| − | Kennedy was raised [[Roman Catholic]], and though he disagreed with church leaders on such issues of [[abortion]] and [[homosexual]] rights, he was described by USA Today "as a devout Catholic who clung to his religion's belief in the potential for human redemption".<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-26-ted-kennedy-obit_N.htm</ref> His mother, Rose Kennedy, was a strong Catholic who often attended Mass twice daily. She once told her now adult son that he was guaranteed to go to heaven if he went to Mass seven straight Fridays. Ted's close friend Dick Clasby recalls, "So Ted and I went seven Fridays, and that was it,".. that was the deal."<ref>Peter Canellos; ''Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy'' pp. 45-48 </ref> | + | Kennedy was raised [[Roman Catholic]], and though he disagreed with church leaders on such issues of [[abortion]] and [[homosexual]] rights, he was described by USA Today "as a devout Catholic who clung to his religion's belief in the potential for human redemption".<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-26-ted-kennedy-obit_N.htm</ref> His mother, Rose Kennedy, was a strong Catholic who often attended Mass twice daily. She once told her now adult son that he was guaranteed to go to heaven if he went to Mass seven straight Fridays. Ted's close friend Dick Clasby recalls, "So Ted and I went seven Fridays, and that was it,".. that was the deal."<ref>Peter Canellos; ''Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy'' pp. 45-48 </ref> As a politician, Ted Kennedy aggressively promoted taxpayer-funded abortion and same-sex marriage in direct violation of Catholic teaching. |