5-5-5-5: FDNY Firefighter Patrick D. Brady's Line of Duty Death Funeral

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Ex-Catholics React LIVE to Pope Francis’ Funeral – Shocking Commentary!

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Pope Francis' fun...

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'We all need to be a little more like Kendrick': Friends and family remember STEM hero

Kendrick Castillo and his father, John Castillo. Courtesy: Knights of Columbus #4844 via Facebook

 

By Mary Farrow

Denver, Colo., May 15, 2019 / 05:12 pm (CNA).- A funny, selfless, and kind kid who loved tinkering with his car, goofing around with his friends, and above all, serving others, whether at Knights of Columbus pancake breakfasts or in robotics class - this was the Kendrick Castillo that friends and family gathered to remember at a celebration of his life on May 15 at Cherry Hills Community Church.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit,” Fr. Javier Nieva, pastor of St. Mary’s in Littleton, Colo., said at the ecumenical celebration. The quote, from Jesus, is in the Gospel of John.

“We celebrate fruits today,” Nieva said. “Not death (but the) fruits of his life.”

Kendrick laid down his life for others not only “in the moment of dying, but in his love for his family, his passion for service, his love for the truth” and helping others, Nieva said.

Kendrick Castillo, 18, gave his life to protect his friends when he jumped into the line of fire to stop a school shooter on May 7, according to witnesses. Castillo was the only casualty in the shooting at STEM high school in Highlands Ranch, Colo.; eight other students were injured in the incident.

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon in May, friends and family packed Cherry Hills Community Church to remember a funny and kind friend, parishioner and son who was always smiling and helping others. On display at the church were some things representative of Kendrick’s hobbies and passions: a kayak, a red blazer he wore while ushering at Notre Dame parish, robotics and engineering paraphernalia.

Former teachers and friends from school took to the stage one by one to share a favorite memory of Kendrick, to extol his virtues and thank his parents.

Joseph Nguyen, a family friend of the Castillos and a member of the Catholic charitable group the Knights of Columbus, presented Kendrick’s parents, John and Maria Castillo, with a plaque that honored Kendrick as a full member of the Knights.

“Kendrick is forever a brother within the Knights of Columbus,” Nguyen said, presenting a plaque that came from members throughout the country and the world.

Washington May Become the First State to Legalize Human Composting

May Contain Human Remains

What would you like to happen to your body when you die?

Jacob Banas

December 30th 2018

Death Reimagined

Grandma is in the garden. No, literally.

There’s something beautiful in deciding how one’s final moments should be confined to the memory of our loved ones. Advances in technology and changing mindsets seem to have people wondering why a coffin in the ground should have to be the only option of final resting place. Residents in Washington state have a brand new vision of returning to the Earth. Now a bill being sponsored in the state’s legislature could see Washington become the first state to legalize human composting. 

A Tree of Me

The bill, backed by state Senator Jamie Pedersen, would allow for the “recomposition” of human remains, a process which speeds up decomposition and turns remains into a nutrient-packed soil which could be returned to families.

“People from all over the state who wrote to me are very excited about the prospect of becoming a tree or having a different alternative for themselves,” Pedersen told NBCnews.

Although “becoming a tree” and other futuristic burial ideas aren’t entirely new concepts, Washington would become the first state to allow human composting if the bill is passed. The idea isn’t just futuristic, it’s also economical. More and more Americans are turning to crowdfunding to support funeral costs, with the average funeral costing more than $7,000 in 2017, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. The recomposition process in comparison is somewhat cheaper with costs expected to fall around $5,500. 

Safety First

The process is very similar to traditional composting. Unembalmed human remains are placed in a composting chamber and left to decompose with organic material like woodchips or straw. Air is occasionally pulled into the chamber to help microbes speed up decomposition and in about one month all that remains is a cubic yard of compost.

A five-month study, in which six donor bodies were decomposed, was led by researcher Lynne Carpenter-Boggs, Associate Professor of Sustainable and Organic Agriculture at Washington State. The study was carefully controlled to prevent spreading any harmful pathogens, a concern which led to the defeat of a similar bill sponsored by Pederson in 2017.

