Posted on 08/27/2009 10:41:06 AM PDT by NYer
Well, I feel as if I've finally "arrived."
True, over the years my name has been mentioned disparagingly a few times in the pages of America, but what appeared in its online edition today has reached a whole new level of invective (even by America's standards of invective).
I responded yesterday to Sr. Maureen Fiedler's obit piece on Senator Ted Kennedy in NCR ("He Made Me Proud to Be Catholic"), and my comments obviously hit a raw nerve among that community of disciples over at America, as evidenced by my being roundly chastised by one of their writers today.
Honestly, I don't think my remarks were in any way untoward, but clearly that writer disagrees. In just six irrate paragraphs, he manages to brand me me a "boor," a "loudmouth," "ignorant of history," "callous," "inhumane," "indecent," and "hateful" — all the while insinuating that my comments on this issue (and those of other pro-life people) are simply a "rant."
Kettle, meet Pot. Pot, meet Kettle.
Here is the exchange:
From National Catholic Reporter ...
I don’t often cry when a public figure dies. This morning, I cried when I heard the news that Senator Ted Kennedy had passed away.
I "grew up" with the Kennedy Clan. I remember how John Kennedy broke the "Catholic barrier" with his election in 1960. I remember Robert Kennedy’s prophetic words as he ran for President in 1968… his fearless embrace of the “least of these” and his opposition to the War in Vietnam. And I remember the wrenching agony of the two Kennedy assassinations.
But today feels a bit like the end of an era. Ted Kennedy, like his brothers, was a champion of civil rights, women’s rights, and the welfare of the “least of these.” He strongly and eloquently opposed the war in Iraq. Because his life (and the lives of others in his family) embraced the great Catholic social justice tradition, they have made me proud to be a Catholic.
So I guess now… the torch has been passed… to us.
Patrick Madrid's response:
At best, Mr. Kennedy was highly selective as to which of "the least among us" he would deign to defend. Case in point: Abortion. The senator established his record squarely on the extremist position of defending the legality of abortion. Many are not aware that he was originally publicly pro-life (I comment on the details of his transformation from pro-life to pro-abortion here). As a result of Ted Kennedy's indefatigable championing of the pro-abortion movement, tens of millions of the "least among us" — unborn girls and boys — were killed through abortion under his senatorial auspices. Whatever his positive qualities may have been, and no doubt he had some, the tragic reality is that Senator Kennedy's long political career was squandered by his vociferous, relentless promotion of abortion. And that, sadly, will be his enduring legacy. I agree with you that tears are appropriate upon hearing the news of this man's death, but not for the reasons you are crying them.
And the response from America Magazine:
Someone named Patrick Madrid, who runs a blog and is involved with something called the Envoy Institute at Belmont Abbey in North Carolina, decided to attack my colleague at NCR Sister Maureen Fiedler for her post remembering the late Senator. "Maureen, with all due respect," he begins, words that reek of condescension. He writes: "Whatever his positive qualities may have been, and no doubt he had some, the tragic reality is that Senator Kennedy's long political career was squandered by his vociferous, relentless promotion of abortion. And that, sadly, will be his enduring legacy. I agree with you that tears are appropriate upon hearing the news of this man's death, but not for the reasons you are crying them." I have my moments of hubris but it has never occurred to me to tell another soul why and why not to cry, still less in a blog post.
The Boors Who Demean Ted Kennedy
“How did a rich million-dollar donor get an annulment having a wife of many years and children. I guess that's normal church process.”
He got it, it seems, the way 50,000 other couples get it each year. He made his application to the marriage tribunal and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
For over a decade.
Most annulment processes take a few years. Mr. Kennedy's took quite a bit longer. If Mr. Kennedy paid any extra for his, he got taken.
“Defend it all you want.”
Who is defending it? I'm merely stating the facts.
Many Catholic couples obtain declarations of nullity of their putative marriages, marriages sometimes of short length, marriages sometimes of 20, 30 years or more, with multiple children.
It costs typically (not always) under a thousand dollars. In my own archdiocese, I believe the standard fee is about $400.
What Mr. Kennedy obtained isn't unusually difficult nor terribly expensive to obtain. There are folks who criticize the Church for making annulments generally too easy to obtain. For anyone. Rich or poor. Well-connected or not. But that's the opposite argument from what is [falsely] being made here.
In that Mr. Kennedy's result took about three or four times longer than most, I doubt that he “bribed” anyone for it.
sitetest
Sorry your so sensitive. Read the mods comment. I’m out.
“Sorry your so sensitive.”
Not at all. It's merely a desire to keep the facts straight. Mr. Kennedy is blameworthy for many things. “Bribing” the Church for an annulment is very likely not one thing for which he is blameworthy. Even an evil man has a right to what little good reputation he may have.
You repeated a falsehood commonly heard - that Mr. Kennedy "bribed" the Church with his huge donations to obtain a declaration of nullity. But the facts are clear - over 50,000 such declarations are issued in the United States every year, in a process that usually takes a few years, at a cost nearly always under a thousand dollars.
If he "bribed" anyone, he got ripped off.
Countering falsehoods with the facts is hardly the stuff of being "so sensitive."
“Read the mods comment.”
I did read the Religion Moderator's comments. In that I didn't make it personal, and didn't direct any of my comments at any poster, but merely at the falsehoods that were posted, I don't believe that his/her comments were directed at my posts herein. The Religion Moderator, I'm sure, will correct my assertion if it is in error.
sitetest
You’ve got that right!
Kennedy was:
A an irredeemable alcoholic - supported by incontrovertable facts.
A traitor - supported by recently released records of his communications with KGB operatives in his efforts to undermine Reagan.
A murderer - How many millions of the unborn? How many? And then there’s Mary Jo.
A socialist - by his own words: “The reason why socialsim hasn’t worked in the last 6000 years is because I wasn’t in charge of it.”
And finalyy, on the basis of the preceding items - a malignant narcissist.
Nice legacy, Ted.
And, most concerning for all of us that have to deal with it...a role model of Congressional Activism...
FWIW...it appears as though he never APPLIED for an annulment until 1995.....
“In 1995, Kerry applied for an annulment, by which the Church declares that a marriage never existed. The annulment was apparently granted”
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/5112.html
WHOOP!Wrong Mass Senator!! I apologize...!!!
WHOOP!Wrong Mass Senator!! I apologize...!!!
Agree completely! Kennedy is entitled to a Catholic funeral ... period. Obama's interests in delivering a eulogy are strictly political. We all know Ted Kennedy's 100% NARAL rating, his stance on gay marriage and support for a national health care program that would deny others his age, the same benefits to which he was entitled during his illness. It is an outrageous offense to allow a political eulogy in a Catholic Church.
I've seen marriages of longer years and more children be annulled on grounds that no one knew about until it was all over. Things like coercion, trickery, mental abuse, etc. It could very well be that there were legit grounds. He didn't ask for it until years after the marriage ended. There are some things that are still private in this world and what goes on inside a marriage is one of them. This is one instance where I give him the benefit of the doubt.
Nothing technical about it.
They better not give Communion to BHO.
Well said.
***Kennedy is entitled to a Catholic funeral ... period.***
As are all Catholics, no matter how gravely in sin. Unless excommunicated, he does rate that.
***It is an outrageous offense to allow a political eulogy in a Catholic Church.***
Now that, I agree with.
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