"The Damage Done is Profound": Former Senator Santorum Speaks on the Kennedy Funeral

LifeSiteNews ^ | 9/16/09 | John-Henry Westen

[wagglebee]

ORALANDO, September 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In addition to his announcement that he is considering a run for President in 2012, former US Senator Rick Santorum gave his assessment of the controversy around the Ted Kennedy funeral during his speech to the Catholic Leadership Conference last week. Santorum's talk focused on rejuvenating the Catholic Church in the United States.

During his speech Santorum lamented "what the Church allowed to happen" with the Kennedy funeral, referring to it as a "deification" of Kennedy.  "The damage done" to the Church, he said, "is profound."

"We have Catholic politicians who have led this country astray, have led generations of Catholics astray," said Santorum.

He noted that there was no personal grievance between himself and Kennedy. "I knew Ted Kennedy very, very well, I got along with Teddy. Everybody got along with Teddy.  He's was a nice, affable guy," he said.

In answer to those who would protest that "the Church is all about forgiveness," Santorum said: "Yes, God blessed Teddy with a year of knowing he was going to die."

"We all prayed that that year was a productive one for him and his relationship with our Savior," he added.  "I prayed for that. I sent him a note. I told him that. I prayed for him every day."

Santorum made particular note of the Vatican letter read by former Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at the internment. And while he said he understood the motivation for such a presentation, he nevertheless concluded that "there is no excuse" for it.  "It will harm us, it will hurt the rejuvenation of our Church," he said.

For the future rejuvenation of the Church, "getting it right with Catholic politicians is going to be huge," he warned. "We keep sending the message that it's okay to dissent, okay to do all the things that almost every Catholic politician in the United States does," he said.

He recalled that during the Senate debates on banning partial birth abortion, "almost a third of the votes against the bill were Catholics."

The key to it all, he said, is having "good shepherds" to lead the Church.

[Dajjal]

bumpus ad summum

[DieHard the Hunter]

> We MUST demand better than Rick Santorum.

I began reading this thread wondering "why isn't Rick Santorum POTUS, seeing how he represents The Right issues properly?"

Then I read your post, and it became clear. It reminded me of something my Mum always said to me:

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help."
-- David Rex, Psalm 146:3 --

So there it is, spelled out. A Mother's wisdom, right as always: if we are trusting politicians to provide our answers we seek in vain.

Mum's advice has not yet been helpful in telling me whom I should vote for or whom I should believe and support. But it has been helpful in guiding me to take what a politician says with a healthy pinch of salt.

(or perhaps more appropriately, a healthy dose of salts.)

On the comforting side, the Left has lavished their trust in their prince, Pharaoh Obama, and every day Pharaoh is proving that their trust is ill-placed. Mum was right...

[Running On Empty]

Marking

[cpforlife.org]

BlackElk,

Thank you for your post 37. I’ve been to your posting page over the years to see your position on various matters, and admire your thinking and writing, so I appreciate your post.

I agree with much in your post, especially on the reality that in politics the perfect can be the enemy of the good, however I don’t think anyone on FR is naive enough to expect anything close to perfection with pols.

I too believe Santorum is a good man. Sadly our culture is so atrocious that I don’t believe we can turn it around with a good man, we need a truly great man for POTUS. I don’t know if there is one for 2012, but when taking everything I know about Santorum into account, I believe he falls short.

The very facts of his pro-life record is what made his support of Specter AND Christine Whitman (any other pro-aborts?) all the more upsetting.
He compromised big time on one of if not the biggest issue he championed.

Principle above Party. The reverse gets us nowhere.

BlackElk you have good points but I don’t see any that offer reason to trust Santorum wouldn’t make the same type mistakes and compromises as POTUS, which presents even more opportunities for mistakes and compromises than for a senator.

Still, I would have voted for him over Casey, so I suspect that you and I are not too far apart on all this.

Again, Santorum is a good man, but under the current circumstances, not good enough. That is why I said We MUST demand better than Rick Santorum.

And from the purely political level: Santorum seems an unrealistic candidate as he lost his last election, six years out of elected office from 2012, moved out of his home state and mostly off the national radar.

A RELATED POINT

If Santorum were to win the nomination I would in a heartbeat support him over obozo. The RNC knows that this would be the case with most R voters for almost anyone they might nominate against obozo. After 4 loooong hellish years of obozo, many would haul a$$ to the voting booth in complete desperation even if the ticket were John McCain and Lindsey Graham. And therein lies a big part of the bigger problem.

We’re freaking stuck and it’s getting way past unbearable.

The RNC is broken. The nomination process problem is a disaster waiting to happen AGAIN. Limbaugh—God bless and protect him, is correctly warning against a third party at this time. But the RNC leadership is infested w RINOs and I have yet to hear concrete solutions on how conservatives can take back the GOP and prevent another stinking rotten RINO from getting nominated.

[mombrown1]

Also campaigned for Lincoln Chafee and couple other pro-choicers. Received a C- rating from GOA and state lobby group on guns. Voted for evry spending bill along with republicans.

When he ran for Senate he criticized his opponent for moving his family to Virginia after elected and then he moved his family to Virginia after he was elected. Hasn’t live in PA since 2002.

Not in favor of the Fair Tax.

I voted for him in 2006 because he was the lesser of two evils but evil is still evil. Wouldn’t work his campaign tho.

[mombrown1]

Michael Savage says “It’s women who will save this country.” You betcha.

[mombrown1]

He will mean it as long as it is politically expedient. I’m from PA and would never vote for him.

[mombrown1]

I’m from PA he doesn’t stand by his principles. He is only out for Rick. sorry but it’s the truth.

[mombrown1]

Read my post at #45

[mombrown1]

the lesser of two evils is still evil.

Santorum has had no executive experience. No Commander in chief experience. He is almost as much an empty suit as obooozo.

Senators always screw us.

[cpforlife.org]

Thank you for confirming my thoughts. It means a lot more to me coming from you as someone who was in PA and was directly involved as a voting constituent.

I take it you agree w the article in post 18?

[BlackElk]

We will be agreeing to disagree. GOA is a verrrry hard core group and I am acquainted with (and think well of) Larry Pratt but a C- from GOA is probably equivalent to a lot higher grade from NRA. The truth probably lies between the two.

I read your post. I am not convinced (nor am I convinced OTOH that Santorum should be the GOP POTUS nominee). It is good that you voted for him in 2006 because Senator Casey is to me, as a Catholic, by his very existence, a disgrace to Catholicism, to Christianity and to his father's memory. The next bishop of Scranton should deny him the Holy Eucharist unless and until he repents his voting record as publicly as he has compiled it.

[BlackElk]

Thank you for your kind words. We probably are not very far apart but we are apart. There do not appear to be any great men available. Many in my generation began working for Ronaldus Maximus before he was California Governor. It was sixteen years from his nationally televised pre-election speech in 1964 to his election as POTUS. He did well.

We are fighting now under a heavy handicap. We must learn to fight together for babies, for marriage, for morals, for guns, for tax reductions (no gimmicks), for a military second to none and far more powerful than any other, for a foreign policy designed to kill our enemies and break their things, for a transition away from gummint skeweling and for a whole lot more.

For all the things that matter, carry on. I will.

May God bless you and yours.