The Obama Eulogy

[Lorrie]

I didn’t like Kennedy’s politics or how he lived his personal life either, but we must remember that he did receive last rites so a proper funeral Mass is allowed to him. Even if he didn’t have last rites, I don’t recall the Catholic church telling people they couldn’t have a Catholic funeral. As Evelyn Waugh pointed out in his book Brideshead Revisited, we can’t turn away from his mercy, even if it’s not until the end.

The entire Kennedy clan with the exception of a few are poor examples of how a Catholic should live, but it will be God that judges them.

 

[Mattapoisett64]

I have no problem with the funeral per se, for the reasons others have mentioned, were it held in a simple, understated way. But: the hoopla, the near-canonization, the totally improper “eulogy” being delivered by Obama. At least Cardinal Sean knew better than to be the celebrant. For me it’s not about Kennedy’s soul, which is not mine to judge, but the fact of the wink-wink, nudge-nudge approach being taken to public morality here.

A related issue for me is the “Obamafication” of the Catholic Church (the Vatican’s seemingly pragmatic and shoulder-shrugging response to his pro-abortion politics, Georgetown, Notre Dame, now the liturgical rules of the archdiocese of Boston), but I guess that’s the subject of another thread.

 

[Jean_Anthony]

The question about eulogies at funerals is one that belongs in the L&S forum. Discussing the sins and flaws of political figures is not. Please take any such discussions to the appropriate forums. Thank you all.