Kennedy appointment to Vatican scotched

Posted By Annie Lowrey Friday, April 10, 2009 - 4:02 PM Share

Not such a good Friday for Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Just last week, her name emerged as a possible ambassador to the Vatican. News outlets reported that Senator John Kerry (the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) recommended her for the role, lobbying U.S. President Barack Obama, who makes the appointments, on her behalf. 

The rumor sparked outrage among Catholic groups, because Kennedy, who is Catholic, supports abortion rights, which the church vehemently opposes. One called it an "insult," saying, "It's inappropriate to appoint someone who pretends to be a Catholic but rejects the fundamental teachings of the church."

It seems that the Vatican has crossed names off of Obama's list. "At least three names...have been 'burned' even before the proposal of nomination could be made formally, because they were unwelcome to the church," one Italian journalist wrote, as translated by the Washington Times. (The Vatican denies the allegation.)

The United States has never appointed a pro-choice ambassador to the Holy See. 

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

EXPLORE:EUROPE, DIPLOMACY, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, RELIGION, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
 

FP_THINKER

6:07 PM ET

April 10, 2009

US Ambassador to reflect American values, not Vatican dogma

Access to abortion is a constitutional right in the United States. The US Ambassador to the Vatican, whether or not Catholic, should reflect American values, not Catholic dogma. Caroline Kennedy is a fine choice.

The USSR and other communist states never refused an American ambassador because the US choice was not a Marxist. Why should the Catholic Church be permitted to impose an ideological litmus test on the Ambassador that President Obama appoints. The US Ambassador should be urging a change in backwards Catholic dogma. If the Vatican refuses Caroline Kennedy, it will embarrass the Pope, not Obama. If the Vatican refuses to accept Kennedy, Obama should leave the post vacant or appoint a foreign service officer as charge d'affaires who will defend the pro-choice policies of the United States.

 

NJZIMMERMANN

11:09 PM ET

April 10, 2009

A controversy revisited

The nomination of members of the Kennedy family to ambassadorial positions has always been controversial for one reason or an another.

In 1937 when Joseph P. Kennedy was appointed as Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his appointment was considered controversial because of his Irish heritage and his Roman Catholic upbringing.

Likewise controversy swelled around President Clinton's 1993 appointment of Jean Kennedy Smith as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland. In some quarters it was felt that she lacked the experience necessary for such a sensitive post. A criticism some would argue that was borne out by the State Department report on her conduct during the controversy surrounding the the 1994 visit of Gerry Adams to the United States.

I am not surprised or shocked that the thought of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg being appointed to be the United States Ambassador to the Vatican being that she comes from a distinguished Roman Catholic family, however liberal their views on social issues may seem. What the conservative elements of the Roman Catholic Church within the United States fail to comprehend, is that there exists a sizable minority of Roman Catholics in the United States who either share or are sympathetic towards Mrs. Schlossberg's views on political, social, economic, and theological issues.

Controversy and the Kennedy name are synonymous. What would surprise me more, would be if no controversy accompanied the mention of her name.

 

ALAN M

6:25 PM ET

April 11, 2009

It is a shame that Caroline

It is a shame that Caroline Kennedy will not get this position. All she has wanted to do is to serve her country in one way or another. And, Senator Kerry doing what he could to help her and possibly Senator Kennedy since she lost out on the Senate seat in NY. It is ashame the Church holds it nose regarding everyone who does not see things as they do- I suppose they really don't want a US representative at all. And, frankly with the litmus test they want to put everyone through, I don't care if they do not receive an Ambassador.
Senator Kerry was railroaded by some of these same people in 2004 I bet. And, because of their unwillingness to compromise or even consider others opinions they helped put Bush back in office-by demonizing Senator Kerry. So instead of supporting the truely better and smarter candidate- the one who told the truth and had the vision to see what was ahead- they helped further the mess in Iraq, allowed incompetence to rule in New Orleans during Catrina and assisted in the financial meltdown of this country. All because they are blind to compromise.

 

MURPHYII

9:19 AM ET

April 14, 2009

What's a shame is that Ms. Kennedy does not respect the sanctity

of Human Life. The last line of your comment tells exactly why you don't get it... The issue of Life cannot be compromised. It's not like taxes or healthcare or education or immigration... Please tell me how you compromise human life.

 

ROWENALEE

3:59 AM ET

April 14, 2009

An ambassador's obligation is

An ambassador's obligation is to serve as the official representative of their country regardless of his/her religion and of what he/she believe. So, Caroline Kennedy is a fine choice for me.

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