Carpenter-Boggs’ study concluded in August that the remains produced were safe and she plans to submit her research for publication in 2019. If the bill passes, it would take effect May 1, 2020. Until then, we can keep dreaming of “becoming trees” but Pederson’s bill could open doors to new burial alternatives and ways we can choose to have our memory honored.

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Survivors of sexual abuse in Catholic Church decry the Vatican’s honorable funeral for Cardinal Law

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey

December 21

A moment during Thursday’s funeral for Bernard Law, at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse reacted Thursday with outrage after the Catholic Church honored disgraced former Boston Archbishop Bernard Law with a full cardinal’s funeral, despite his role in a major coverup from which the church is still reeling. Law died Wednesday at age 86.

Law was honored with the standard funeral Mass of cardinals who live at the Vatican, as he did. The ceremony did not include mention of his role in the Boston archdiocese scandals that spanned decades. Pope Francis led a short benediction at the service.

When Law was archbishop of Boston, he became a central figure in the U.S. Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal. He oversaw the archdiocese as it moved dozens of abusive priests among parishes without telling police. After resigning in 2002, he moved to Italy to serve as archpriest at the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major in 2004. He apologized to abuse survivors, but he never faced criminal charges.
[Cardinal Bernard Law, Boston archbishop at center of church sex-abuse scandal, dies at 86]

Giving Law the same kind of funeral as other cardinals was deeply offensive to some people who wanted to see him held accountable, said Ann Hagan Webb, a sexual abuse survivor who lives in Boston.

“Pope Francis talks a good game, but he never comes through. He talks about caring about survivors, but he really doesn’t,” Webb said. “He makes these grand announcements and everyone thinks he’s progressive, but when it comes to this issue, over and over again he has not lived up to his promises.”

Callista Gingrich, President Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, and her husband, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, attended Thursday’s Mass. Pope Francis offered final prayers in the ritual. However, many survivors like Webb believe that Law should not have been given the funeral privileges afforded to other church leaders.

U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Callista Gingrich and her husband, Newt Gingrich, attend the funeral for Bernard Law at St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

“He was an evil, narcissistic man,” said Jim Scanlan, a Boston abuse survivor who says he was raped by a Jesuit priest who was a hockey coach at his high school. “The entire time he blamed it on things other than himself.”

Reporting on the church’s scandal by The Boston Globe was featured in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” which came out in 2015. Scanlan was portrayed as the fictitious “Kevin from Providence,” who suffered sexual abuse by a Boston College High School priest.

“When I saw his death, my feeling was ‘good riddance,’” Scanlan said. “It’s disgusting to have him buried as a cardinal when he should’ve been disgraced in jail.”

Many Boston-based survivors saw the treatment of Law’s death by the Vatican as a “slap in the face,” said abuse survivor Phil Saviano, whose whistleblowing story was portrayed in “Spotlight.”

“I’ve been trying to ponder what is the message the Vatican is sending with this kind of funeral,” Saviano said. “It just reopened old wounds and brought back old memories.”

The events surrounding Law’s death come as the Catholic Church continues to face scrutiny over how it fights sexual abuse. Advocacy groups have called for sweeping changes within the Vatican hierarchy.

Since the sexual abuse scandal exploded globally, the Catholic Church has put elaborate systems in place in some countries like the United States to protect children. After he was appointed to the papacy, Francis created a reform commission charged with addressing sexual abuse. This year, Marie Collins, an Irish survivor of clergy sexual abuse, quit the commission because she said she felt the changes commission members had recommended were not being enacted. The commission itself has lapsed after the terms of members expired earlier this month, and no new members have been appointed.

“What’s said and what’s done are two different things,” Collins said. “I don’t see anything changing, and I don’t see any hope for change at this point.”

Once the Vatican allowed Law to become an archpriest of a Roman basilica, even though he was not at the usual retirement age, they had to follow the protocol they would give any cardinal living in Rome, said Phil Lawler of Catholic World News.

