Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died late Aug. 25 at the age of 77, stood firmly on the side of the Catholic Church on a wide range of issues from immigration reform to the minimum wage during his 47 years as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

But the youngest son of one of the nation's most famous Catholic families ran into criticism from leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church for his stand on abortion. He opposed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, supported Roe v. Wade and was a chief sponsor of legislation to limit protests outside abortion clinics and to permit the use of federal funds for research projects using fetal tissue.

Kennedy died at his Massachusetts home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with a malignant brain tumor. His family was at his side, as was a Catholic priest, Father Patrick Tarrant.

On Aug. 29, Kennedy was mourned at a Boston church and laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, amid words of comfort from the Book of Wisdom, Paul's Letter to the Romans and the Gospel of Matthew, and recollections of his life by his sons, his pastor, President Barack Obama and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

During the funeral Mass for the senator at Boston's Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Father Mark Hession, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, Mass., linked the Scripture readings --- chosen by Kennedy, his wife, Vicki, and their family --- with elements of the senator's own life and faith.

"St. Paul states our case with his usual confidence," Father Hession noted of the reading that opens: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?"

Father Hession said "that confidence (that) the triumph of life over death is rooted in the central belief of Christian faith" is the conviction on which all Christian faith is built --- "that Christ who passed through death to new life will, as he promised, lead us through death to new life as well."

"We hold the life of Sen. Kennedy with reverence and respect," Father Hession continued. "We also recognize that like all of us his life has a destiny beyond history, destiny of risen life in the kingdom of God."

During the burial service at Arlington Cemetery, Cardinal McCarrick, Washington's retired archbishop, read excerpts of letters exchanged by Kennedy and Pope Benedict XVI in the last few weeks. Kennedy sent a personal letter to the pope that Obama delivered during their meeting at the Vatican in July. The Vatican responded a couple of weeks later, the cardinal said.

He explained that he and Kennedy's family thought using parts of the letters would help "commemorate the faith of Ted Kennedy and the warm and paternal spirit of Pope Benedict XVI."

Kennedy wrote to the pope: "I have been blessed to be a part of a wonderful family, and both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained, nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.

"I want you to know, Your Holiness, that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity," he continued.

"I've worked to welcome the immigrant, fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and been the focus of my work as a United States senator," he said.

Kennedy also told the pope: "I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and our church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me."

Cardinal McCarrick said that two weeks later, Kennedy received a reply.

It read, in part: "The Holy Father ... was saddened to know of your illness, and has asked me to assure you of his concern and his spiritual closeness. He is particularly grateful for your promise of prayers for him and for the needs of the universal church.

"His Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God our merciful father. He invokes upon you the consolation and peace promised by the risen Savior to all who share in his sufferings and trust in his promise of eternal life," it said.

"Commending you and the members of your family to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father cordially imparts his apostolic blessing as a pledge of wisdom, comfort and strength in the Lord."

Bipartisan efforts
As the second-most senior member of the U.S. Senate, Kennedy joined with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in a bipartisan effort for immigration reform, which the Catholic Church backed but which was ultimately unsuccessful. In earlier years, he championed a national health insurance plan that church leaders supported, except for its inclusion of abortion as a covered health service.

Since Obama's election he had supported the president's push for passage of health care reform this year. He helped draft the Affordable Health Choices Act under consideration by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. It would require individuals to purchase health insurance except in hardship cases.

Kennedy also served as a co-sponsor and/or co-author of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and legislation raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour.

He was a vocal opponent of both the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq and a strong supporter of the civil rights movement, increased federal funding of public schools and early education programs such as Head Start, universal health coverage, the rights of workers to organize and to earn a living wage, and immigration reform that would lead toward citizenship.

On most of those issues Kennedy's stance was on the same side as Catholic leaders, but on abortion they diverged sharply.

He did not begin his Senate career as an abortion supporter, however, according to a 1971 letter that surfaced many years later.

"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life," Kennedy wrote a year and a half before Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that lifted most state restrictions on abortion.

"Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized --- the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old," he added. "When history looks back at this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."

In recent years, however, Kennedy earned a nearly 100 percent negative rating from the National Right to Life Committee and a 100 percent positive rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America for his abortion-related votes in the Senate.

In Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony --- who praised Kennedy's work in attempting to pass immigration reform legislation --- noted that Kennedy's divergence from church teaching on abortion was at odds with the senator's lifelong efforts to serve "the needs of the poorest across the land."

"Over the years," noted the cardinal, "I was never able to bring him to promote fundamental rights for one important group in our society - the unborn. But he did struggle with this aspect of his Catholic faith, and I was hopeful that at some point he would see that all of his work for the most needy had to begin with a commitment to every person - born and unborn."

Cardinal Mahony lauded Kennedy's "deep and personal commitment to causes affecting the poor and needy among us flowed from his deep Catholic faith, and the life and outreach of Jesus Christ. He knew well the words and command of Jesus found in the 25th chapter of Matthew's Gospel."

Regarding the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, Cardinal Mahony noted that Kennedy, "with immigrant roots himself, was keenly aware of the plight of immigrant peoples in our nation and was an advocate for their rights and their full inclusion into the culture and economy of our country.

"I marveled at his ability to work with Senators from both political parties, always open to listen and to find ways to accommodate their views and to craft compromises that would benefit those most in need. While that comprehensive immigration reform measure was never voted on by the full Senate, its various features and overall outline remain in place for eventual reform legislation."

---CNS