“… the difficult yet noble art of politics”
This phrase from Vatican II (Gaudium et Spes, No. 75) comes to mind as we remember Senator Ted Kennedy. The Council encourages those with talent to engage in political activity, “forgetting their own convenience and material interests.” “They must combat injustice and oppression, arbitrary domination and intolerance by individuals or political parties, and they must do so with integrity and wisdom. They must dedicate themselves to the welfare of all in a spirit of sincerity and fairness, of love and of the courage demanded by political life” (Ibid).
Difficult because of the tough choices, compromises that must be made. Noble because of the immense good that can be achieved for the common good. Not a bad description of the politician at his or her best.
51. To these problems there are those who presume to offer
dishonorable solutions indeed; they do not recoil even from the taking of life.
But the Church issues the reminder that a true contradiction cannot exist
between the divine laws pertaining to the transmission of life and those
pertaining to authentic conjugal love.
God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission
of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of
themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of
conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes. (Gaudium et Spes)