海角大神

It鈥檚 been almost impossible to escape news of Pope Francis this week: the rockstar pontiff, whose first US trip , drew massive crowds from Washington to Philadelphia, where on Sunday.

But three Supreme Court justices did their best to avoid the pope鈥檚 limelight 鈥� and, perhaps, his message 鈥� creating their own modest media storm in the process.

Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas 聽from the Court鈥檚 front-row seats at Francis鈥� speech to Congress on Thursday, the first time a leader of the Catholic Church has ever addressed both houses.

It鈥檚 not unprecedented for a Justice to miss such a high-profile event. For almost 20 years, Justice Scalia has seemed to enjoy skipping the State of the Union, which to which he doesn鈥檛 want to 鈥渓end dignity.鈥�

At times, the US president鈥檚 annual address can have the feel of a sports match, with both parties alternately leaping to their feet to applaud particular points. Such partisanship puts Supreme Court justices in a 鈥渧ery uncomfortable鈥� position, according to Justice Thomas, who also stopped attending some years ago. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot that you don鈥檛 hear on TV 鈥� the catcalls, the whooping and hollering and under-the-breath comments,鈥� in 2010.

Many politicians, and perhaps the Justices, anticipated that respect for the pope would not stop his speech from turning into a similarly politicized spectacle. Despite his global star power, Francis鈥� positions on issues such as income equality, immigration, and environmental change have irked some conservatives who say that he鈥檚 overstepping his bounds, or object to what they consider his liberal bent. For Catholics, this leaves them in the tricky position of opposing the head of their church.

Leading up to Francis鈥� speech, Catholic House Rep. Paul Gosar (R) of Arizona lambasted the pope鈥檚 political positions in an op-ed called

In his letter, Representative Gosar claims Earth 鈥渉as been changing since first created in Genesis,鈥� rendering Francis鈥� environmental focus, which Gosar describes as 鈥渨rapped [in] false science and ideology,鈥� a waste of time. Climate change is a 鈥渇ool鈥檚 errand,鈥� he says, compared to the pressing need to 鈥渃hange the climate of slaughter in the Middle East.鈥�

Although not confirmed, there's been speculation that Scalia, Thomas and Alito may have also elected to skip the speech on account of political differences. All are Catholic, although so are their fellow Justices John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, and Sonia Sotomayor, who were there to listen alongside the remaining three Justices. But Scalia, in particular, has made headlines for his support of the death penalty, a practice .

Those who did attend the Congressional speech found themselves part of Francis鈥� in the words of journalist Amy Sullivan:

The pope got the entire audience to stand up when he declared that 鈥渢he golden rule 鈥�reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its聽development.鈥�

But while the pope was undeniably referring, among other things, to the very beginning of life, his next sentence took many in the crowd by surprise. 鈥淭his conviction has led me,鈥� he continued, 鈥渢o advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity.鈥�

For many Republicans, however, Francis鈥� support for environmental stewardship is the biggest hurdle to accepting his teachings. Yet 聽seemed to sum up many Americans鈥� feelings about the speech when he said, praising Francis鈥� focus on poverty, 鈥淗e鈥檚 got some other positions that are a bit more controversial. But, it鈥檚 the pope!鈥澛