Roman Catholics account for a bit more than 20 percent of the U.S. population, yet they are on track to hold six of the Supreme Court’s nine seats now that President Donald Trump has nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill its vacancy.

It’s a striking development given that the high court, for most of its history, was almost entirely populated by white male Protestants. Catholic academics and political analysts offer several explanations for the turnaround – related to Catholics’ educational traditions, their interest in the law, and – in the case of Catholic conservatives – an outlook that has appealed to recent Republican presidents filling judicial vacancies.

Barrett, a favorite of conservative activists for her views on abortion and other issues, will likely be an ideological opposite of liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Jewish justice whose recent death created the vacancy.

Margaret McGuinness, a professor of religion at La Salle University in Philadelphia, noted that Sonia Sotomayor is the only current Catholic justice appointed by a Democrat. The others — Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh and likely Barrett – were appointed by Republicans.

“They were appointed because they were conservative, not because they were Catholic,” said McGuinness. She said Republicans sought nominees who’d be part of an effort to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

Catholics also are well-represented in Congress — holding just over 30 percent of the seats. Yet there’s still been only one Catholic president, John F. Kennedy. Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden, would be the second if he wins.

Charles Camosy, a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University, suggested that education was a factor in the high proportion of Catholic justices.

“For many decades in the United States, Catholic schools were a much better option for serious students than were public schools, and in many cases still are,” he said. “It is possible that this accounts for a disproportionate number of Catholics getting into very good colleges and then into very good law schools.”

Camosy also observed that the Catholic population in the U.S. “is wildly, almost impossibly diverse.”

“Catholics find themselves on the far left, on the far right, and everywhere else,” he said. “No one should worry that Catholics on the Supreme Court will all agree with each other about matters of legal interpretation.”

He cited Sotomayor, with liberal views, and Thomas, a staunch conservative, as examples.

In 2017, in Senate hearings on her nomination to a federal appeals court, Barrett underwent some aggressive questioning about whether her Catholic faith would cloud her legal judgments.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue, who seeks to combat perceived anti-Catholic bias, says similar questioning is unlikely this time around.

“That’s because those who made those remarks paid a heavy price for doing so,” he wrote on his group’s website.

Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe, acting president of Catholics for Choice, said she remained concerned.

“As Catholics, certainly our faith helps us to form our conscience and our ideas and how we live our faith,” she said. “But our religious beliefs should never be a substitute for impartial jurisprudence.”

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press.