I have to believe that with all the notice Kennedy had that he would be face-to-face with Christ that he got his spiritual affairs in order. By all descriptions from his family priest and the confidence he expressed, this appears to be the case. Therefore, I wasn't able to muster up any indignation about his Catholic funeral. I'm glad it wasn't at the Cathedral and I wish it were a private affair - Given the legacy of the massacres he promoted, great caution should have been given to making sure that people didn't walk away thinking the very public send Catholic send-off doesn't give rise to people concluding abortion and other defiant transgressions against God are not an obstacle to our salvation. Nevertheless, a funeral Mass of a repentant sinner who has made their peace with God is something I can't help but rejoice in. Though the intercessions derailed, for the most part, I didn't find anything offensive to my sensibilities in the rest of the Mass - and I'm very critical and intolerant about the smallest amount of nonsense.
The Kennedys are poster children of the misfeasance and malfeasance of the American Catholic priesthood. Personally, I believe they are accountable and responsible for the spiritual chaos of the family and our country. That is where my outrage is directed.
It's true that Kennedy had many opportunities to be counseled about his defiance and rejected them. His priests, Bishops and Cardinals should have stood up and spoken the truth in a way that left little doubt in the minds of the faithful that his path was unacceptable. If a parent watched a defiant teenager get behind the wheel of a car stinking drunk - he shouldn't let the rest of his family get in the car with him without doing everything they can to persuade them not to. The silence of the presbyterate in Boston, the Bishops and those that held the Cathedra has been deafening for 40 years.
I was very moved by the letter Ted Kennedy sent to the Pope and the Pope's reply during the last days. Kennedy's letter to the Pope is posted at David Gibson's blog.
The sentiments Boston Catholics over the harm cowardice and selfishness has done to our faith is reflected in CJ's press release. I loathe the circuses of feigned and disordered charity they try to impose upon the chaos while massacres are on the battlefield. It's like watching parents of a five year old playing with matches and gasoline demand we watch comedy central with them and getting offended when we mention the danger.
God help us all.
NEWS RELEASE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(781) 251-9739
SCANDAL AT MISSION CHURCH IN BOSTON
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today decried the scandal which occurred this morning at Boston's most historic Catholic shrine --- the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, known as Mission Church --- where a Mass of Christian Burial was used to “celebrate the life” of one of America's most notorious opponents of Catholic morality, the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Senator Kennedy fought for more than three decades to keep the killing of pre-born children legal and unrestricted in the United States.
Surgical abortion has claimed more than fifty-one million human lives since 1973. The Catholic religion defines abortion as an “abominable crime”.
President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy, in which he alluded to Kennedy's support for gay rights. One of the Prayers of the Faithful was a petition to end divisions “between gays and straights”.
Ecclesial participants included Rev. Raymond Collins, Rector of the Basilica; Rev. Mark Hession, Kennedy’s parish priest from Our Lady of Victories Church in Centerville on Cape Cod; Rev. J. Donald Monan, Chancellor of Boston College; and Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, who thanked President Obama for his words and his presence. Both the homilist, Fr. Hession, and Cardinal O'Malley suggested that the late senator had found eternal salvation.
The Catholic Action League called the event “a tragic example of the Church’s willingness to surrender to the culture, and serve Caesar rather than Christ”.
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “Senator Kennedy supported legal abortion, partial-birth abortion, the public funding of Medicaid abortions, embryonic stem cell research, birth control, federal family planning programs, and so-called emergency contraception. He defended Roe v. Wade, endorsed the proposed Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), and opposed both the Human Life Amendment and the Hyde Amendment. Kennedy maintained a 100% rating from both NARAL and Planned Parenthood. In 1993, he received the Kenneth Edelin Award from Planned Parenthood, and in 2000 received the Champions of Choice Award from NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts at the hands of the same Dr. Kenneth Edelin, the infamous abortionist.”
During his 1994 reelection campaign, Kennedy said ‘I wear as a badge of honor my opposition to the anti-choicers’. His successful obstruction of the nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987 effectively prevented the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Beyond his specific positions on human life issues, Senator Kennedy, along with the late Congressman Robert Drinan, provided the cover and the example for two generations of Catholic politicians to defect from Church teaching on the sanctity of innocent human life.”
