A vestige of the past: Prayer in United States Congress

Abstract

Abstract:
The origin of Parliaments is closely linked with the religious scenography. In contrast with what happened in the contemporary continental parliamentarism, where its elimination derived from the laicist stream of the revolutionary parliament, the ancient costume consisting of opening the parliamentary sessions with a prayer has survived in the context of the anglo-saxon parliamentarism, under the influence of the praxis followed in Westminster. In the United States its origins coincide with the sessions of the Continental Congress and the approval of the Philadelphia Constitution, since then the prayers have been recited by the chaplains hired by the Chambers. Although it has been disputed the prayer´s constitutionality due to the text of the Establishment Clause (I Amendment), the Supreme Court has confirmed it in two decisions (Marsh v. Chambers y Town of Greece v. Galloway) invoking historic arguments and under the condition that the prayers should not have a proselytizing purpose. Prayer´s survival is explained in certain contexts as elements of self-recognition and integration of the parliamentary institution, connected with the so called civil religion whose presence has been maintained in the U. S.