Ted Kennedy was a "man of quiet prayer"

ABC News reported on Ted Kennedy's death Wednesday with a surreal account that must make those who truly fear God fall to their knees in fear and trembling for the man's soul.

The Rev. Patrick Tarrant, who was present with the family during those final hours, said he was impressed by Kennedy's spirituality and faith as he faced death.

The priest said family members were crying and that in his final moments Kennedy was "a man of quiet prayer....The truth is, he had expressed to his family that he did want to go," Tarrant told WCVB, ABC News' Boston affiliate. "He did want to go to heaven. He did want to die... He was ready to go."

The article went on to describe how prayerful the final scene was with family members crying and praying around the Senator's bedside.

Well, a fair question to ask is, who exactly were these folks praying to? Ted Kennedy spent his entire career supporting the murder of the innocent through abortion, abortifacient birth control, and stem cell research. He championed sodomy as well making him an apostle for two of the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance. He led the calumny and slander brigade against an eminently qualified constitutionalist, Justice Robert Bork, when he was named to the Supreme Court and attemted "to bork" others who did not uphold his murderous liberalism.

God offered Kennedy a long warning of his impending death giving him ample time to publicly try to undo the scandal of his life working for the evil one. And yet there isn't one shred of evidence of public repentance. The scandal of his life will be continued at his funeral when our abortion president gets up and eulogizes his political twin. So Kennedy died as he lived. Where is the sign of conversion?

A requirement for a good confession is making a sincere purpose of amendment. Did Fr. Tarrant even remind the senator of that, or was he so starstruck that he let this man die without repenting? One unconfessed mortal sin, as St. Ignatius of Loyala reminds us in the Spiritual Exercises, condemns us to hell. Did Kennedy repent of his abortion advocacy, his support for sodomy, his defense of cannibalizing embryonic babies? A woman who aborts kills one baby; a politician like Kennedy kills millions. Judas didn't nail Christ to the cross but his betrayal killed Him.

The reporting during this entire episode reminds me of another champion of child murder, Justice William Brennan, the real author of Roe v. Wade and a Catholic. He also died as he lived, proud of his record of enabling abortion. Bill and Hillary Clinton sat in the front row at his funeral honoring a man who fulfilled their liberal dreams. He was eulogized by a colleague on the court and by the homilist, his pastor, a priest of the diocese of Arlington who gushed about how much he learned from the judge. Father described holding Brennan's newborn great grandchild, his first, at the wake. He seemed oblivious to the irony of all the unborn infants who would never see the light of day because of Roe v. Wade. Brennan, like Kennedy, apparently did not learn in his final hours that one has an obligation to try to undo the damage of his public scandal. He never publicly repented or asked that an apology be made at his funeral. In fact, Brennan spent his final days expressing the wish to be buried, not from his home parish in Arlington, Our Lady of Lourdes, but from St. Matthew's Cathredral in Washington. Even in death he craved honors.

And so also with Ted Kennedy. Eulogies aren't allowed at Catholic funerals, but Barack Obama will give one and he is the best man for the job. An advocate of murdering the innocent will stand up and praise another murderer of the innocent. Judas will praise Judas. The living Judas will rack up more political points among "cultural Catholics" who know little about their faith and care less.

One can argue that Kennedy should receive a Catholic funeral since a priest was called to his side to give him the last rites. But certainly his funeral should be a humble, private affair in view of the public scandal of his life. That those with the authority to stop this travesty allow it go on is one more indication of the collapse of the faith of the hierarchy in America. It's a reminder that the tower of Babel continues to be built by churchmen more enamored by the worldly Babylon than the City of God.

Will God be impressed?