By FoxNews.com
Thousands packed into the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on Saturday morning for a funeral Mass for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
His flag-draped casket was brought to the church, just a short ride for the funeral procession, from the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill.
Scalia, 79, died last weekend at a remote Texas ranch. He had spent nearly three decades on the high court. Burial plans have not been announced.
Vice President Joe Biden, former Vice President Dick Cheney and the remaining eight high court justices are attending the service, for one the country’s most influential conservatives.
Justice Clarence Thomas plans a reading from the New Testament, but there will be no eulogy.
As many as 6,000 are expected to attend the service, held on an overcast day in the nation's capitol.
One of Scalia's nine children, the Rev. Paul Scalia, will lead the
Mass on Saturday at the Basilica, which can hold at least 3,500 people.
Scalia, a Catholic priest serving the diocese of Arlington, Va., also planned to deliver the homily as politicians and powerbrokers, and friends and family joined in honoring his father.
President Obama and first lady Michele Obama paid tribute Friday to Scalia at the Supreme Court, where the justice’s casket rested on a funeral bier first used after President Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
Scalia’s unexpected death touched off a sharp debate in Washington and across the country about whether Obama should nominate a replacement in his final roughly 10 months of office and whether he would attempt to make “recess appointment” -- appoint somebody to the high court while Congress is in recess over the extended President’s Day weekend or during future recesses.
Republicans and others say the next president, who takes office in January 2017, should submit the nomination to the Congress.
The GOP-led Senate is not expected to approve any appointment by Obama, who said after Scalia’s death he would make a consideration in “time due.”
Obama said Tuesday that he would not make a recess appointment “full stop.” But he said he would nominate somebody who would be “indisputably” qualified and whom “any fair-minded person -- even somebody who disagreed with my politics -- would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama's decision about the Mass was a "respectful arrangement" that took into account his large security detail.
GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz plans to interrupt his campaign ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary to attend the Mass. The Texas senator has been among those urging the Senate not to consider replacing Scalia until after the November election.
Scheduled to give opening remarks at the Mass was Washington Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl.
Leonard Leo, executive director of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, was to read a passage from the Old Testament, while Justice Clarence Thomas planned to read from the New Testament.
Never before has a funeral for a Supreme Court justice been held at the basilica.
Three popes have visited the basilica: Pope John Paul II in 1979, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and Pope Francis last year.
Thousands packed into the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on Saturday morning for a funeral Mass for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
His flag-draped casket was brought to the church, just a short ride for the funeral procession, from the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill.
Scalia, 79, died last weekend at a remote Texas ranch. He had spent nearly three decades on the high court. Burial plans have not been announced.
Vice President Joe Biden, former Vice President Dick Cheney and the remaining eight high court justices are attending the service, for one the country’s most influential conservatives.
Justice Clarence Thomas plans a reading from the New Testament, but there will be no eulogy.
As many as 6,000 are expected to attend the service, held on an overcast day in the nation's capitol.
One of Scalia's nine children, the Rev. Paul Scalia, will lead the
Mass on Saturday at the Basilica, which can hold at least 3,500 people.
Scalia, a Catholic priest serving the diocese of Arlington, Va., also planned to deliver the homily as politicians and powerbrokers, and friends and family joined in honoring his father.
President Obama and first lady Michele Obama paid tribute Friday to Scalia at the Supreme Court, where the justice’s casket rested on a funeral bier first used after President Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
Scalia’s unexpected death touched off a sharp debate in Washington and across the country about whether Obama should nominate a replacement in his final roughly 10 months of office and whether he would attempt to make “recess appointment” -- appoint somebody to the high court while Congress is in recess over the extended President’s Day weekend or during future recesses.
Republicans and others say the next president, who takes office in January 2017, should submit the nomination to the Congress.
The GOP-led Senate is not expected to approve any appointment by Obama, who said after Scalia’s death he would make a consideration in “time due.”
Obama said Tuesday that he would not make a recess appointment “full stop.” But he said he would nominate somebody who would be “indisputably” qualified and whom “any fair-minded person -- even somebody who disagreed with my politics -- would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama's decision about the Mass was a "respectful arrangement" that took into account his large security detail.
GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz plans to interrupt his campaign ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary to attend the Mass. The Texas senator has been among those urging the Senate not to consider replacing Scalia until after the November election.
Scheduled to give opening remarks at the Mass was Washington Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl.
Leonard Leo, executive director of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, was to read a passage from the Old Testament, while Justice Clarence Thomas planned to read from the New Testament.
Never before has a funeral for a Supreme Court justice been held at the basilica.
Three popes have visited the basilica: Pope John Paul II in 1979, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 and Pope Francis last year.
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