Kennedy Follow-up

Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison wrote that some of the commentary on Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral was "sinful" in that it is "sinful to enjoy the thought that someone might be in Hell."

Deal Hudson, in his commentary, Calling a Spade a Spade rightly points out that no one of the main public commentaries on Kennedy did any such thing. Specifically Hudson quotes Raymond Arroyo of EWTN, Judie Brown of American Life League, and Phil Lawler of Catholic World News, writing

Nowhere could I find anything close to the sin described by Bishop Morlino.

Phil Lawler writes, "We cannot know the state of Ted Kennedy's soul when he finally succumbed to brain cancer." From Judie Brown: "Not a single one of us knows the state of Senator Kennedy's soul at his death." And finally Arroyo: "Judgment remains the exclusive domain of God, and no one should presume to know Senator Kennedy's eternal destination."

So what gives? Are we supposed to remain silent in the face of public scandal lest we be call sinners? Hudson goes on to point out that Molino is actually a very faithful and very practical Shepherd, who is a lion from the pulpit but a lamb in the confessional. Molino called out Sen. Joe Biden for his abortion comments on Mett the Press during the election. Hudson warns that "Anyone who uses Bishop Morlino's words to scourge those who fear for the public witness of the Church should read the bishop more closely."