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The unseemly spectacle of Ted Kennedy's televised Catholic funeral

The Catholic Church is very clear when it comes to politicians who publicly support abortion wanting to receive Holy Communion. They can't. Period.

How then can Ted Kennnedy, a man who spent his life promoting, enabling, and protecting the Cult of Infanticide, be buried via a nationally televised Catholic funeral mass? Because the rules for funerals are somewhat less clear. Canon Law allows for the possibility the sinner showed repentence before death.

Still, it is unseemly for someone who so vigorously repudiated Church doctrine to be granted a public intercession for his departed soul. The Kennedy family should have arranged a private funeral mass, and then held a secular memorial service with whatever pomp and ceremony the political classes wanted.

Kennedy's televised funeral, with all four living presidents in attendance and an address by President Obama, sets a very bad example for the faithful.

What example will this give to Catholics and the rest of the world looking in? It will surely belie the Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life and sexuality. "Surely," they will say, "if one of the most vociferous proponents of abortion and homosexuality in politics is so feted in the Church, the Church cannot possibly regard abortion as murder." Would anyone so honor one who so advocated what the church officially considers an "unspeakable crime"?

The Catholic Church in America is already grappling with "cafeteria Catholicism", the notion that the individual can pick and choose which tenets of Church teaching are important and which ones are not. The Kennedy family artfully blended Catholic traditions and secular precepts to suit their political goals. Ted Kennedy's death provided an opportunity for the Church to reinforce traditional doctrine by insisting his funeral be subdued and private. Instead, they took a mulligan.

Posted at 12:48 by Chris Wysocki   []   Comments | Archived | Perm Link |
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