Perhaps George Bush Is Our Most Catholic President?- A Critical Look At President John Kennedy

I mention often that I suspect that Bush consults Catholic thought more than people think. That statement drives people up the wall I know but there is evidence of it.

Ignatius Insight has a pretty devastating piece on President Kennedy called The Enduring Costs of John F. Kennedy's Compromise. It looks at his Catholicism , how that played out in the public square, and its effect on the Democratic party and the American politics as a whole. Now I note this is from a Catholic that worked in the Bush administration. However she also has worked for EWTN and wrote other Catholic works.

When I read this piece ,I cannot help but have the words of the Cardinal Vatican Secretary of State ringing in my ears from this press conference last week in Nashville Tenn. Here is one question he was asked :

In 2004 there was a great debate in the United States about those politicians who support abortion and whether they should be denied Communion. In the 2008 election we may also see Catholics running for office, including those who support abortion. Is this a debate beyond the United States and is this something where the Vatican may wish to issue guidelines to guide the bishops?

The Cardinal responded:

I don’t think that it is necessary to repeat new norms because the norms are well explained in the doctrine of the Church, and those norms which deal with the proper stance of individuals who want to receive Communion.I don’t understand how a person in public office or one engaged in political activity can be obliged to renounce his Catholic identity because the party, be it in the U.S. or in other countries, imposes an ethical choice on the basis of the party’s program.This, according to me, does not respect freedom of conscience. It even seems to me to be an oppression of conscience. Where is the freedom of conscience that is so proclaimed and defended in America?

His words seem to be a pointed reply to some Democrats in the United States Congress that told the Pope to butt out recently.

The Ignatius piece highlights also Kennedy's Houston Speech. I have to admit until now I did not know how extreme that was till just reading it. You can see in that article that many Protestant leaders at the time even thought he went overboard

There was a post yesterday over at Vox Nova called Is the "Pro-Life Movement" Really Concerned with Reducing Abortion? I know I have some non Catholic Christians that visit this blog. I am not endorsing large parts of that post by linking it. I do think perhaps the zeal of the poster is a tad over the top in that post. The sixth paragraph I do not endorse at all and find the tone of it very much in the tradition of rabid anti Catholics of the 60's. I don' think that is her intent but it comes off bad to my ears. That in no way is a majority Catholic view. However the poster does have some good points though that should challenge us as to how we must make this country more pro-life. I don't agree with them entirely but they should be engaged.

I would like to point this part out that the author of the post mentioned:
Let's look at a little history. It is by now conventional (and correct) wisdom that the Democratic party is hemorrhaging Catholic votes owing to their ill-conceived fealty to the "fundamental right" to abortion laid down by Roe v. Wade. It was not always this way. Catholics once formed part of the core Democratic constituency, jump-started by Al Smith's failed 1928 presidential campaign, sealed by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal (especially when he invoked an encyclical by Pope Pius XI on the economy), and completed by John Kennedy victory (when he received 78 percent of the Catholic vote). At that time, the Democratic party was more reliably anti-abortion than the Republicans, and even Ted Kennedy would exclaim in 1971 that "abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life." Serious Catholics, including Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy, dominated the party.

That is quite true in some respects. The Orthodox Catholic element had not lost all power. Even though I am not sure at all if Bobby Kennedy would have been a great pro-life icon in the party if he had not been killed. If he would have been, he would have been quite the exception to that political "Catholic" family.

Until recently in my state of Louisiana most of the Democrat Congressional delegation was anti abortion. Who can not forget the great democrat liberal pro life Lindy Boggs from New Orleans. A woman I have the upmost respect for in many ways. That has now ended for the moment with the Pro-life Democrat Congressman Chris John gone and the Pro life Congressman Rodney Alexander now a Republican. Pro-choice Mary Landrieu replaced a pro- life John Breaux. It should be noted these democrats paid a huge price for not jettisioning their beliefs. Lindy Boggs was taken off the short list for Democrat nominee for Vice President. The very smart and political savvy John Breaux never had a chance to be considered for the ticket and especially to run for it.
However even in the 70's the die was cast and the pro lifers were starting to go GOP. One finds it ironic that while Kennedy to get elected said no ambassador to the Vatican, that Reagan got that through. The whole viewpoint of JFK view of aid toward religious schools and faiths role in politics seems to be quite different from our current President.

Of course Republicans have to be on guard. These same elements are in that party also.

In the end did Kennedy change the whole dynamic of how the interaction of Faith and politics was viewed? That is a good question.