Patum Peperium: I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the House of Kennedy will not overpower it.

Madame's Nightshirt

Mrs. Peperium

The Kennedys with Peter, then.

The Kennedy's with Peter, now:

From The Guardian, April 14, 2009 :

The Vatican has vetoed three of Barack Obama's potential nominees as US ambassador amid a growing dispute between the White House and the Roman Catholic church over the new administration's support for abortion rights and the lifting of a ban on stem cell research.

Vatican sources told Italy's Il Giornale newspaper that among those rejected were Caroline Kennedy and two other Roman Catholics who were unacceptable to the pope because they have publicly stood against church dogma.

The conservative Il Giornale described the vetoes as part of a "trial of strength between Barack Obama and the US church that involves the Holy See", amid uproar among the church's hierarchy after America's principal Catholic university, Notre Dame, invited the president to give an address and receive an honorary degree next month.

Conservative Catholic groups called the potential nomination of John Kennedy's daughter, who is a prominent Obama supporter, "inappropriate" and "a calculated insult to the Holy See" because of her outspoken support for abortion rights. [...]

The Vatican is maintaining the official line that there have been no formal rejections of Obama's ambassadorial nominees because none has been officially put forward.

There is unhappiness in Washington that the Vatican should veto its choices because they do not adhere to Catholic teachings. But the White House has been caught off guard by the intensity of the backlash within parts of the US Catholic community...

The Kennedys as Catholics, then:

Pres. JFK, honorary recipient of Doctor of Laws ('57) addresses a Boston College convocation.

From The Harvard Crimson, April 20, 1963 :

President Pusey will receive an honorary degree from Boston College this afternoon at colorful ceremonies marking the school's 100th anniversary. John F. Kennedy '40 will also address more than 30,000 people expected to jam B.C. Stadium for the 2 p.m. academic procession.

The President of the United States will arrive at Logan Airport from Washington at 1:15 p.m. and will be met by Gov. Peabody and House Speaker John W. McCormack. [...] Kennedy is scheduled to speak at 2:45, and his address should last about 15 minutes. The President will congratulate Boston College on its 100 years of academic achievement, but may also make a major policy statement. [...]

Today's ceremonies mark the climax of a week of centennial events at Boston College. Leading educators and churchmen from many parts of the United States, including several Harvard professors, have met at a series of colloquia to discuss the "Knowledge Explosion: Liberation and Limitation." Sessions have dealt with the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences.

The Kennedys as Catholics, now:

DETROIT, Michigan, June 7, 2011 – Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit has sent out a second warning to clergy and Catholics in his flock against participating in an upcoming conference in his diocese, organized by a group of dissident Catholics, including groups that promote the normalization of homosexuality, abortion, and other liberal issues.

The American Catholic Council (ACC) has planned a national gathering in Detroit on June 11-12, 2011, the weekend of Pentecost. Entitled, “Motifs of the Spirit,” the conference will celebrate “the spirit of Vatican II.”

Amongst the “motifs” espoused by the conference is a “respect for theological diversity.”

However, in a letter to priests and deacons of the diocese on June 3, Archbishop Vigneron emphasized that he has not given permission for the conference’s “Eucharistic Liturgy,” as required by Church law. He said that concelebrating in the liturgy may result in “dismissal from the clerical state.”

“All of the invited keynote speakers have manifested dissent from Catholic teachings or support for dissenters,” says a question/answer statement from the diocese posted on its website.

Keynote speakers include: Hans Kung, a dissenting theologian priest who had his authority to teach rescinded by the Church; Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, a board member of the group Catholics for Choice which rejects Church teaching on the immorality of abortion; Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who as Former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland publically opposed Church teaching on abortion and chastised American bishops for pushing to make abortion illegal...

The Kennedys as Catholics, then:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy receiving an honorary law
degree from Boston College President Rev. Michael Walsh, 1966.

The Kennedys as Catholics, now:

From CNS October 2009:

Congressman Patrick Kennedy has a message for the nation’s Catholic bishops: You’re not pro-life. That’s the Rhode Island lawmaker’s reaction to a promise from the bishops to vigorously oppose the health care bills in Congress unless amendments are added to remove abortion funding.

Kennedy told CNS News in an interview that the Catholic Church is fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” by taking the position.

“I can’t understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of our time, where the very dignity of the human person is being respected by the fact that we’re caring and giving health care to the human person–that right now we have 50 million people who are uninsured,” Kennedy told the conservative news outlet.

“You mean to tell me the Catholic Church is going to be denying those people life saving health care? I thought they were pro-life?”

"If the church is pro-life, then they ought to be for health care reform because it’s going to provide health care that are going to keep people alive. So this is an absolute red herring and I don’t think that it does anything but to fan the flames of dissent and discord and I don’t think it’s productive at all,"

Patrick Kennedy's Bishop, Bishop Tobin of Rhode Island

Congressman Patrick Kennedy's statement about the Catholic Church's position on health care reform is irresponsible and ignorant of the facts. But the Congressman is correct in stating that "he can't understand." He got that part right.

As I wrote to Congressman Kennedy and other members of the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation recently, the Bishops of the United States are indeed in favor of comprehensive health care reform and have been for many years. But we are adamantly opposed to health care legislation that threatens the life of unborn children, requires taxpayers to pay for abortion, rations health care, or compromises the conscience of individuals.

Congressman Kennedy continues to be a disappointment to the Catholic Church and to the citizens of Rhode Island. I believe the Congressman owes us an apology for his irresponsible comments. It is my fervent hope and prayer that he will find a way to provide more effective and morally responsible leadership for our state. -Bishop Tobin

Patrick Kennedy did not listen or apologize to his Bishop. He merely chose not to run again.This battle between the authority of the (American) Church and the authority of the Kennedys has been brewing for more than 50 years...