Today there will be a funeral Mass in Boston for Sen. Ted Kennedy. The Mass is an opportunity for the faithful to pray for the soul of Mr. Kennedy – period. It’s a shame that President Obama (or anyone for that matter) will be giving a eulogy in clear violation of what the Catholic Church states regarding that practice at a funeral Mass.
As the American Papist blog points out, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states:
382. “At the Funeral Mass there should, as a rule, be a short homily, but never a eulogy of any kind.”
We certainly hope that Mr. Kennedy was reconciled to the Church during his final hours – and we know that our Lord is Merciful – yet it still seems unacceptable that President Obama, like at Notre Dame, will be speaking at the very heart and center of a Catholic event.
And the fault lies not with President Obama accepting: for what politician wouldn’t take advantage of such high-profile opportunities to present himself and his ideas? But with Catholics who allow this to happen. This is an in-house matter and President Obama should not:
- Have been given an honorary degree by a Catholic institution because of Mr. Obama has a pro-abortion voting record
- Be allowed to give a eulogy at Mr. Kennedy’s funeral Mass because nobody is supposed to eulogize anyone at a Catholic funeral Mass
We pray for the soul of Mr. Kennedy today, but we are concerned about the scandal that may occur today as Church rules are not followed, and a host of pro-abortion Catholic politicians possibly present themselves for communion.
I wonder if the writer would be quite as outraged if the eulogy was deliver by an outspoken opponent to abortion. Eulogies happen ALL the time at Catholic funerals, even our priest asked if we wanted to have one at my uncle’s funeral. Perhaps the writer should assail this very common practice and urge all Catholics to stop such practices in their home churches. Criticizing the common practice on the occasion when Obama is delivering the eulogy makes this appear more of an opportunistic swipe at a politician the writer does not like than a concern the writer will actually take action to change.
Also, I wonder about the emphasis on ‘pro abortion Catholics’ presenting themselves for communion. Perhaps this concern should be expanded to exclude Catholic politicians who support the death penalty. Please amend this posting to include all pro-death politicians?
Thank you for your post Liz.
Regarding the death penalty, the Church does allow recourse to this option “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.” Please remember, however, a child killed in the womb is INNOCENT of anything, while a person who is executed by the state is guilty of grave crimes. Let’s be clear that there is a profound difference between abortion and the death penalty. Having said that, the Church finds very few cases today where the death penalty is necessary: “the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity ‘are very rare, if not practically non-existent.’”