“Giving him a job which did carry that prestige was an indication of serious tone deafness,” Lawler said. He noted that Pope Francis’s statement about Law’s death did not cite Law’s involvement in the sexual abuse scandal, but it also didn’t praise him as statements about cardinals usually do.

Some especially criticized the decision to have the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the most famous churches in the world.

“Every Catholic deserves a funeral Mass, but not every Catholic warrants a funeral Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica,” James Martin, a popular Jesuit priest, tweeted. Following protocol, Martin said, “is a stupefyingly obtuse symbol, which undercuts the church’s mission to hold bishops accountable for their actions, particularly regarding the abuse of children.”

Some believe the pope was in a tricky spot. If he did not hold the funeral in St. Peter’s, he could have risked drawing even more attention to Law’s life and death, said Nick Cafardi, dean emeritus and professor of law at Duquesne University. When Francis once visited Saint Mary Major, no pictures of Law with the pope were shown, a departure from protocol.

“I don’t think it was high treatment in the Vatican,” said Cafardi, who was former chair of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth. “The question is, did [Law] really show contrition for what he did?”

Before he took a position in Rome, Cafardi said, Law was supposed to become a chaplain to nuns, which would have been seen as a humbler position and much more appropriate.

Law’s death comes amid a high-profile sexual abuse case in Australia. Earlier this year, Cardinal George Pell, one of the most powerful officials in the Vatican, was sent back to Australia amid charges in his home country of his involvement in an abuse scandal going back decades. The cardinal, who denies the charges, is the highest-ranking Catholic official to be charged with sexual abuse.

Law’s successor in Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, apologized at a news conference Wednesday for the Catholic Church’s past failings over sex abuse by clergy, saying Law’s death opened “a lot of old wounds and caused much anger and pain” for survivors. O’Malley said it’s unfortunate Law had such a high-profile appointment in Rome and that someone in his position would not receive a similar appointment today.

“Christmas is about healing relationships and forgiveness,” O’Malley said. “A big part of healing is being able to come to grips with our own difficulty in forgiveness.”

The archdiocese of Boston has no plans for a Mass or memorial for Law.

Source

Elder Moses Mason Funeral Service

Italy holds state funeral for quake victims

Vatican Radio

The voice of the Pope and the Church in dialogue with the World


Church \ Church in Europe

Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole incenses the caskets of some of the victims of the earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday. The Bishop offered a Requiem Mass for all victims of the earthquake, as Italy observed a national day of mourning. - AFP

27/08/2016 15:06


(Vatican Radio) A state funeral was held on Saturday in the town of Ascoli Piceno in Italy for some of the victims of an earthquake that devastated three nearby towns earlier this week, killing at least 290 people.

The Requiem Mass was celebrated by Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole in a community gym where 35 caskets were laid out.

Listen to Christopher Wells' report:


Weeping relatives hugged each other and reached out to touch the simple wooden coffins at the funeral held on Saturday for some of the 290 people killed in the earthquake.

Amongst the 35 coffins laid out in a sports hall were small caskets holding the bodies of an 18-month-old baby and a nine-year-old girl, two of the 21 children who are known to have died when the quake hit central Italy early on Wednesday.

“Don’t be afraid to bewail your suffering, we have seen so much suffering. But I ask you not to lose your courage,” Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole said in a homily in the hall, which was packed with grieving families and the nation’s top politicians. “Only together can we rebuild our houses and churches. Above all, together we can give life back to our communities,” he said, speaking in front of a dusty crucifix salvaged from one of dozens of churches devastated by the quake.

Even as the Requiem Mass was being held, rescuers kept searching through the rubble of the worst hit town, Amatrice, although they acknowledged they had little hope of finding any more survivors from Italy’s worst earthquake in seven years.

Nine more bodies were recovered from the town on Saturday, including three corpses that were pulled overnight from the crumpled Hotel Roma, bringing the death toll in Amatrice alone to 230 residents and tourists.

