I wish for Ted Kennedy’s soul what I wish for all people: eternal rest and that he may enjoy the beatific vision. However, I do not think there is any way he could be considered a model Catholic or even human being. He had a lot of flaws, mixed with a lot of talent. In other words, he was a pretty typical human being, but certainly not a saint. I desire neither to canonize nor excommunicate the guy, which I guess puts me in the minority.
Thus, I was a little bothered that Liturgical Training Publications (of the Archdiocese of Chicago) issued the following prayer as a part of the prayers of the faithful this past weekend:
“For those who have given their lives to service to their country, promoting values of peace, justice, equality, and liberty; especially, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, that he may find his eternal reward in the arms of God….We pray.”
Here are the problems I have with this:
1) I don’t know if Kennedy can be said to promote all of those values according to Church teaching. Sure, he did a lot to try to help the little guy and generally stood up for peace. But, his unflinching and total support for abortion rights remains hugely problematic when assessing the appropriateness of using him as an exemplar in a prayer.
2) Ok, he’s famous. I understand. But, should Kennedy, just by virtue of being a politician (and from a Catholic perspective, a suspect one) and a Kennedy, get a special shout out in an entire archdiocese?
I have always thought the Kennedy family was more style over substance and sadly many Americans, even Catholics, have bought into that mentality. It’s a shame some folks at the archdiocese of Chicago did as well.
Source: California Catholic Daily via Rich Leonardi
Disgusting! Pope Benedict still has a lot of cleaning up to do. But understandable considering the loopholes/flaws in the Novus Ordo that make such travesties possible and that, unworthy as they are, the Kennedys are still a rallying-point of residual RC identity in America (the plucky immigrants who in two generations arrived in American high society, and they were good-looking too). Interestingly pro-life stuff is another but of course the Kennedys appeal more to Bad Catholics (not the same as active dissenters – the lapsed).
Since when is “equality” a Catholic value? Sure, Catholicism is opposed to the kind of ultra-rigid social stratification that ignores human needs and the needs of the poor, but that doesn’t mean that “equality” is a good in itself, once everybody has enough to get by. Did I miss it when they said that “equality” was a good in and of itself?
The Kennedy funeral was a travesty.
I agree with all the comments posted. I don’t want to seem judgmental, but I think the Kennedies were Catholic in name only. Perhaps the only truly faithful Catholic was Rose Kennedy. Unfortunately for her and her children, she tolerated an unfaithful husband in Joseph Kennedy. He was an unfaithful husband who munipulated the stock market and sold alcohol during prohibition.. I’m sorry Senator Kennedy died and I pray for his soul. But let us stop idolizing this family. They’re aren’t royalty and they certainly are not great saints!
While we seem to enjoy judging Senator Kennedy here why don’t we go all the way and say whether he is in heaven, hell, or purgatory. “Do not judge or you will be judged”