Posted on 09/04/2009 7:20:12 AM PDT by markomalley
Saturday was the 39th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, at St. Augustine’s Church in Pittsburgh by Bishop John B. McDowell, who is still going strong today. In the Church’s calendar, the feast day for August 29 is the Beheading of John the Baptist. People usually take note when I tell them that I was professed to religious life on Bastille Day, July 14, and ordained on the feast of the Beheading. Not that I am superstitious.
On Saturday morning I attended the funeral Mass for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Father Donald Monan, S.J., former president of Boston College, celebrated the Mass and Father Mark Hession, pastor of Our Lady of Victories in Centerville, preached the homily.
The music was outstanding with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus enriching the liturgy along with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham who later sang an absolutely striking rendition of Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” Cellist Yo-Yo Ma graced us with his beautiful solo performance of Bach and later joined Placido Domingo, who sang the “Panis Angelicus.” Placido has a superb voice. I told him how much I like the Zarzuela, the Spanish classical musical theater productions. His family had a troupe that presented Zarzuelas in Mexico and he promised to arrange a performance.
The venue for the funeral Mass was Mission Church, the magnificent Redemptorist Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Senator Kennedy prayed often in this church when his daughter, Kara, was stricken with cancer. It is a church where countless faithful have gone to pray and ask for healing, grace and forgiveness.
In light of these themes, I wish to address our Catholic faithful who have voiced both support and disappointment at my having presided at the Senator’s funeral Mass.
Needless to say, 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. Given the profound effect of Catholic social teaching on so many of the programs and policies espoused by Senator Kennedy and the millions who benefitted from them, there is a tragic sense of lost opportunity in his lack of support for the unborn. To me and many Catholics it was a great disappointment because, had he placed the issue of life at the centerpiece of the Social Gospel where it belongs, he could have multiplied the immensely valuable work he accomplished.
The thousands of people who lined the roads as the late Senator’s motorcade travelled from Cape Cod to Boston and the throngs that crowded the Kennedy Library for two days during the lying in repose, I believe, were there to pay tribute to these many accomplishments rather than as an endorsement of the Senator’s voting record on abortion.
The crowds also were there to pay tribute to the Kennedy family as a whole. On the national political landscape, if Barack Obama broke the glass ceiling of the presidency for African Americans, Jack Kennedy broke it for American Catholics.
As a young lad, I saw photographs of both Pope John XXIII and President John Kennedy hanging in the thatched cottages of County Mayo and heard the Gaelic greeting, “God and Mary be with you.” Three of the Kennedy brothers died in service of our country in the prime of life. And Eunice Shriver, who died just a few weeks ago, was an outspoken defender of the unborn and an apostle of the Gospel of Life. She taught us all how to love special children and to make room for everyone at the table of life. In 1992, Eunice petitioned her party’s convention to consider “a new understanding” of the issue, “one that does not pit mother against child,” but instead seeks “policies that responsibly protect and advance the interest of mothers and their children, both before and after birth.”
Much of what is noble in the politics and work of the Kennedys had its origins in the bedrock of the faith of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. As a young woman she had a profound experience of God’s love that transformed her life. She strove to communicate that faith to her large clan. Since the time of her funeral Mass I have kept her memorial prayer card, inscribed with Rose Kennedy’s own words:
“If God were to take away all His blessings, health, physical fitness, wealth, intelligence, and leave me but one gift, I would ask for faith – for with faith in Him and His goodness, mercy, love for me, and belief in everlasting life, I believe I could suffer the loss of my other gifts and still be happy – trustful, leaving all to His inscrutable Providence.”
There are those who objected, in some cases vociferously, to the Church’s providing a Catholic funeral for the Senator. In the strongest terms I disagree with that position. At the Senator’s interment on Saturday evening, with his family’s permission, we learned of details of his recent personal correspondence with Pope Benedict XVI. It was very moving to hear the Senator acknowledging his failing to always be a faithful Catholic, and his request for prayers as he faced the end of his life. The Holy Father’s expression of gratitude for the Senator’s pledge of prayer for the Church, his commendation of the Senator and his family to the intercession of the Blessed Mother, and his imparting the Apostolic Blessing, spoke of His Holiness’ role as the Vicar of Christ, the Good Shepherd who leaves none of the flock behind.
