Alito Senate confirmation room anointed with holy oil

Rev. Rob Schenk of the National Clergy Council in D.C., Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, and Grace Nwachukwu, general manager of Faith and Action were barred on Thursday from entering the hearing room where the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a confirmation hearing for Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court on Monday. They were permitted to bless the doors--reading three Psalms, kneeling to say the Lord's Prayer in front of the doors, and marking a cross in oil on a door.

They also said that they had actually entered the hearing room a day earlier to anoint the seats with oil. "We did adequately apply oil to all the seats," said Schenk.

Schenk and Mahoney say they had done the same prior to the hearings for Chief Justice John Roberts and were pleased with the results.