“No rational person can reasonably be expected to take seriously Catholic opposition to abortion when a champion of the Culture of Death, who repeatedly betrayed the Faith of his baptism, is lauded and extolled by priests and prelates in a Marian basilica. This morning's spectacle is evidence of the corruption which pervades the Catholic Church in the United States. The right to life will never be recognized by secular society if it is not first vindicated and consistently upheld within the institutions of the Church itself.”
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6 comments:
wow, couldn't even wait a full day, huh? You, and the league should be ashamed of yourself. It must feel orgasmic to piss on his grave, not even a day after he was laid to rest---otherwise, why else would a "good" catholic like yourself do something so hateful? Pure selfishness.
A TRUE, loving catholic would stop and recognize all of the good that this man achieved, and the great heart he had. The fact that you disagree with his stance on abortion does not warrant the tone you carry (or the tone that CJ Dolye carries)--you both sound like fanatical religious zealots.
You should TRY to have a shred of compassion for this man's family and the millions of people all over the world that loved him. The timing of your post, and the league's press release is simply offensive---which is exactly how it was intended, I think.
God help us all is right---that we have fanatics in the world like you. You have a right to your beliefs, but there's no reason to be so insulting.
With the catholic church dying quickly, the last thing it needs is propagation of it's antiquated views by people like you. People are smarter nowadays than they were a thousand years ago, or even a few hundred They aren't as vulnerable to the church's demands, claims and retention techniques, and that's the reason why the church is evaporating in front of you. Your pissing contest with Doyle only adds fuel to the burning of the church. Obviously you and the archdiocese of Boston were never friends in the first place, but I would have not thought that someone would be capable of such an offensive post, the day of his burial.
Despite what your post insinuates, there are very few obtuse people like you in our area----they're actually mostly in the middle of our country--you should consider a move. You claim to speak for "Boston Catholics", but in fact, most Catholics who read this hateful post would be just as offended as Kennedy's family---including the dozen or two priests and sisters I know personally.
Here's some offense for you; if there's a hell, it surely awaits people like you and Mr. Doyle.
I'm sick at heart at the example our bishops have given by allowing Obama to eulogize at a Catholic Mass. I'm heartsick that so many people, like Mr. Foley here, can ignore the reality of abortion - the dead and destroyed lives it leaves - and instead turn his venom on people who speak the truth and defend the faith.
Christine,
The fact that you missed my point entirely puts you in the same group as this blog's author, and Mr. Doyle.
I'm not bringing up the debate of whether abortion is right or wrong. I'm simply bringing up the fact that this blog post and the league's press release are of unquestionable taste, given the timing.
Please, put aside your political and religious adgenda, at least for a few days. Have some respect for a great man, and yourself.
John,
I would invite you to read my most recent post here on the blog entitled: The People Ted Kennedy Left Behind, among the other posts delighting in Ted Kennedy's send off.
In terms of observing the situation and making comments about it, I'm afraid the judgments you've made are unjust.
Thanks Christine. I don't think Mr. Foley actually took the time to read other things I've written about the situation in the past week - or if he did so, he did not do it with an open heart. The vulgarity and acrimony John is plagued with either rises from the hurt and pain of the last week - or he's trolling the internet looking for people to spew venom at instead of kicking his dog, wife and kids.
Hopefully, he'll take the time to do more reading.
The sad situation is for sure the wild confusion and divisions borne of the lackluster faith of our priests, Bishops and religious, ten of whom he appears to running around with like a wild pack of dogs roaming to devour for the last 40 years.
We've got to appeal to rational people and see if there's any doors open to real common ground and leave the rabid (and vulgar) foaming at the mouth to their own devices.
John: Put this in your crack pipe:
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
#2286- "Therefore, they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social
structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious
practice, or to 'social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian
conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible.'
This is also true of business leaders who make rules encouraging fraud, teachers
who provoke their children to anger, or manipualtors of public opinion who turn
it away from moral values.
#2287- Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads
others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that
he has directly or indirectly encouraged.""
Furthermore, reports that the Catholic Church is "dying" are premature. The gates of hell have never and will never prevail against It.
Cheers.
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