27/08/2016 15:06


Source

Planned Funeral For Nazi War Criminal Called Off By Lawyer Due To Protests

 Latest Breaking News



Published on Oct 16, 2013


Planned Funeral For Nazi War Criminal Called Off By Lawyer Due To Protests
Planned Funeral For Nazi War Criminal Called Off By Lawyer Due To Protests
Planned Funeral For Nazi War Criminal Called Off By Lawyer Due To Protests



ALBANO LAZIALE, Italy -- The bitterly protested funeral of Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke was called off hours after it was to have taken place Tuesday by his lawyer, who said police prevented friends and family members from attending amid a noisy protest against the planned religious ceremony.

Shouting "murderer" and "executioner," hundreds of people jeered as Priebke's coffin arrived for the funeral Mass to be celebrated by a splinter Catholic group opposed to the Vatican's outreach to Jews. Protesters even heckled a priest arriving at the gates, yelling "Shame." One woman fainted.

But Priebke's lawyer, Paolo Giachini, told The Associated Press the funeral did not take place "because authorities did not allow people to enter who wanted to come in. Everything was ready. We were waiting for those who should have arrived to participate."

They included Priebke's son Ingo, other lawyers in Giachini's firm, along and some younger, right-wing sympathizers, Giachini said. "They were there for a religious ceremony. They didn't have banners or other political manifestations," he said.

The casket remained inside and Giachini said he did not know what would happen next. He said he was turning over responsibility for future decisions to the family and expressed disappointment at the "indignities" that prevented the ceremony.

Since Priebke's death on Friday at age 100, debate has raged over what to do with his remains. Pope Francis' vicar for Rome refused him a funeral in a Catholic Church and Rome's police chief backed him up, citing concerns for public order.

Priebke participated in one of the worst massacres in German-occupied Italy during World War II, the slaughter of 335 civilians at the Ardeatine Caves outside Rome. Tensions have been high ever since he died and left behind an interview in which he denied Jews were gassed in the Holocaust.

No one appeared ready to handle Priebke's service, until, in a surreal twist, the schismatic Society of St. Pius X in the city of Albano Laziale south of Rome stepped forward to celebrate the funeral Mass. The society, known for the anti-Semitic views of some of its members, celebrates the pre-Vatican II old Latin Mass. Where Priebke will be buried remains unresolved.

The society was formed in 1969, opposed to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly its outreach to Jews. It split from Rome after its leader consecrated bishops without papal consent. It currently has no legal standing in the Catholic Church.

As Giachini spoke by telephone from within the splinter group's complex late Tuesday evening, Italian television broadcast images of scuffles between demonstrators protesting the funeral and right-wing extremists who were among those denied entry.

"They are trying to enter because they want to take the casket," Giachini said. "I don't know ... they want to damage it, as they did to Mussolini. They want to enter by force and tear everything apart."

Italy's fascist leader Benito Mussolini was killed by partisans in 1945, and his body was strung up in a Milan piazza.

Despite Giachini's statements that demonstrators protesting the funeral were trying to enter the grounds, witnesses said there were no signs that the crowd tried to breach police lines at the society's gates. Rather, they said the right-wing demonstrator threw bottles and rocks.

Police declined immediate comment on the dynamics.

In a statement, the society said it agreed to perform the funeral at the family's request because "no matter what the guilt or sins" anyone who dies reconciled with God and the Church "has the right to celebrate Mass and a funeral."

"We hereby reiterate our rejection of all forms of anti-Semitism and racial hatred but also of hatred in all its forms," the society said.

One of the society's disgraced members is Bishop Richard Williamson, who made headlines in 2009 when he denied that any Jews were killed in gas chambers during the Holocaust.

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Venezuela's Chavez to be Embalmed, Displayed in Museum

Breaking News



March 07, 2013

Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro has announced that the late President Hugo Chavez will be embalmed and his body displayed forever in a Caracas military museum.

Mr. Maduro compared the late president to other revolutionary leaders whose bodies also have been preserved, including Russia's Lenin and China's Mao. He said President Chavez will lie in state for seven more days to give more Venezuelans the chance to pay their respect.

