Certainly not I who posted the story, nor any Catholic with even minimal catechetical formation (yes, THAT’s another whole problem nowadays).
As I said in my opening comment:
With or without a Cardinal present, the issue is NOT the Funeral Mass, as long as it is celebrated ACCORDING TO THE PRESCRIBED NORMS:
the Catholic funeral, unlike Protestant “memorial services,” is not a celebration of the life of the deceased,
but the celebration of Christ’s sacrificial death upon the Cross, once and for all for the sins of the world, and the application of His infinite redemptive grace to the departed soul for the forgiveness of that person’s sins.
That is Catholic teaching (disputed at the “Reformation” and denied by those who departed from the unity of the Church at that point and still).
When the ACTUAL TEXTS are prayed, that is what they say.
The principal problem with the Kennedy funeral Mass was the Jesuit celebrant’s constant editorializing, mutation (mutilation) of texts, and ad-libbing in PRAISE of, not PRAYER for, the deceased, and the interpolation of non-authorized texts as well as the composition of original texts that were simply DNC talking points (and the shameful use of children to proclaim them, another whole issue).
The Cardinal’s problem, and really indefensible, is neither his charity nor his compassion but his negligence in seeing to it that Senator Kennedy got nothing less, but surely nothing MORE than any Catholic ought to receive at the time of death: the Church’s prayer (not Father Monan SJ’s or the DNC’s prayer) for forgiveness and peace.
As Boston talk show host and Herald columnist Howie Carr says regarding immigration: “I don’t ask for special treatment: I just want to be treated like any other illegal immigrant.” Catholics could now start asking for “no special treatment, Your Eminence: just treat me like any other Kennedy!”
Redemptorist, actually.
You are not supposed to permit a funeral mass for someone who is in a state of notorious sin.
I agree with you. The Cardinal's offense, I believe, was in not preserving the dignity of the rite by allowing it to become a political forum/celebrity roast instead of a vehicle for the Church (all of us!) to plead mercy on his soul.
As awful a man as Ted Kennedy was, I pray for him everyday, that he received God's mercy and is in purgatory. All of us want God to be a judge until our number comes up. Then we want Him to be merciful. I'll pray for mercy, not judgment upon Ted Kennedy, and hope for the same when I die.