"Congressman Kennedy should know better...after all, he is a Catholic"

This letter to the editor of the Providence Journal was submitted by a Rhode Island Pastor and was not printed.  It gets press here:

To the editor,

It is easy for a Congressman to make bravura statements.  It is much more challenging for a Congressman to make principled statements that not only attend to immediate issues but also reveal a deeper understanding of the true issues that confront our country.

Unfortunately Congressman Kennedy chooses the bravura in making critical statements about the Catholic Church.  In doing so he completely overlooks the Catholic Church’s rich tradition of both respecting and championing the rights of all individuals …. from conception until natural death.   Few organizations can rival the Catholic Church’s dedication and support for the health needs of all members of our society.  And because of the Church’s dedication to the rights of all, it cannot support assistance to a part of society while compromising  and overlooking the rights of another group.

Bishop Tobin is quite correct.  The Congressman owes us an apology.    It is no mark of achievement that one can champion the health needs of some members of our society when the life-needs of the unborn are trivialized.

Congressman Kennedy should know better.  After all, he is a Catholic.


                                                      Rev. Ronald E. Brassard
                                                               Pastor
                                                      Immaculate Conception Church