Kathleen Kennedy Townsend had Maxwell Auditorium erupting in laughter in her Monday night lecture at Syracuse University, as she told stories about growing up in one of the most iconic American families in history.

“I grew up in a typical Irish Catholic family,” she said. “Well, not that typical.”

Townsend gave a lecture titled “Keeping Catholic in Turbulent Times” on Monday night. The fiery ex-Lt. Gov. of Maryland primarily focused on her Catholic upbringing and how her beliefs have evolved. She also discussed her book, “Failing America’s Faithful: How Today’s Churches Are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way.”

When growing up, Townsend said, her family incorporated its faith into everything.

“My mother was constantly praying to St. Anthony, usually for a parking space,” she said.

Townsend said her family felt a pervasive anti-Catholic feeling from the outside, especially when her uncle, John F. Kennedy, ran for president.

But, she said, her family was always proud of its faith, and she and her siblings were taught to fight for what they believed in at a young age.

“Life is not easy, and it wasn’t meant to be,” she said. “There was really a sense that if you believed in something, it was going to be tough.”

But as Townsend grew older, she said, her religious views began to change.

Townsend’s best friend through college had an abortion and she had to try to reconcile this with her faith. She decided to write her college thesis on the topic. She said her research helped her to realize the Church always had a negative attitude toward women and that its stance on abortion is wrong.

“I went into abortion because so much of what it means to be Catholic today has to with abortion,” she said. “And now, we are getting into contraception.”

Because she is pro-choice, Townsend said she received no support from the Church in her campaign and was also banned from her local congregation.

Townsend also told a story of an encounter she had with a priest when running for congress in which she asked why women cannot be priests.

“He said, ‘Well, Jesus didn’t choose any women as his disciples’. And I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me, he didn’t choose any Irish either,’” she said, garnering applause from the audience.

She also addressed the taboo topic of sex. When asked about the womanizing that several men in her family have been accused of, Townsend responded with one of her more passionate statements.

“Sex. That’s what the church is always worried about: sex,” she said. “I happen to think it’s great.”

The audience roared.

“I think you would enjoy it,” she said to the student who asked the question.

In Townsend’s opinion, the Church needs changing. But, she said, in a hierarchal structure that has been around for so long, these changes tend to happen very slowly.

Retired Bishop Tom Costello attended the lecture. Even though Townsend had some harsh things to say about the church’s leadership, he said he agreed with her, and that the Church needs change.

“I think her message was that the Catholic people have a voice,” he said. “And they need to use that voice for what they believe is right.”

Townsend called for all Catholics to fight for the kind of church they know is right: one that is loving, inclusive and helpful to all.

“What kind of God would you have if he made certain people born in a certain place at a certain time, only they could go to heaven?” she said. “My father believed in a God that didn’t allow you to say, ‘I am better than you.’”

 

Published on October 16, 2012 at 2:09 am

Contact Nick: nxsmith@syr.edu