President Chavez will be honored at a state funeral Friday, attended by 30 heads of state. The United States is sending a diplomatic delegation.
Thousands of grieving Venezuelans waited for as long as 10 hours to look at Mr. Chavez's body in Caracas.

Mr. Maduro will be formally sworn in as acting president late Friday. He will likely face off in elections to be called within 30 days against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Mr. Chavez in the October presidential polls.

President Chavez died Tuesday after a two-year fight against cancer. He was 58 years old.

Mr. Chavez, a staunch socialist, was elected president in 1998. He earned the enmity of the United States and others for such policies as nationalizing major companies and courting world leaders such as Fidel Castro, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

The country's opposition accused him of being a dictator. But millions of poor Venezuelans revered him for using the country's vast oil wealth to give them access to low-cost food, free medical care and other social programs. However, experts say Mr. Chavez failed to control crime or use oil wealth to enrich the overall economy.

Source

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NY cardinal compares slain Conn. teacher to Jesus

By DAVID KLEPPER, Associated Press
Updated 10:23 am, Thursday, December 20, 2012



Firefighters salute as a hearse passes for the funeral procession to the burial of 7-year-old Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Daniel Gerard Barden, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Barden was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before killing himself. Photo: David Goldman / AP



NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A single bell tolled Thursday at the Connecticut funeral of a 6-year-old girl killed by a gunman at her elementary school, while a cardinal in New York compared a slain teacher to Jesus for giving up her life to protect others.

In Newtown, the site of the shooting rampage, grim-faced mourners hurried through the packed parking lot of St. Rose of Lima Church to attend the funeral Mass for 6-year-old Catherine Hubbard.

Catherine's family said in her obituary that she would be remembered for her passion for animals and her constant smile.

Catherine was among the 20 students and six teachers killed when Adam Lanza, armed with a military-style assault rifle, broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14 and opened fire. Lanza killed his mother at her home before the attack and committed suicide at the school as police closed in.

Funerals were also scheduled in Connecticut on Thursday for 7-year-old Grace McDonnell and 6-year-olds Benjamin Andrew Wheeler, Jesse Lewis and Allison Wyatt, and a memorial was held for teacher Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau.

In New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan told mourners at the funeral of 52-year-old Anne Marie Murphy that the teacher "brought together a community, a nation, a world, now awed by her own life and death."

Murphy's father, Hugh McGowan, said authorities told him that she died trying to protect her young pupils. Her body was found covering a group of children's bodies as if to shield them, McGowan said.

Dolan underscored her sacrifice.

"Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends," Dolan said. "Like Jesus, Annie's life and death brings light, truth, goodness and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness and death."

About 15 people arrived at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Katonah, N.Y., in a yellow school bus with "Newtown" written on its side. The church quickly filled and about 100 mourners waited outside.

Janelle Wingert, of Wyoming, said in an email interview that she met Murphy when they were involved in the same faith-based community service activities in the Newtown area. She said Murphy asked her after 9/11 what she would do if someone attacked a school where she was working.

"She was serious and so intense in the question," Wingert said in a Facebook post. "She died doing exactly what she said she would do — put herself between the gunman and her little ones, who she saw as the most precious of all in God's heart."

Trinity Episcopal church on Newtown's Main Street was filled to capacity for the funeral of Benjamin Wheeler, and scores of mourners who couldn't get in milled about outside. The service for a child described as a lighthouse buff, budding musician and Beatles fan included a rendition of "Here Comes The Sun" and the hymn "Amazing Grace."

Benjamin's five uncles acted as pallbearers. About two dozen Boy Scout leaders lined the front pathway to the church in honor of the former Cub Scout.

In downtown Danbury, mourners filed into the ornate white-pillared First Congregational Church for a memorial service for teacher Lauren Rousseau. The congregation in the packed church sang "Morning Has Broken" and "Let There Be Peace On Earth."

