Your gift counts double until 5/31: $23,238 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!
 Off the Record

the Kennedy connection

By Diogenes (articles ) | January 03, 2009 9:31 AM

 Writing for the Wall Street Journal in anticipation of Caroline Kennedy's appointment to the Senate, Anne Hendershott, the author of The Politics of Abortion, helpfully explains "How Support for Abortion Became Kennedy Dogma." She has the story right: liberal Democrats recognized the abortion lobby as a solid source of campaign support; the Kennedy clan leapt into the lead with ersatz theological justification; most Catholic prelates remained silent, thus allowing the success of the gambit. Hendershott concludes:

Until the clerics begin to counter the pro-choice claims made by high-profile Catholics such as Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and, now, Caroline Kennedy, faithful Catholics will continue to be bewildered by their pastoral silence.

All right on the money, if not particularly new. What makes the article noteworthy, however, is that Hendershott offers Wall Street Journal readers a fascinating tidbit that they would not have previously seen, unless they had read Phil Lawler's book, The Faithful Departed. Her column describes the secret meeting at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, held in 1964-- nearly a decade before Roe v. Wade-- at which dissident theologians developed the tactics that liberal Democrats would use to justify the votes cast by "pro-choice" Catholics.

It was a critically important event, illustrating how the Kennedy family has consistently exploited its Catholicism-- to the betterment of Kennedy political prospects, and the detriment of the faith. The more people know what happened at Hyannisport, the better.

 

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($23,238 to go):
$80,000.00 $56,762.50
29% 71%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Think with the Catholic Leaders: Subscribe to Catholic Culture Insights Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Fr. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly: Your Letter May Help 1 hours ago
The Rise and Fall of the (American?) Church 20 hours ago
The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church May 23
The sad decline of self-government May 22
That impromptu exorcism again May 22

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8