As Archbishop of Boston, I considered it appropriate to represent the Church at this liturgy out of respect for the Senator, his family, those who attended the Mass and all those who were praying for the Senator and his family at this difficult time. We are people of faith and we believe in a loving and forgiving God from whom we seek mercy.
Advocating for the dignity of life is central to my role as a priest and a bishop. One of my greatest satisfactions in my ministry thus far was helping to overturn the abortion laws in Honduras. The person who answered my call for help with that effort was Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who had been a prominent leader in NARAL and the abortion rights movement. His own change of heart led Dr. Nathanson from a practice of providing abortions to becoming one of the most eloquent exponents of the pro-life movement.
Helen Alvaré, who is one of the most outstanding pro-life jurists, a former Director of the Bishops´ Pro-life Office and a long standing consultant to the USCCB Committee for Pro-Life Activities, has always said that the pro-life movement is best characterized by what it is for, not against. We are for the precious gift of life, and our task is to build a civilization of love. We must show those who do not share our belief about life that we care about them. We will stop the practice of abortion by changing the law, and we will be successful in changing the law if we change people’s hearts. We will not change hearts by turning away from people in their time of need and when they are experiencing grief and loss.
At times, even in the Church, zeal can lead people to issue harsh judgments and impute the worst motives to one another. These attitudes and practices do irreparable damage to the communion of the Church. If any cause is motivated by judgment, anger or vindictiveness, it will be doomed to marginalization and failure. Jesus’ words to us were that we must love one another as He loves us. Jesus loves us while we are still in sin. He loves each of us first, and He loves us to the end. Our ability to change people’s hearts and help them to grasp the dignity of each and every life, from the first moment of conception to the last moment of natural death, is directly related to our ability to increase love and unity in the Church, for our proclamation of the Truth is hindered when we are divided and fighting with each other.
President Obama and three former presidents attended Senator Kennedy’s funeral. I had the opportunity to speak briefly with President Obama, to welcome him to the Basilica and to share with him that the bishops of the Catholic Church are anxious to support a plan for universal health care, but we will not support a plan that will include a provision for abortion or could open the way to abortions in the future. The President was gracious in the short time we spoke, he listened intently to what I was saying.
Democrats and Republicans sat side by side in the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, praying for Senator Kennedy and his family. It is my sincere hope that all people who long to promote the cause of life will pray and work together to change hearts, to bring about an increased respect for life, and to change laws so as to make America a safe place for all, including the unborn.
The only question I would have for those who are like him (those who support big centralized government social assistance programs, like Kennedy and, apparently, O'Malley): "Your eminence, taking care of the needy is certainly worthwhile, but what of subsidiarity?"
I want to be sick...
The Catholic Church keeps in their fold mobsters and abortionists with out calling them out or kicking them out.
Do they stand for anything anymore?
In Militant’s own words: “Stuff it, you hypocrite!”
Militant
**The Cardinal in his own words.**
Looks like I’ll be SLEEPING IN on Sunday from now on!
Ah, Bach.
Did anyone file and environmental impact statement before they put that waste in the ground?
"Thou shalt not steal."(Exodus 20:15)
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's."(Exodus 20:17)
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matthew 5:17-18)
"Social Justice" advocates would like you to believe Jesus was Robin Hood, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Unfortunately those harmed by the Policies Kennedy advocated were the poor and the minorities. Here are some stats on Fatherlessness which his welfare and gay marriage caused.
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census)
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes
85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes (Source: Center for Disease Control)
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes (Source: Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26, 1978.)
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes (Source: National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools.)
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes (Source: Rainbows for all God`s Children.)
70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes (Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept 1988)
85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home (Source: Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections 1992)
“Not publically(sic?) supporting Catholic teaching” isn’t what happened for decades. What happened for decades was a famous Catholic publicly and actively thwarting Catholic teaching while the bishops did nothing. The result of this lack of discipline is that most Catholics think that baby butchery must not be that big of a deal when you get right down to it.
I don’t believe this guy believes abortion is what he says it is, he sure doesn’t act like it anyhow. It’s a scandal that dwarfs the homosexualist priest scandal.
