The Kennedy brand of theology is missing from the debate on health care reform

BY SUSIE WILSON

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

SEX MATTERS

When a Health Care Reform bill is debated on the floor of the Senate in the next days or weeks, the resonant voice of Senator Edward M. Kennedy will be missed. The bill passed by the members of the House of Representatives-which would cover 36 million presently uninsured people-now includes the controversial Stupak-Pitts amendment, which would restrict women's access to abortion in health insurance policies and deny millions of them the right to make decisions about their own bodies and lives. The amendment is now included in a bill that will have to be reconciled with whatever is passed by the Senate. Those of us who oppose the amendment have lost a potential champion in Kennedy.

The Kennedy clan is very large, and I cannot speak to the theological beliefs of all of its members. Yet I can summarize the brand of theology of the Kennedys I have known, especially the late Senator from Massachusetts, his brother Robert, who died in 1968, and his wife, Ethel, and their two daughters, Kerry and Kathleen. Their theology is one of caring, kindness, and compassion for the powerless. Speaking "truth to power" summarizes its intent.

Yet I believe another, quite different brand of theology was on display last week: "gynecological theology" as practiced by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, who ran a massive campaign supporting the Stupak-Pitts amendment. Newsweek columnist and writer Anna Quindlen defines "gynecological theology" as the Catholic hierarchy's concern with birth control, abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, and intolerance to homosexuality.

beingcatholicnow112009_opt Quindlen uses the phrase "gynecological theology" in the new book "Being Catholic Now" by Kerry Kennedy, a compilation of personal narratives from 37 prominent Catholics. Kennedy asked each of these Catholics, including Quindlen, to speak honestly about their own faith-"whether lost, recovered, or deepened"-and about their feelings on the way the Church hierarchy is moving forward.

In the book's introduction, Kennedy herself gives a vivid account of her own experience with the person at the top of the church hierarchy. She recounts a question she put to the present pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, at a public audience at the Vatican a year ago in Rome. Concerned about the estimated 30 million people projected to die of AIDS by the year 2020, she asked him as he walked by her group, "Your Eminence, in view of the tragedy unfolding in Africa, for the sake of the sanctity of life, would you consider changing the Church's position on the use of condoms?" Rather than answering her question, the pope "gazed beneficently, imparting ‘God bless you,' as he passed."

Kerry Kennedy grew up in a household where a very different brand of theology flourished. It had little to do with gynecology and everything to do with social justice and the alleviation of poverty, hunger, and homeless, whether in the U.S., or worldwide.

There is an oft-told story about her father, Robert, then the Attorney General. One evening he came into the dining room where his many children were seated around the table having supper. A couple of them were complaining about some of the food on their plates. He stopped the conversation by telling them about all the poor children who didn't have anything to eat and urged them to be more thoughtful and appreciative of their good fortune. Kerry recounts that the children would kneel and pray around their parents' king-sized bed each night beneath a framed poster that read; "To believe in God is to know that the rules will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises."

I had the good fortune of seeing the Kennedy brand of Catholicism in person when, as a member of the press, I traveled around the world with Bobby and Ethel on an official trip for a month in 1962. Besides performing their daily and demanding diplomatic duties, the two never failed to stop to see the good work of Catholic nuns, whether we were in Japan, Hong King, Indonesia, Italy, or the Netherlands.

Until that journey, I had never seen Catholic sisters at work in hospitals, clinics, schools, or other settings. I came away deeply impressed by the dedication and happy spirits that these good sisters of God offered to those in need. And I saw what the Kennedys valued in their religion: action and compassion. At the end of this trip, they had an audience with Pope John XXXIII.

This round-the-world trip was not the last one I took with the Kennedys. Another, some years later, resulted in meeting a second pontiff, Pope Paul VI. This meeting prompted Ethel to ask me in a semi-serious tone: "Susie, since you've met two popes, when are you going to convert?" As I remember, I didn't respond.

I haven't thought of her question for years until this week, when the Bishops' gynecological theology was on display. However, since the passage of the House bill with the Stupak-Pitts amendment, I have been thinking a lot about how much I wished that Kerry's uncle Ted were alive and able to counter the Bishops when they bring their full court press and their gynecological theology to bear on the Senate.

Senator Kennedy always seemed to understand the bright line that separates church and state under our Constitution. Although a devout Catholic — who, as he was dying, wrote to Pope Benedict saying that he "hoped he had been a good Catholic" — he did not follow the precepts of his church when he had to cast votes in the Senate about abortion, birth control, and abstinence-only education. He did not support the hierarchy's "gynecological agenda," preferring instead to follow the Kennedy brand.

And for what it is worth, I finally have an answer to Ethel's question about my meeting two popes: "I'll convert," I would tell her now, "when the hierarchy — starting with the present pope — adopts the humane and loving brand of Catholicism practiced by the Kennedys I knew and know."

Susie Wilson, former executive coordinator of the Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers University's Center for Applied and Professional Psychology (now renamed Answer), is a national leader in the fight for effective sexuality and HIV/AIDS education and for prevention of adolescent pregnancy. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .