JUSTICE KAGAN: I'm just asking you to
assume with me for a moment that there is a categorical
exception, and to tell me who you think counts as a
minister, and why the woman in this case does not.
MR. DELLINGER [Counsel for private respondent]: Well, in our view, if that
was the test, then we would say that the court of
appeals was correct in holding that she was not a
minister, and the reason -- the principal reason is she
carries out such important secular functions in addition
to her religious duties -
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: I'm sorry to
interrupt you, but that can't be the test. The Pope is
a head of state carrying out secular functions; right.
Those are important. So he is not a minister?
Of course, the Roman Catholic Church / the Holy Roman Empire elected to organize as a sovereign nation. Sure, the Vatican never does well at the Olympics, but they are their own country, nonetheless. The pope carries out secular functions because he is, ex officio, a secular ruler. That is to say, the Bishop of Rome is, by virtue of his office, also the Vatican's Head of State.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I don't think that example is very applicable to our situation given that the LCMS is neither organized nor recognized as a sovereign nation (or was that buried somewhere in the Blue Ribbon Task Force restructuring proposals that the convention passed last year and I missed it?).