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Ted Kennedy had a great love of Ireland and empathy with the struggles of the Irish. He was very familiar with what Patrick Pearse had to say at the grave side of O’Donovan Rossa. What Pearse had to say was this:

“Splendid and holy causes are served by splendid and holy men.”

The cause to which Ted Kennedy selflessly devoted his life was the liberation of the human spirit. Ted found the expression of that liberation in poetry, in art, in theatre, in friendship and in the sheer joy of life. Of course for Ted, the most potent expression … Continue reading →

Oh you were a mindreader
I tell you.

Oh you were a heartscorcher
I tell you.

Oh you were a soulsearcher
when you looked at me.

For you loved a black Christ
And helped us see.

In loving memory of the marvellous Ted Kennedy

from Sean O Connor, Drogheda, Ireland 22/5/2005.

Dear Ted our Father,
who believed that each of us carries a piece of heaven,
precious is your name for those who loved you
because you showed us a living kingdom
here on earth as it is in heaven.

You understood how critical it is to have a piece of bread at the end of each day, especially for those of us who know hunger and unemployment.

How clearly you insisted that we must reconcile with those on whom this nation trespassed with blood, before we can learn to forgive those who trespass against us.

In … Continue reading →

Griffo had been in Kempsey for about a month.

On Tuesday last, by his own account, he had “a feeling”- of loneliness and sense of loss. Griffo did not know that Ted had died, but he suspected that “something” was wrong – a member of his family perhaps…..

When he got into Central yesterday afternoon (Friday), he was “bustin’ for a cuppa” and headed for “The Gathering Place” in Caroline St. When he got there he saw a notice in the window – not an unusual thing – very often a notice would be placed in the window advising that … Continue reading →

Hello Church Mouse,

We have been living in Ireland for the past couple of years. We heard the news of Ted’s passing from Marnie Kennedy within a few hours of his death. Sad news because Ted has always been a great affirmer for us and like a member of our family – as of so many families. It’s difficult to be so far away as preparations are made for his funeral…. but good to be browsing through the ‘Church Mouse’ website today and to feel closer to the memory of a great hearted man.

Thankyou

Peter and Madge Kearney
… Continue reading →

What made Ted Kennedy so special? What made him value his role as a priest while at the same time never ever espousing clericalism? Ted had a heart that was filled with the compassion of Christ. Although totally ecumenical in his way of life and belief he did not have to search for new age solutions to find compassion. His way of seeing the world was formed by his religious tradition and his own family.

Ted once said that the saddest thing in the world was that people lived unpoetically. Poems for Ted were not just printed words dancing on … Continue reading →

Edward Phillip Kennedy, Catholic priest, 1931-2005

Father Edward (Ted) Kennedy, who has died at 74 after a long illness, was parish priest of Redfern for more than 30 years. In that time he became a national authority on the plight of Aborigines, an authority that came not from libraries but from sharing their hazardous lives.

Ted Kennedy came to Redfern almost by chance. In the heady years after Vatican II (1962-65) he belonged to a movement of priests eager to try out new styles of ministry. In particular, they wanted to displace the feudal structure of parishes, whereby pastors … Continue reading →

Priest, activist and friend of Sydney’s largely Aboriginal Redfern Catholic community, Fr Ted Kennedy, died in Concord Hospital early yesterday. 74 year old Fr Kennedy had been severely debilitated by a stroke in the late 1990s, and retired in 2002.

Although he chose to discontinue Fr Kennedy’s style of ministry in Redfern’s St Vincent’s Parish, Cardinal George Pell yesterday paid tribute to one of his best known priests.

“Fr Ted Kennedy was a good and courageous priest who inspired many people,” he said. “He was a man of strong convictions who worked hard … Continue reading →

If the Church is to be a sign of the kingdom, it must give the respect due to princes to the outcasts of the world. Never again must we allow a rhetoric of idealism, a policy of compromise, but the end result being `business as usual’. – Fr Ted Kennedy, who died yesterday, from a 1975 letter to the Archbishop of Sydney.

Legendary priest and friend to Aboriginal people, Fr Ted Kennedy, has died in Sydney’s Concord Hospital, aged 74.

To former Catholic priest Patrick Dodson, Fr Kennedy is ‘great … Continue reading →

Part of the transcript of this weeks ABC Radio Religion Report:

David Rutledge: Finally, on The Religion Report this week, we mark the passing of one of the best-loved and most courageous figures in the Australian Catholic church.

Ted Kennedy: I want to make the confession that within the Catholic community in Australia, there has been a deep, dark hole for a long time now, which amounts to a lack of genuine spirituality. Religion can become the possession of an elitist group whose power reinforces the power of all the other institutional forces in society. It’s language then becomes spiritually … Continue reading →