Ecclesiae.) There have been no repercussions.

The majority of Catholics in this country no doubt approve of this unstated and consistent policy. Catholics are very much a two-party church. (In 2004, about 63% of Catholics voted, or close to 32 million people. Exit polls indicated that 52% voted for Bush and 47% voted for Kerry.) And Americans of all religious faiths can be extraordinarily firm about their freedom to do as they please.