Former US Presidents and Washington power players showed up at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston to pay their last respects to Ted Kennedy.
The Senator was described by President Obama in his eulogy as "the greatest legislator of our time."
There was a certain irony underlying the Roman Catholic send-off for Kennedy. It's hard to overlook that a funeral for an American icon took place in a Boston church rather than the city cathedral. Also to date Pope Benedict has made no comment about Kennedy's passing. The silence of the Vatican speaks louder than words.
As a Time magazine article notes, "the niceties of international diplomacy do not require the Pope to issue a statement on the death of a non-head of state." However the article also points out that when the Senator's sister Eunice was dying, the Papal Nuncio to the US sent a letter to the family saying the Pope was praying for her and her family.
Ted Kennedy fought courageously for abortion rights, gay marriage and stem-cell research - all taboo in the eyes of the RC magisterium. The official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, praised Kennedy for fighting for immigrant rights, gun control and higher minimum wages, but regretted his "unfortunate" support of abortion.
A Vatican official quoted in the Time article had some scathing remarks about how Ted Kennedy is viewed in Rome.
Ted Kennedy fought courageously for abortion rights, gay marriage and stem-cell research - all taboo in the eyes of the RC magisterium. The official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, praised Kennedy for fighting for immigrant rights, gun control and higher minimum wages, but regretted his "unfortunate" support of abortion.
A Vatican official quoted in the Time article had some scathing remarks about how Ted Kennedy is viewed in Rome.
"Here in Rome, Ted Kennedy is nobody. He's a legend with his own constituency. If he had influence in the past, it was only with the Archdiocese of Boston, and that eventually disappeared too."
When President Obama met with Pope Benedict on July 10 of this year, he handed the Pope a letter from Senator Kennedy. There has been speculation it contained a request for a Papal blessing.
A Vatican official queried why Kennedy even bothered to make the effort: "Why would he even write a letter to the Pope? The Kennedys have always been defiantly in opposition to the Roman Catholic magisterium."
The magisterium with its ideological inflexibility and hard nosed adherence to doctrine seems oddly removed from the teachings of the Jesus of the New Testament who placed love and compassion ahead of doctrine.
The Vatican stand-in for the prince-of-peace should maybe reflect on the saying - "Judge not, lest you be judged."
Kennedy funeral - commentary and video highlights here.
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