Well now, this is an interesting question...

Should Ted Kennedy have been denied funerial rites?

Hmmm....I see it from both sides, inasmuch as Mr. Kennedy took a very prominent, anti-Catholic position on pivotal issues such as abortion, sterilization based population control and healthcare, and same-sex "marriage." However, because we who are reading (and writing) about this simply cannot know the extent or nature of his private reflections (sorrow? repentance? or just doin' a little cya letter writing campaign to Rome?) as he journeyed toward his death, at the time he received the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, and/or at the hour of is death, it's hard for me to accept absolutely that he shouldn't have been afforded a Catholic funeral, because all we have is public information. I guess we should hope and pray that he truly repented and had a conversion of heart, mind, and soul as his days drew to a close. Hate the sin(s), love the sinner, right?

Bottom line: I hope Ted Kennedy found his way Home. And I love that we have someone like Archbishop Burke willing to go on the record and say aloud what his former USCCB cohorts are either too cowardly to say...or just flat-out don't believe.