Saturday, August 29, 2009

Kennedy Funeral - Catholic Thoughts

There has been much talked about ahead of the Catholic funeral Mass for Teddy Kennedy, such as the excellent piece over at Get Religion: Kennedy, O'Malley, & Benedict XVI. In it, tMatt compares and contrasts the differences between the funerals of Teddy Kennedy, whose actions in congress were often in conflict with the Catholic faith, and his sister Eunice.

There will undoubtedly be a flood of analyses cropping up on the Catholic funeral today. I'll be editing this post to add them as I spot them, so do check back.

From, Robert Royal of The Catholic Thing blogpost: Scandal Time

The American bishops have been admirably clear that the defense of life is not like their other concerns about the poor and social justice. Defense of life occupies a different level. It is the basis for everything else.

Yet most people watching the Kennedy funeral have never heard a word of our bishops’ teachings, except that Catholics are “not single issue voters.” They might with justification believe that you can be a notorious pro-abortion Catholic and still be publicly honored by the Catholic Church. No one mentioned the issue, let alone took steps to make it clear that the Church means business about life.

Some have argued that now is not the time to criticize Edward Kennedy. There will be time enough later. But this is not a matter of criticism. This involves a widespread public misperception of Catholicism – or is it a true perception now? Television coverage of the Mass has spread the image of the Church honoring a well-known Catholic, passionately disrespectful of life. The damage may be irreversible.



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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!