John F. Kennedy: Catholic and Humanist
by Albert Menendez
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Book Summary Information
Author: Albert MenendezEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1979-02
ISBN: 0879751096
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Book Reviews of John F. Kennedy: Catholic and Humanist
Book Review: AS WE BLUR THE LINES BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE WE MUST NEED REVISIT HERE AND COME CLEAR ONCE MORE
Summary: 5 Stars
For one thing the Appendix in itself is an historic statement of clear principles of inestimable value.
Not only do we find the well-known speech then Candidate Kennedy gave the Greater Houston Ministerial Alliance upon the separation of Church and State, and on his Irish Catholic essence (a speech also heard in Caroline Kennedy's AUDIOBOOK formats of A Patriot's Handbook: Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love and seen, I believe in, O'Kennedy's Ireland, but we also have the New York Times's full transcript of the hard and unChristian grilling the ministers gave him later, including quotes from an obsolete Syllabus of Errors. This question also came up from a minister of the Church of Christ: "Pope John XXIII only recently stated, according to St. Louis Review dated December 12, 1958: 'Catholics must unite their strength toward the common aim and the Catholic hierarchy has the right and the duty of guiding them.' Do you subscribe to that?"
Candidate Kennedy responded, without teleprompters, without whispers, without earplugs and hidden receivers of any kind, in part, on his feet: "Well, now, I don't, I couldn't describe guiding them in what area. If you're talking about in the area of faith and morals, in the instructions of the church, I would think any Baptist minister or Congregational minister has the right and duty to try to guide his flock. If you mean by that statement that the Pope or anyone else could bind me by a statement, in the fulfillment of my public duties, I say, 'No.' If that statement is intended to mean, and it's very difficult to comment on a sentence taken out of an article which I have not read, but if that is intended to imply that the hierarchy has some obligations, or has an obligation, to attempt to guide the members of the Catholic Church, then that may be proper. But it all depends on the previous language of what you mean by 'guide.' If you mean direct, or instruct, on matters dealing with the organization of faith, the details of the faith, then, of course, they have that obligation. If you mean that anyone could guide or direct me in fulfilling my public duty, then I do not agree (p. 132)."
Obviously this address that day, and the freewheeling Q&A which followed, served as important a function as President Barack H. Obama's statement on race while candidate. Obviously it still has much to tell us now.
Among the other long lost materials in the Appendix, arranged in chronological order, we have the statement released to the media by the Kennedy Campaign of April 21, 1960 on "the religious issue in American politics." Are included are several addresses made while President, including to the CYO days before his execution. We also read his remarks to the separate men's and women's groups at the Eleventh Annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast, with Billy Graham munching toast by his side. And we read these, his words, upon the centenary celebration of Jesuit Boston College:
" . . .In this hope I am much encouraged by a reading in this last week of the remarkable encyclical, 'PACEM IN TERRIS.' In its penetrating analysis of today's great problems, of social welfare and human rights, of disarmament and international order and peace, that document surely shows that on the basis of one great faith and its traditions there can be developed counsel on public affairs that is of value to all men and women of good will. As a Catholic I am proud of it; and as an American I have learned from it. It only adds to the impact of this message that it closely matches notable expressions of conviction and aspiration from churchmen of other faiths, as in recent documents of the World Council of Churches, and from outstanding world citizens with no ecclesial standing. We are learning to talk the language of progress and peace across the barriers of sect and of creed. It seems reasonable to hope that a similar process may be taking place across the quite different barriers of higher learning (pp. 139f)."
I do not mean to remove from this good book its appendix and present only that for your perusal. This is a good book through and through. Space prevents a thorough presentation of it, and I hoped this slight view of its valuable and rare appendix might help awaken your interest and inspire your thoughts in our present crisis of Faith and of politics. I recommend as well the full text of Encyclical Letter (Pacem in Terris) of His Holiness John XXIII ... On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty..
But this book is a very good and needed study in itself, a holy book, which well defines what it means by its terms, both Catholic and humanist. The Rev. Father Andrew Greeley, then Director of the Center for the Study of American Pluralism, wrote: "As the first book in the 're-reappraisal' of John F. Kennedy, Mr. Menendez's volume deserves widespread interest and careful reading. I think it's an excellent book." Father Greeley also writes (does he ever stop?!): "Albert Menendez explores with skill, insight, and sympathy the religious dimension of John F. Kennedy, and concludes that the Kennedy legacy to American life was immensely important."
Menendez himself concludes in part with this: "Kennedy's impact on Catholicism should entitle him to a dramatic place in the annals of Catholic history. (Fr.) Andrew Greeley, in fact, suggests that Kennedy 'spoke as a doctor of the Church' and adds 'In another age when the manner and purpose of canonization were different, John Kennedy would certainly be hailed as saint.' Greeley admits that this apotheosis would cause JFK to roar with laughter. In a somewhat more serious vein, though, I suggest that JFK should be treated as a Catholic humanist statesman - as a man in the tradition of Thomas More, Lord Baltimore, Charles Carroll, and Lord Acton. That word 'humanist' may frighten some contemporary readers whose experience of the word would imply a disbelief in a Supreme Being and a vigorous rejection of the supernatural, immortality of the soul, and a religion of revelation. As I use the term, I mean a concern and reverence for human values, an emphasis on the ethical in religion, and an orientation toward improving the human condition. In this sense Kennedy is no different from Erasmus or Jacques Maritain (p. 108)."
Read this book. Know our Catholic President, as well as our Catholic Church. For example, days before his public execution, President Kennedy addressed a national conference of the CYO with several dignitaries present, and said he was glad to meet some nuns on the way in, as he has found that bishops are usually Republicans while the sisters are Democrats like himself. Some things never change.
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