Freegards
Social Gospel???? This turkey does not know he cannot serve two masters.
Thank goodness the faithful and faithful religious too have the Catechism and orthodox Church teachings to refer to when those in authority don’t abide by those teachings.
When there is public scandal offered before the faithful the sinner is required to PUBLICLY renounce his errors and begin demonstrating his remorse for his actions.
And AB OMalley disingenuously accuses people of desiring no Catholic funeral at all for the man. What a slur. People asked only for a private, family-oriented funeral for such a man who may have confessed privately before his death but did not do what is required by the Church for such huge public scandal. The implication against the faithful is like what is going on in our current government - where honest law-abiding citizens who question what is going on are being labled the enemy or even terrorists.
When will the Church ever offer as much solicitude for the struggling to be faithful and persecuted members of her body??
What's interesting here is the Mission Church is not part of the Boston Archdiocese. It's not O'Malley's Church to welcome Obama. The Church is owned by the Redemptorist Fathers out of Baltimore. By the way, the Redemptorist Fathers lost their shirt investing with Madoff.
So O'Malley is big on universal heathcare. He's probably big on illegal immigration rights. The Church is an internationalist organization. Basicly, he's right their with the socialist and corporated international elite in bleeding the American middleclass.
Forgivness.
What most social justice types, to include most American bishops, fail to factor in are two issues:
1) gratuitousness. We should be of a spirit to voluntarily give of our excess to the poor. Not that we should have meat and bone involuntarily cut by the government, for payment of salaries to bureaucrats and maybe, just maybe some ending up getting to the poor.
2) subsidiarity. What can be done by the individual should be done by the individual. Just because he won’t do something when he is perfectly capable is no reason to take from him the right and strip him of the obligation. When the individual can’t (not won’t, but can’t) do so, his immediate family should step in and help. Then the extended family. Then the neighborhood and members of his church family. Then and only then should the local government get involved (and remember, it’s not for people who won’t...just for people who can’t). And so on and so forth. Unless there is a catastrophe of incredible dimensions (category 5 hurricane, tsunami, etc.), this should never be elevated to the level of the federal government. And even then, assistance should be provided only through those intermediate levels.
If the bishops advocated for social justice keeping those two principles in mind, I’d be right there with them. But they don’t. They, instead, advocate for socialism, not social justice. And multiple popes have called that a grave evil.
“Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do.” — Pope Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, 79
Ted Kennedy wanted NO forgiveness for his support for abortion. For his socialism. For his anti-Catholic policies.
My reply to the Cardinal’s blog (slightly edited):
Cardinal Sean:
There are always tricky moral and ethical issues when religious leaders talk with and about politicians and other public figures. By virtue of their public status, to say nothing is to endorse them. Sometimes silence is justified by deadly potential consequences, e.g., Pius XII. To clearly disagree without condemning them as individuals is difficult. But I do not believe that this was a terribly difficult situation in which to arrive at the correct solution. The pastoral support you offered in public could easily have been provided in a more private venue.
Therefore, I respectfully disagree with your justification for publically endorsing the public life and, by default, the policy positions of the late Senator Kennedy. The ongoing silence of the Church with respect to the pro-abortion positions of many politiicans and public figures who claim to be Catholics is indeed sad and dramatically diminishes the ability of the Church to reinforce its fundamental moral positions.
Obviously, every Catholic has a right to the comforts of a funeral mass. However, this was a public celebration of a politician and your participation was a political act not just a pastoral one. It was a Pontius Pilate moment. The money changers were in the Temple and you chose to ignore them. Again, your visible public participation was not necessary in order for you to fulfill your pastoral obligations.
Your choices and actions have unfortunately legitimized those who would diminish the sanctity of human life. In my opinion, it was an avoidable mistake.
Good post....spot on!
Militant
True forgiveness is not forgiving the unforgivable, as true tolerance is not tolerating the intolerable. You use it as a sound-byte.
And, if you have to respond with a single word, at least spell it right!
Militant
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.
Maybe his conscience told him that representing the will of the people was not a sin. But that would be up to the confessor and him. In any event, the Church stands holds for forgiveness for all.
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