Worcester, MA bishop stops commencement speech by Ted Kennedy's widow

McManus (Diocese photo)

Worcester Bishop Robert McManus has successfully pressured Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts to cancel a commencement speech by Vicki Kennedy, widow of the late senator from Massachusetts.
     The school issued a statement in which it said,  "As a small, Catholic college that relies heavily on the good will of its relationship with the bishop and the larger Catholic community, its options are limited."
     Kennedy’s widow said in her own statement that she was “disheartened” by the decision.

“I hold no public office nor am I a candidate for public office. I have not met Bishop McManus nor has he been willing to meet with me to discuss his objections. He has not consulted with my pastor to learn more about me or my faith. Yet by objecting to my appearance at Anna -Maria College, he has made a judgment about my worthiness as a Catholic,”

McManus' Diocese spokesman, Ray Delisle, explained McManus' interference by referring to an eight-year-old statement by the U.S. Conference of Bishops, in which the bishops said "Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles." Presumably this refers to Vickie Kennedy's support of Planned Parenthood and marriage equality, now the law in Massachusetts.