Dear Cardinal O’Malley,
You are, I think, quite mistaken when you say that “the Senator’s wake and Catholic funeral were controversial because of the fact that he did not publically support Catholic teaching and advocacy on behalf of the unborn.”
The problem on Ted Kennedy’s side was NOT one of mere omission: he did NOT simply “fail to support” Catholic teaching. He was an active, vocal, and deadly opponent of human rights: one who stripped an entire class of persons of their human rights, their human dignity, and even their human identity.
The problem on the Church’s side was not that Kennedy was given a “wake and a Catholic funeral,” inasmuch as almost every Catholic would willingly bow the head and pray for a merciful judgment and the respose of his soul. The problem was the specifically ~honorific~ nature of the funeral observances, which had the look, the sound, and the aroma of a splendid and sumptuous, if spurious, canonization.
The stunning nature of Kennedy’s activism can be only summarized by reporting the nature of the crimes. Ted Kennedy:
Voted NO on defining unborn child as eligible for the SCHIP healthcare program.
(Bill S.Amdt.4233 to S.Con.Res.70 ; 3/14/2008)
Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for procuring the abortion of their offspring.
(Bill S.Amdt.4335 to S.Con.Res.70 ; 3/13/2008)
Voted YES on expanding destructive human experimentation to more embryonic stem cell lines.
(Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act; Bill S.5 & H.R.3 ; 4/11/2007)
Voted NO on notifying — even notifying! — the parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.
(Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act; Bill S.403 7/25/2006)
Voted NO on criminal penalty for assaulting or slaying an unborn child during the commission of other crime.
(Unborn Victims of Violence Act; Bill S.1019/HR.1997 ; 3/25/2004)
Voted NO on banning the revoltingly cruel practice of partial birth abortion
(Bill S.3 ; 3/12/ 2003)
Voted NO on maintaining the ban on abortions at Military Bases
(Bill S 2549 ; 6/20/2000)
Voted NO (again!) on banning partial birth abortions.
(Partial Birth Abortion Ban; Bill S. 1692; 10/21/1999)
Voted NO on banning human cloning.
(Motion to invoke cloture on motion S. 1601; Bill S. 1601 ; 2/11/ 1998)
May I say something about the public impact of the extravagantly honorific funeral observances? In comparison with the much more modest funeral of his honorable and edifying sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Ted Kennedy’s glorified exitus was seen by millions, tens of millions as a crescendo of politicized Alleluias and as a calculated case of exalting the exalted and humbling the humble.
The funeral ought to have been private, small, solemn, and heartfelt; it ought to have centered upon a plea to the Lord for “those most in need of Thy mercy”; and the media ought to have been banned. Scandal? Kyrie eleison, a millionfold.
Hello Mrs. Don-o,
Thank you for pinging me to your letter to Cardinal O’Malley. It’s excellent and you highlighted my primary gripe: the public celebration of Kennedy.
It was a shameful display and a cause for confusion not only for Catholics but for non-Catholics as well. My sweet grandmother, who’s not one for suffering fools, fielded call after call asking if Kennedy was in Heaven by “her Church’s standards.”
Another one of your intelligent and to-the-point posts.
You never fail us, and I thank God for that. :-)
Excellent.
Mrs. Don-o, by their fruits you will know them. Looking at those two funerals, I would say Eunice was the real Catholic. Her funeral was dignified, traditional, and humble. She went to her maker in quiet Catholic humility, despite her “birthright.”
Teddy got all his glory here on Earth. He squeezed every ounce of favor and special treatment he could out of being a Kennedy. That funeral squeezed the last drop of celebrity and pomp out of his existence. It was a showy farce presided over by a faux Catholic. There aren’t really even supposed to be eulogies at a Catholic funeral. You do that at the Rosary vigil the night before. Having Obama speak was the unmistakable sign that this whole funeral, and that whole life, was an empty spiritual exercise.
I don’t know how God will judge Teddy or if he went to Hell, but I know he didn’t have a good grasp on what it means to be Catholic.
I confess to not knowing much about O'Malley. In the case of Kennedy v. The Human Race and O'Malley supporting socialized health care, he comes across as stupid. Is he that stupid?