Three phrases are always associated with the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin: "common ground," "a consistent ethic of life," and the "seamless garment." More than phrases, they embody a challenge, difficult of realization, and often, in their pursuit, strangely divisive rather than uniting.I was struck once again by this in reading the late Senator Kennedy's moving letter to Pope Benedict, read yesterday at the graveside service.The Senator spoke with passion of his Catholic faith, handed on to him by his parents, and how it sustained him in moments of scarcely comprehended tragedy. He forthrightly confessed his own weaknesses and asked for prayers.Senator Kennedy then offered a litany of the commitments that governed his public life:

I want you to know, Your Holiness, that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. Ive worked to welcome the immigrant, fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and been the focus of my work as a United States Senator.

For all the considerable merit of these accomplishments, I noted, with sadness, that the seamless garment had been rent and re-stitched. Had this deeply talented man found the means to include the protection of the infant in the womb among the good causes he promoted, had he been able to witness boldly to a consistent ethic of life, I believe the Catholic community's mourning and prayers would have been even fuller, more whole-hearted.Still, I and many others will respond to his final words to the Pope:

I continue to pray for Gods blessings on you and our Church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me.

Update:Since folk appear to be still contributing to the thread, I thought I would provide a link to Ross Douthat's column in today's New York Times. He writes, in part:

Its worth pondering how the politics of abortion might have been different had Ted shared even some of his sisters qualms about the practice. One could imagine a world in which Americas leading liberal Catholic had found a way to make liberalism less absolutist on the issue, and a world where a man who became famous for reaching across the aisle had reached across, even occasionally, in search of compromise on the countrys most divisive issue.