The Kennedys

+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
6 Sep 2009

All Australians around my age remember the Kennedys.

For those who were young in the 1960s, especially if they were Catholic and of Irish blood, the triumphs and the tragedies of the Kennedys evoke bitter sweet memories.  They showed what poor immigrant families could achieve in a few generations in the New World, but they paid a price asked of few families.

Edward, the recently deceased Senator was the youngest of the nine children of Joe Kennedy, a Boston multimillionaire and of Rose Fitzgerald, a formidable and deeply Catholic woman.  She told another old Catholic lady who complained of depression to say a few decades of the rosary and have a face lift!

Joe Jr. the oldest boy was killed while serving in WWII, John became president of the United States and was assassinated in 1963.  Bob was Attorney General, later a presidential candidate and in 1968 was also assassinated.

Nearly everyone claims to remember where they were when they heard President Kennedy had been shot.  I can't, but his death was felt like a personal blow.  I met Bobby Kennedy on Capitol Hill in 1967, and admired him most of all.  When he too was shot I was angry for a long time with the country which would allow this to happen.  An irrational response, but what I felt.

The Kennedy mystique still lingers.  Their graves at Arlington regularly draw large crowds and when I went to brief John Brogden, then Liberal Opposition leader, on World Youth Day, I was surprised to find all the photos in his office were of the Kennedys.  They dominated our conversation.

Teddy Kennedy's own life had its share of drama, disorder and tragedy, but he died at peace with the Church, consoled by the Sacraments.

As an effective Senator he espoused many good causes, ranging from peace in Northern Ireland to the struggle for a universal system of health care.  But the tragedy of his life was abandoning his traditional Catholic social conservatism.

His support for abortion and neglect of the institutions of marriage and family contradicted his work for the poor.  The priests who counselled the leadership of the Democrats years ago that legislating for abortion is legitimate bear a heavy responsibility.

Even the push for a U.S.A. medicare programme is bedevilled by the determination to entrench abortion even further and prepare the ground for euthanasia.

Edward Kennedy left a mixed legacy.  May he rest in peace.