Friends wept on the altar as they remembered the spirited, hardworking, sunny-natured young woman who loved children and animals, especially cats, and who had always wanted to be a teacher. They spoke of how the 30-year-old brightened their lives with her silliness and gave them all nicknames.

A U.S. Justice Department official told The Associated Press that Attorney General Eric Holder would travel to Newtown on Thursday to meet with first responders and law enforcement officials. The trip comes after Holder met with Vice President Joe Biden, who is tasked with leading an administration-wide effort to create new proposals for reducing gun violence.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the trip hadn't been publicly announced.

In addition to the services, the families of 6-year-old Olivia Rose Engel, behavioral therapist Rachel Marie D'Avino and school psychologist Mary Sherlach have calling hours Thursday.

At least nine funerals and wakes were held Wednesday, and more are set for Friday and Saturday.

___

Associated Press writer Frederic J. Frommer in Washington, Jim Fitzgerald in Katonah, N.Y., Christina Rexrode in New York, Helen O'Neill in Danbury, Conn., and Eilleen AJ Connelly and Tom Hays in Newtown contributed to this report.


Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/NY-cardinal-compares-slain-Conn-teacher-to-Jesus-4134484.php#ixzz2FcSNCS6D

Related:

Newtown victim Anne Marie Murphy, of Katonah, laid to rest

http://newyork.newsday.com/news/nation/newtown-victim-anne-marie-murphy-of-katonah-laid-to-rest-1.4357264

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Obama terror drones: CIA tactics in Pakistan include targeting rescuers and funerals

February 4th, 2012 | by Chris Woods and Christina Lamb | Published in All Stories, Covert War on Terror, Drones carousel

Missiles being loaded onto a military Reaper drone in Afghanistan.

The CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals, an investigation by the Bureau for the Sunday Times has revealed.

The findings are published just days after President Obama claimed that the drone campaign in Pakistan was a ‘targeted, focused effort’ that ‘has not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.’

Speaking publicly for the first time on the controversial CIA drone strikes, Obama claimed last week they are used strictly to target terrorists, rejecting what he called ‘this perception we’re just sending in a whole bunch of strikes willy-nilly’.

‘Drones have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties’, he told a questioner at an on-line forum. ‘This is a targeted, focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists trying to go in and harm Americans’.

But research by the Bureau has found that since Obama took office three years ago, between 282 and 535 civilians have been credibly reported as killed including more than 60 children. A three month investigation including eye witness reports has found evidence that at least 50 civilians were killed in follow-up strikes when they had gone to help victims. More than 20 civilians have also been attacked in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners. The tactics have been condemned by leading legal experts.

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Mark Woodman's Goodbye - Part 1 of 2

jumanous September 18, 2010
This is the video that was played at Mark's Funeral and of his last goodbye to everyone. The full funeral service by Walter Veith and the funeral will be uploaded at www.vimeo.com/jumanous. Or for quick links go to www.markwoodman.org to the video section. Links will be up shortly.

Michael Jackson is finally interred

Clifton Davis

Michael Jackson is finally interred
September 3, 2009 11:05 pm

Michael Jackson was finally interred in a crypt in Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Glendale shortly before 10 tonight -- exactly 10 weeks after he was found dead. The outdoor service, which was scheduled for sunset but crept into the night, was attended by about 200 family members and close friends.

Jackson’s five brothers, who served as pallbearers, filed past a portrait of a smiling Michael as they arrived at the service. A bespectacled Paris, the singer's young daughter, wearing a dark dress and her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, watched soberly.

Jackson’s three children placed a crown on their father’s coffin, a nod to the King of Pop, as the service began. Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” and songwriter Clifton Davis crooned a song that he wrote for the Jackson 5 that became one of their signature tunes -- “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

The guests gathered in a tree-lined clearing near the Great Mausoleum where Jackson was interred. A stage was adorned with white lilies, white roses and green topiaries.

Among the mourners were many of the touchstones of his life: music producer Quincy Jones, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and music executive Suzanne de Passe.

