Kathryn Lopez

May 24, 2013

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Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London

Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

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Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

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The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction

Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

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The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women

Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces

Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

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The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad

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May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage

Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

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The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

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Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

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The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

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Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

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The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed

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Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

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The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

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The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

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April 22, 2013

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Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel

Jewish World Review Nov. 30, 2009 / 12 Kislev 5770

Abortion not a gray area for Catholic pols

By Kathryn Lopez

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Patrick Kennedy has a remarkable opportunity. The Democrat, a congressman from Rhode Island and the son of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is currently embroiled in a scandal of his own making. I'd be delighted to be able to write a profile on his "courage" as it plays out.

First of all, contrary to the game of telephone sometimes referred to as journalism, Patrick Kennedy's bishop did not seek to publicly reprimand Kennedy for his vociferous opinions on the Church, abortion and health care. Bishop Tobin of Providence was summoned by Kennedy's public scandal. Tobin has long sought to address, privately, the scandal that is Kennedy's support for legal abortion.

But in the wake of his father's passing, in the heat of the health-care debate in Washington (considered by many an exercise in tribute to Ted Kennedy), Patrick Kennedy decided to take the opportunity to lecture the Catholic Church about morality, public policy and the killing of the unborn.

As the U.S. House of Representatives readied health-care legislation that, unless amended, would involve federal funding for abortion, Kennedy complained about the Catholic bishops' no-holds-barred opposition to such a measure. Against the largest health-care provider in the United States, a Church whose name he uses to bolster his, Kennedy railed: "You mean to tell me the Catholic Church is going to be denying those people lifesaving health care? I thought they were pro-life?" "If the church is pro-life, then they ought to be for health-care reform," he insisted, going on to accuse the Church of fanning "the flames of dissent and discord."

The problem, of course, is that various iterations of the health-care legislation would allow the denial of some of the most innocent life. And Bishop Tobin, in his role as leader and spiritual father, was compelled to remind Kennedy of that fact.

And so Tobin called Kennedy's statement "irresponsible and ignorant of the facts." He explained the Church's position and he called for reparations: "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."

After canceling a meeting with Tobin, Kennedy hastened to polish up his spiritual bona fides. "The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic," he asserted.

Kennedy would continue the public discussion as the health-care debate began in the Senate, announcing to a local paper that Tobin had instructed priests not to give him Holy Communion. In response, Tobin released the contents of a letter that he had sent Kennedy in 2007, asking him not to receive the sacred rite. The letter read: "I am writing to you personally and confidentially as a pastor addressing a member of his flock... At the present time I have no need or intention to make this a public issue." Kennedy wrote back: "I understand your pastoral advice was confidential in nature and given with the best intentions for my personal spiritual welfare."

Well, so much for that.

But Kennedy's obstinacy — born, most likely, out of deep confusion about what it means to be Catholic — offers the Catholic Church a much-needed opportunity. In the days after Kennedy made his inaccurate announcement about what exactly his bishop had said to him, Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Patrick Murphy - -another Catholic abortion-rights supporter - -received a JFK Foundation award from Patrick Kennedy's cousin, Caroline. Murphy, who voiced support for Kennedy, told the newspaper that he agrees with the Church on "99 percent of the issues."

That may be a convenient answer for a politician who wants to be known as a Catholic. But as Tobin put it in a public letter to Kennedy after his "any less of a Catholic" declaration this fall: "When someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion, their unity with the Church."

It's hard not to think of the late Pennsylvania governor Robert Casey, another Catholic Democrat. In a speech at the University of Notre Dame in 1995, he said: "Human life cannot be measured. It is the measure itself. The value of everything else is weighed against it. The abortion debate is not about how we shall live, but who shall live. And more than that, it's about who we are."

At his funeral, Ted Kennedy was hailed as a "beacon of social justice." If the lion of the Senate's son heeded the guidance of his bishop and the words of the late governor, and became a brave pro-life Democratic leader, the Kennedy name could rightfully be just that.

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