April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Are the Kennedys cursed?
Those questions, asked many times in the past, arose again over the last two weeks in the wake of the deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and her sister in the crash of a private plane he was piloting. This latest tragedy, coupled with earlier assassinations, airline disasters, serious illnesses and other problems, caused many people to ask if the family is cursed.
The answer, according to a priest, theologians and a counselor, is "no." But posing the question may be a way for people to deal with suffering in their own lives.
Un-Catholic
Rev. Frank Gilchrist, a retired priest in residence at St. Casimir's Church in Albany, discourages Catholics from embracing the idea of a Kennedy curse."It's certainly false that a family is cursed," he said. "It's a superstitious feeling bordering on sin to say that God would send misfortune to any one family. It goes against the kind of love that we believe is God."
The tragedy of JFK Jr.'s death reminds people that "bad things happen to good people, and in a large family, there is a greater chance that tragedy will occur," Father Gilchrist said. "There are lots of times when tragedy happens in our lives, in families large and small, regardless of race, religion or background."
Accepting death
During his 30 years as an Air Force chaplain, Father Gilchrist broke the news of the death of airmen to their families on many occasions. Such tragedy was difficult to bear, but families who held some religious beliefs generally were able to make it through, he noted."The meaning was in their faith: that there is life after this life," he said. "There was a firm conviction that [the deceased] were with God, and that's what makes some sense and provides some basis to explain what would seem to be a senseless tragedy."
Children seemed to understand the concept of death better than their mothers, and that childlike concept of the afterlife is helpful in the long run.
"That's the truth, and it makes us feel better eventually," Father Gilchrist said. "Better than selfish sorrow is the idea of daddy going to the Lord earlier than the rest of us."
Coping mechanism
David Olsen, executive director of Samaritan Counseling Center of the Capital Region, said that "the idea of a curse is a coping mechanism. The Kennedys are anything but cursed; they've had opportunity and wealth. [But when something like this happens,] there is no way to make sense of it. People want to believe that there's an order: Terrible things only happen to terrible people. The Psalms wrestle with this," asking "why do good people suffer and the evil prosper? It resonates in Scripture."Samaritan Counseling Center was founded by a coalition of clergy, including Catholics, to express the healing love of God by promoting psychological and spiritual health through a ministry of pastoral counseling, psychotherapy and education to persons of varied financial means.
To believe in a curse, he continued, is to embrace "a tyrannical idea of God, a primitive view of God. People closest to God don't suffer more. Suffering is random. Neither the righteous or godly suffer more. [During a tragedy,] faith can be a resource or comfort. It can be an incredible source of support, strength and nourishment. While some turn away from God, others move towards God."
Not God's way
Maureen Tilley, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton in Ohio, said that "people call someone `cursed' if it seems that bad things continually happen to them. In this case, there is no person who has cursed them, certainly not God, who cannot curse. Nor does God, who is all good, wish evil on a person."`The Kennedy Curse' simply means that a lot of bad things have happened to this extended family. People who see these events and call them a curse are simply trying to make some sense of the aggregate of assassinations, deaths and accidents which have happened to a very public family. Calling the events a curse means that they would not be surprised if other things happen in the future."
No curses
Joseph Kelly, professor of religious studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, said: "The Church's teaching on curses is that they do not exist. If there were a curse on the Kennedy family, first of all, who did the cursing? If there were a curse on JFK Jr., that means that nothing he could have done -- or that God could have done for him -- could have prevented that crash. That denies both human free will and divine providence. JFK Jr., could have changed his mind about going or God could have moved him to do so, but for some reason no one did. No Catholic can believe in a curse, which negates human free will and divine providence."Prof. Kelly added that "God does not curse people; on the contrary, God loves everyone all the time and does only what is best for them. To say God curses people is both absurd and unchristian. Only foolish people say that it often seems as if the people closest to God suffer the most.
"As for how to view tragedies, the best place to start is the Book of Job, which teaches that we cannot understand innocent suffering but we must trust in God's love, no matter bad things look."
God's will?
Dr. Doris Donnelly, professor of theology and director of The Cardinal Suenens Program in Theology & Church Life at John Carroll University, recalled that "several years ago, the 24-year-old son of William Sloane Coffin, the Protestant pastor, Yale chaplain and social activist, drowned when his car went off the road into deep waters during a terrible storm. In his eulogy, Bill Coffin was certain that one thing that should never be said when someone dies is, 'It is the will of God.'"Bill's words seem to me the only way to make sense out of tragedies like his or those of the Kennedy family. He said: `My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God's heart was the first of all our hearts to break.'
"To my way of thinking, only such a compassionate and loving God is worthy of our undivided faith. Only such a God makes sense."
(Editor's note: This story was reported by staff writers Maureen McGuinness and Paul Quirini.)
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