According to Michael Paulson at the Boston Globe in an article earlier today, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who gave the final commendation at the funeral of Senator Kennedy, was under intense pressure not to afford the senator, whose deep faith and life of prayer have become more public in the past few days, a public Catholic Mass. Cardinal O'Malley's decision to preside (NB: technically, whenever a bishop is present at a Mass he "presides"; the main celebrant today was former president of Boston College, J. Donald Monan, S.J.) apparently comes against the advice of some who would have kept him from paying tribute to Senator Kennedy. Or even letting him have a Catholic funeral. These past few days have been marked by vociferous debate among Catholics over Kennedy's Catholic bona fides: Was he a "bad" Catholic for his support of abortion; or a "good" one for his defense of the poor? Perhaps he was just a Catholic, like the rest of us, struggling to balance the dictates of his conscience with the art of the possible.
Cardinal O'Malley's decision to attend the funeral is largehearted, compassionate, pastoral, sensitive and, above all, Christian. In this overheated environment, when some in the church are ready to condemn and anathematize, the calm presence of the leader of the Boston archdiocese at the funeral of a man--with whom the cardinal disagreed on many things--who led a life of faith, is something that places our church in the best possible light. Kennedy's parish priest noted the senator's deep faith; his children and grandchildren noted his service for the poor; his biographer has spoken of his love of the Gospels, most especially the Sermon on the Mount. Cardinal O'Malley has been clear about his strong opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage; at the same time, his simple presence at the funeral shows his support of forgiveness, compassion and that quality perhaps most missing in today's church: mercy.
Cardinal O'Malley, who obviously looked like he was at Golgotha, had good reason to have thinly veiled contempt for the whole situation. In the 17th century, Teddy would have been given a pauper's burial with no mass.
From today's Office of Readings a selection from Ven. Bede: "His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth."
It also, for me, showed how rich a life can be when steeped in faith, and how much the Catholic Church has to offer our time.
It is whether you believe that all persons, without exception, who are Catholic and whose bishops allow them to receive communion, should be accorded a Catholic funeral, no matter what their public actions are. An enthusiastic public Catholic segregationist? A Catholic known to be a mafia don of a violently criminal syndicate? An unapologetic Catholic director of abusive and polluting labor camps in third world countries? A Catholic cleric well-known to collaborate in his government's violent persecution of the Church? A vocal Catholic proponent of unrestricted torture? An outspoken Catholic abortionist, or Frances Kissling?
If you view any such activities as irrelevant to the question of whether a Catholic receives a Catholic funeral, then at least you would be consistent.
Why do so many of those who vocalize their personal righteousness condemn others for their indiscretions?
Tha readings today at Senator Kennedy's funeral made interesting points about human vs. divine judgment, from Paul's Letter to the Romans asking, "If God is for us, who can be against us?", to the famous Matthew 25 Gospel reference to how final judgment will be assessed and by Whom: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."
Thank you, Fr.Jim and America's writing staff, for your continued persistence in underscoring for your readers true Gospel values. Keep fighting the good fight and the victory is Christ's!, a victory that results in a kinder, more just and compassionate society, the kind of society Ted Kennedy's years of devoted public service also hoped to build.
The small minds who self-righteously claim to know what kind of Mass Ted Kennedy or any other sinner should have actually demonstrate the face of those who crucified Christ. Would they recognize Christ if He were among us today.
I applaud the Cardinal, the Pope for his answer to Kennedy's letter, Cardinal McCarrick's decision to read the contents of that letter and all those who put aside, as I had to, their personal disagreement with Kennedy's failure to champion the cause of unborn children. As with all sinners though, even though he may have arrived late at his decision to regret his actions, he will receive the same wages as those who have toiled mightily all their lives to honor God.
And on the subject of mercy - it seemed Obama was merciful himself - speaking at a Catholic church - after the way he was treated by some for going to ND.
Secondly, you undermine the Church's teaching by suggesting that there was a disagreement between Kennedy and the Cardinal on many issues. No, this was not a disasgreement between two men. Ted Kennedy had a disagreement with the Gospel of Life. Your way of articulating the situation seems to reduce the seriousness of Kennedy's support for abortion to merely a disagreement between two equally valid opinions. The decision confronting O'Malley in whether to attend or not was whether his presence would send a signal that being pro-abortion was simply a matter of opinion and whether one can be faithful to the Gospel and be pro-abortion. Basically, the danger of the Cardinal attending the funeral is that people would conclude what you concluded in your blog: The Cardinal was there to pay tribute to Ted Kennedy and that the abortion issue is a matter on which good Catholics can have genuine disagreements.
I'm undecided as to whether the Cardinal should have attended. I think there are good arguments for both positions. But, your rationale makes me conclude that at least one person was confused by the Cardinal's presence.
What's particularly galling to me is that as a gay man, I struggle everyday to live my faith as best I can. Whatever good I do in my life is known largely only to me and God (and that's all that matters). Yet a man who, his mess of a personal life aside, made a career of spitting in the face of the Church's most basic beliefs receives a hero's sendoff by the Catholic Church. A man who basked in the cheers of those, like him, who would send more than 50 million unborn children to their slaughter... and only become more ''venerated'' in the eyes of an increasingly secular society has the honor of a Prince of the Church presiding at his funeral mass. Critics of my position will say, ''But you can't deny the good he did for the poor!'' I'm not so sure his motives were pure - after all, why do we reach out and lift up the poor? It's because Christ taught us to see and love the inherent beauty, worth and dignity of every human being... but what does it say about a man who cannot recognize the inherent beauty, worth and dignity of those MOST vulnerable in our society... even more vulnerable than the poor? I'll tell you what it says - it says that unborn children don't vote.
Lastly, I would have thought the Cardinal could have spent his time doing something more constructive that day for I wonder, in the end, if Cardinal O'Malley's presence meant anything at all; after all, Ted Kennedy and Joan Bennett were married by a Cardinal, and the Vatican magically wiped that marriage slate clean years ago, rendering Spellman's granting of the sacrament null and void.
Lovely.
Most importantly, there is a deep distinction between procuring an abortion and not fining doctors for performing abortions (that being the only sanction that was ever in force prior to Roe). Not fining doctors merely moves abortion underground, it was not effective in stopping it.
Members of the pro-life cause need to look in the mirror if they want to know why abortion still continues. They need to quit scapegoating Senator Kennedy and other Catholic politicians who are willing to point out the fraud they are perpetuating on the public - a fraud that is no longer working at election time since the majority of Catholic voters have seen through it.
Even if you dismiss Roe for the sake of argument, can you defend Kennedy's pro-abortion voting record below:
[url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Ted_Kennedy_Abortion.htm]http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Ted_Kennedy_Abortion.htm[/url]
Where there is a will, there is a way.
And there is no one more blind that one who refuses to see.
http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Ted_Kennedy_Abortion.htm
I am offering facts, not rationalizations. If you continue to ignore them, your relevance will decline. Your choice.
I know for a fact that mafia dons get Catholic funerals. It seems to me that you wish for the Catholic Church to declare itself God, rather than having it continue to be an advocate for the sinner.