The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Moonsigns  |  BandGuide  |  Blogs
 
 

Boston Globe asks and answers: Is Ted Kennedy going to heaven?

Having exhausted the angles of Ted Kennedy's life and death, Boston's newspaper of record yesterday took the extraordinary step of addressing the Senator's afterlife. Actual excerpt from Sunday's Boston Globe

Q. Is Senator Kennedy going to heaven?

A. Catholic theologians say that is a question for God, not church officials or any of Senator Kennedy’s fans or foes. An archdiocesan official says, “The purpose of the funeral liturgy is to pray for the soul of the deceased person. Our prayer is inspired by our hope in God’s mercy and forgiveness. Senator Kennedy, like any person, was imperfect and in need of God’s mercy.’’

Just in case it isn't clear from the format, the "Q" and "A" are not excerpted from the Globe interviewing an expert. It's from the Globe interviewing itself. Which makes the piece -- written by Michael Paulson, author of Boston.com's "Articles of Faith" blog, and wedged on the page next to the text of Kennedy's correspondence with the Pope -- appear a little stranger than it might have been if it'd been written as a narrative. Most of the article is devoted to parsing Kennedy's funeral from a Catholic perspective, including the news that the archdoicese gave special dispensation for the mass to depart from the traditional one-speaker rule in order to acommodate, among others, the President of the United States.

Still, it seems supremely odd to see a newspaper attempt to handle, journalistically, a question that on its face cannot be handled by journalism. We half-expected to read a qualifier along the lines of, "At press time, God did not respond to a reporter's immediate request for comment." 

  • DCH said:

    There is almost certainly no God, and no heaven or hell.  So why worry?  What an awful thing to do, take it upon yourself to condemn a person to posthumous torture.

    August 31, 2009 3:02 PM
  • Christian said:

    DCH: is that your hope that there is not a creator to whom we must all give an account? Let's ponder that! What if people could do whatever they wanted to do without consequences.

    Murders,rapeist, pedifiles, kidnappers and abusers of mankind just to name a few sins? Why then teach people the difference between wright and wrong,good and evil?

    August 31, 2009 3:49 PM

Leave a Comment

Login | Not a member yet? Click here to Join

(required)  
(optional)
(required)  
ABOUT THIS BLOG
SUBSCRIBE




Thursday, September 03, 2009  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group