Kennedy's Catholicism source of comfort, conflict

[kwassa]

Source: Associated Press

BOSTON — Sen. Edward Kennedy was raised from birth to cherish his Catholicism, and it became both a source of comfort and conflict throughout his life.

The son of the country's most famous Roman Catholic family divorced his first wife, which the church considers immoral, then was granted an annulment only after he admitted he wasn't being honest when he promised her he'd be faithful. His most significant and public break with the church came with his support for abortion rights.

Yet Kennedy also advocated for signature Catholic causes, such as help for the poor, health care and immigration reform, and opposition to the Iraq war. His faith remained a regular part of his life until it ended this week with a priest at his bedside.

.................

Kennedy's differences with the church never kept him from Mass. When he was in Washington, Kennedy would attend Blessed Sacrament Church in Chevy Chase, Md., and sometimes stop in at St. Joseph's on Capitol Hill, said Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Washington Archdiocese. In his last days, Kennedy leaned hard on his faith. Creedon said he visited with Kennedy last Friday, offering him a blessing and praying the Lord's Prayer with him.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j2wljY2HRq5-apacCt0tbb2EtkYwD9ABVJR00

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Good article, read the whole thing.

[gauguin57]

1. Here's an interesting article from Time about recent relations w/ Kennedys and Vatican

After Kennedy's Death: Silence from the Pope

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1919064,00.html

[McCamy Taylor]

3. Ted Kennedy is more popular than Pope Precious

[Spazito]

6. It turns out Time was wrong, yet again...

There was no silence from the Vatican. At the burial service, the Archbishop read excerpts from Senator Kennedy's letter to the Pope and the response he received from the Vatican.

[zbdent]

2. many Catholics appear to have tunnel vision when it comes to

people who hold nearly every other aspect of Catholicism other than the "right to choose", while embracing people who focus, like a laser, on the one issue that is NOT in their blind spot, and fly in the face of everything else.

(Bush - Pro-war, pro-nukes, pro-death penalty, etc.; hero to the Catholics; where was the Pope's "pro-life" stance during WWII? current one or the one in place at the time ...)

[dflprincess]

4. The wingnuts in the forums at Catholic.com

are going apeshit over the idea that Senator Kennedy is getting a funeral Mass because he was a "baby killer". Mind you, they all love George Bush over there though the site claims not to endorse any political party or politician.

I drop by there once in a while to remind myself why I lapsed. The people over there appear to be the "more Catholic than the Pope" types (and I don't think many of the got the word about Vatican II). Their heads all exploded when Obama met with Benedict - especially after so many of the loony tunes had nearly stroked out of the president speaking a Norte Dame.

[kwassa]

5. I don't know why this was moved into GD, this was a news article.

Strange.

What is LBN all about, anyways?