For Tokyo Rosen, how the MA Dems shed their "baggage"
dingicat
About those divorced Republicans you liked to rejoice about, here is how
the Kennedy and Kerry women are treated. Guess you know how Rose, Jackie
and Joan
were treated. ;-)
Massachusetts Sen. Kerry criticized by ex-wife over annulment letter
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Copyright © 1997 Nando.net
Copyright © 1997 The Boston Globe
(April 10, 1997 00:07 a.m. EDT) -- The Catholic Church's marriage annulment
practices, already at the center of a fierce public battle between U.S.
Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and his former wife, have become an issue for
another Bay State politician -- U.S. Senator John F. Kerry.
Kerry's former wife, Julia Thorne, says she received what she considers a
coldly worded letter in November from a church official notifying her that
the senator was seeking an annulment of their 12-year marriage, which ended
in 1984.
Thorne, unlike Sheila Rauch Kennedy who is battling a similar request from
Congressman Kennedy, says she will not contest the annulment request. She
says she still supports Kerry politically and is glad he is happy in his
new marriage to Teresa Heinz, the Heinz food fortune heiress.
But Thorne, a published author on issues of emotional experience, does not
hold back her contempt for the way the Roman Catholic Church takes a
marriage off the books.
Thorne, who married Kerry in 1970, said the church's approach to the issue
was cold-hearted and showed no respect or recognition of her 12-year union
with the senator.
"It was disrespectful to me, it was aloof to any emotional issues, and
devoid of any sense of the humanity of what this means to me and the
children," Thorne said. She and Kerry have two daughters, ages 20 and 23.
The Roman Catholic Church considers marriage a sacramental bond that cannot
be severed by civil divorce. Only an annulment from the church --
essentially a finding that a true marriage never existed -- allows a
Catholic to remarry in the faith. A church tribunal probes the
circumstances of the marriage before ruling on an annulment request.
In a Feb. 14 letter to a Washington-based church leader who had asked her
to participate in the annulment investigation, Thorne offered a scathing
denunciation of the process.
"I regard your ecclesiastical investigation as hypocritical, anti-family,
and dishonest," Thorne wrote.
"It is my belief that my marriage, made before God with the best of
intentions and sanctified by a Catholic priest as well as an Episcopal
minister, was as valid in its doing as it was in its undoing - the
sufferings of its failures as sacred as the joys of its success," Thorne
said in her letter.
Thorne said that an annulment would not only invalidate her 12-year of
marriage to Kerry but also hurt her children by calling into question the
existence of the union which produced them.
"I cannot look my children in the eyes or stand before them with integrity
and know in my heart that I have contributed in any way to a process that
invalidates and nullified the union from which they were created," Thorne
said.
"History cannot be changed," Thorne wrote. "Because I believe truth is
sacred, I wish to set an example for my children of courage, honesty,
forgiveness, and compassion by taking responsibility for my actions and
history."
Thorne, who now lives in Wyoming, also offered strong support for Sheila
Rauch Kennedy in her battle against Congressman Kennedy's request for an
annulment. Thorne has written a book jacket blurb for Kennedy's new book in
which she details the annulment dispute.
"Shelia is a courageous woman. She is a gutsy, gutsy lady. She is blowing
the whistle on truth." Thorne said.
Thorne said she feels no need to contest Kerry's annulment request because
she does not recognize the validity of the church proceeding. Also, she
said wants to free Kerry and his new wife to participate fully in their
church.
"I loved John when I married him and there will always be a marriage,"
Thorne said. "I support his career, and I really know he is happy with
Teresa and they both deserve the right to pursue their faith."
Under church doctrine, divorced Catholic who remarries outside the church
without a declaration of nullity cannot participate in many of the key
church practices, including taking communion. The new spouse of the
divorced Catholic faces similar constraints.
Sources familiar with the case say that Kerry is seeking the annulment
mostly because Teresa Heinz is a devout Catholic who wants to participate
fully in church ceremonies.
Kerry, in a statement, declined comment on his annulment request, except to
say that he "very much understands Julia's feelings and appreciates her
support."
The battle surrounding the Kennedy annulment flared up again this week when
Sheila Kennedy's book about the case was released. In it, she reveals for
the first time that the Boston Archdiocese has granted the annulment over
her objection, but that she was appealing the finding to Rome.
The issue comes at a sensitive time for the congressman who is telling
Massachusetts Democrats and others that he will run for governor in 1998.
One of the reasons Kennedy gave the church for seeking to dissolve his
marriage was that he lacked "due discretion" -- that is, the proper
judgment or maturity -- when he entered into his first marriage.
John Walsh, director of communication for the Boston Archdioceses, said he
could not comment on the Kerry case, but said the publicity surrounding
several high profile annulment cases has created misunderstanding about the
process.
"A declaration of nullity adjudicated in a church court in no way affects
legitimacy of the children," Walsh said. "Our tribunal system exists to
assist people who approach us for help and clarification in very difficult
situations. We do so with complete integrity, pastoral concerns, and
according to canon rules."
Copyright © 1997 Nando.net