Also attending were Elizabeth Taylor; former child star Macaulay Culkin; lawyer Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., who successfully defended Jackson from child molestation charges; and choreographer-director Kenny Ortega, who was working on Jackson’s planned London shows. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, former child actor Corey Feldman, Lisa Marie Presley -- Jackson’s former wife -- Marlon Brando’s son Miko and comic Chris Tucker were among the guests.

-- Chris Lee and Carla Hall


More in: Michael Jackson, Music

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/jackson-finally-interred.html

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Kennedy's Mass: The Politics of Ritual

Kennedy's Mass: The Politics of Ritual

There it was on non-stop television: the Catholic rite of the Mass of the Resurrection. True, the networks responded because a celebrity was being buried: Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, last of three brothers who have left an enormous political legacy to America. But our Catholic liturgy was not invented for celebrities and this mass in a Roxbury church was not very much different from the funeral for any Catholic. So, did Kennedy's liberal politics interrupt a ritual meant to unite and not divide?

I am not one of those who think that religion and politics should never mix. Catholicism is one of the most socializing of Christian denominations, tinting public celebrations with shades of political meaning. The scholars say ritual depends upon symbols, gestures, artistic design and appeal to aesthetic sensitivity. More than words or written texts, symbols resonate in the far reaches of the soul and human emotions. Long after people have forgotten the words, they remember sights and sounds. These often serve more to motivate the public around political goals than political speeches or documents. Probably few of us can cite any part of the wording of the Civil Rights Act, for example, but we remember the photograph of tens of thousands gathered in Washington, or the melody of "We Shall Overcome," or the sermon that began with "I have a dream..."

The Mass of Resurrection for Ted Kennedy was thus an event that featured political persuasion in ritual. Some protested the celebration of such a full liturgy in the funeral of a public figure whose sins had been so visible. Kennedy's support for abortion was the key issue for such protesters. Such a line of protest, however, would likely have denied St. Augustine a funeral mass because he fathered a child out of wedlock. Besides, if Kennedy had not been reconciled in the months of his fatal illness, neither his pastor nor his Archbishop nor his pope would have graced the ceremony as they did.

I think Catholicism is a religion for sinners: we stay in the church because we are imperfect and need God's grace. In that sense, Ted Kennedy -- the public sinner -- needed the Church more than most. And anyway, a funeral mass will help him get out of Purgatory faster! I my opinion, Ted's stance on the legality of abortion had more to do with his brother John's 1960 formulation about Catholicism and politics than with more recent Catholic theology. It left a lot to be desired, but that is why he needs our prayers.

Before the end of the mass, President Obama delivered a eulogy privileged with the pulpit. As he had demonstrated in his commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, Obama understands Catholic decorum. Prudently, he spoke about Kennedy and not about his own challenge on health-care reform.

The overt political message came from the ritual itself. For instance, the three scripture readings echoed Kennedy's agenda. The loss of two brothers by assassins' bullets was one of his tests by purifying fire (Wisdom 3:1-9). He refused to separate himself from Catholicism (Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39) even though some of the "powers and principalities" of the Catholic hierarchy would gladly have bid him adieu. His legislative agenda came from Jesus' instruction for how to measure a life -- feeding the hungry and healing the sick (Mt. 25:31-32A, 34-40). These readings were entirely appropriate. They had political implications, I think, only because religion has political implications.

The overt political statements came from the mouths of children who paraded before the microphones at the Prayer of the Faithful. Each petition was worded with quotes from a Kennedy speech. The most political asked us to pray that health care be recognized as a "right, not a privilege." Yet that petition was also the most Catholic, echoing passionate statements from popes and bishops to "take back our government" and make it an instrument of Catholic obligations to make God's Kingdom come.

This funeral mass showed that with growing boldness, many Catholics are professing our gospel commitment to social justice just as loudly as others speak on abortion. Both are Catholic passions.

BY Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo

Source: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/catholicamerica/2009/08/teddys_mass_the_right_of_ritual.html?hpid=talkbox1

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Note:Highlights added for emphasis.

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