Band of Brothers Marching to Zion.

(We are marching up to Zion.
It is that beautiful City of God.
Come you that love that Lord,
and let your joy be known.
Join in this song with sweet accord,
while thus around the Throne.
A charge to keep, we have; and,
a mighty good God to glorify,
a never-dying soul to save,
and to fit it for the sky.)








Bill Eglit, RIP..








Kenny Boyd, MIA.
Ensign Kenny Boyd has been missing in action since he was unceremonious yanked from the CGC Dallas at Governors Island, New York on or about 1969 or 1970. He is believe to have run afoul of Captain W. F. Guy.






Jack Taylor ,01 December 2005, RIP. Jack Taylor passed away 12/01/2005 in Peoria , IL , after a short illness. After services in Peoria, Jack’s ashes were taken to North Carolina where he and Judy had purchased a retirement home.



Thomas S. Johnson, III , 22 May 2007, RIP. Johnson , Thomas, III, 61, of Hollywood, Fl passed away on May 22, 2007. Fred Hunter's Hollywood Memorial Gardens Home. Published in the Sun-Sentinel on 5/24/2007.
Johnson , Thomas S. III, 61, of Hollywood, FL passed away May 22, 2007. Born in Baltimore, MD, he graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy, received a Master of Science degree in Industrial Administration from Purdue University, and is also a graduate of The National War College at the National Defense University. He was a search and rescue helicopter pilot and fixed wing aviator for the USCG and retired as a Captain, after 26 years of service. He was the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Flagler College before moving to Hollywood, FL in 1995 to become the Director of Training at the RTM STAR Center in Dania Beach, FL. He has been a Maritime Professional Consultant since March 2003. He is survived by his wife, Donna; daughters, Rachel Johnson and Jamie Johnson Choy; his brothers, Mark and Bruce and his little dog Mikey. Services with full military honors will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made in his memory to the Humane Society of Broward County. Published in the Sun-Sentinel on 5/25/2007.






Stan Brobeck , 26 July 2007, RIP. On 17 July Stan felt “fuzzy” and light headed. His brother David suggested that he get to a doctor just to be safe. An X-ray revealed a cancerous tumor in the left side of his brain. The tumor is very aggressive and inoperable.
David said they expect to bring him home from the hospital 18 July. Stan is not aware of the seriousness of his condition.
A note from Ron Sharp from a visit 19 July.

“All of Stan's family have arrived at his home. 3 brothers and a sister.
His ex wife Cheryl and his daughter were with him yesterday. The daughter who has CP was told of his condition yesterday.
He looked good and was in good spirits but cannot finish sentences and is losing use of his right side. I am sure he knows that the doctors can do nothing and have given him 2-3 days to live. He was glad to be home and have his brothers and sisters with him. We joked around a little but he seemed very tired and unable to concentrate and it frustrated him a little.
I will keep you all informed of any news I get from Kascia, a friend of Stan and Kim , that is staying close by them and trying to field phone calls etc. They seem to have a pretty good support group for food, airport runs, and the other stuff that will be needed short term. They have my number and I told them to let us know if anything else was needed.”

David said how much Stan thought of his USCGA classmates and his association with the Academy and knew Stan would love to hear from us and that prayers and cards are appreciated. (15 Gable Ln., Lafayette, CA 94549-2303)












Cadet Graham Chynoweth








(11/30/2008, CONCORD MONITOR)
Graham P. Chynoweth died on Thanksgiving 2008, his wife by his side, as family gathered not far away shared words of thanks for his life.

"Those two words really describe his whole life. He was immensely thankful for every moment he had with each of us and incredibly giving of his time and his energy and his spirit" Gray Chynoweth said of his father, a Canterbury lawyer and onetime state legislator who jump-started New Hampshire Public Radio, a devout Quaker known to legions of Canterbury children by the aliases of Captain Jack and Ben Franklin.

Graham Chynoweth was 63 when he died Thursday of cancer. He was at peace in his final days, friends and family said, so content in his faith that he calmed others.

A New Hampshire resident for decades, Graham Chynoweth was born in June 1945 at his mother's home in England. The son of an army officer, he spent his childhood in Germany, northern Japan, California, and Washington, D.C, where he graduated from an urban public high school.

With a high school degree and a letter of appointment to the Coast Guard Academy, Graham Chynoweth set out "wandering around the country, trying to make sense of life," said David Freeman-Woolpert, a fellow member of the local Quaker community who has counted Graham Chynoweth a close friend for nearly four decades.

It was in some southwestern state four days before cadet orientation that Graham Chynoweth decided the Coast Guard was for him, Freeman-Woolpert said. He hitched across the country to arrive in New London, Conn., on the day he was due.

"He knew if God wanted him to be there, he would be there," Freeman-Woolpert said.

After graduation from the Coast Guard Academy in the Class of 1968, his years of service included a year on the Coast Guard cutter Hamilton off the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

He earned a master's degree in hospital administration and moved with his first wife, Judy Chynoweth, to New Hampshire. But he felt drawn to law and soon enrolled at Franklin Pierce Law Center.

He was still in law school when he was elected to office as a state representative, serving for two years at a time when Democrats found it difficult to make their voices heard in the State House, Freeman-Woolpert said.

After graduating in 1983, he helped to found the law firm Barnes, Bender & Chynoweth. In the early 1990s, he left and founded Chynoweth Legal Services, where he practiced family law and complex civil litigation. His partner since 2006, Mark Cornell, described Graham Chynoweth as a lawyer of impeccable integrity.

"He would never come close to any lines, let alone cross them," Cornell said.

A decade ago, Graham Chynoweth promoted a then-innovative approach to divorce mediation that encouraged parties to work toward joint solutions, Cornell said.

The deeply held principles Graham Chynoweth showed in his legal practice were evident in his private life as well, said Gray Chynoweth.

"I told him frequently he is the most moral man I've ever met," Gray Chynoweth said.

Graham Chynoweth had a masterful understanding of the Bible and a taste for spiritual questions, said Melvin Burrowes, pastor of United Community Church in Canterbury. But spirituality permeated his everyday interactions as well, he said.

"He related to the most erudite scholar and to the littlest child equally well," Burrowes said.

A man who valued the simple life, he had no need for fashion and would happily shop at Goodwill for the clothes he wore outside the office.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Richard Ryland(December 14,1945 - December 04, 2013)

December 17, 1945 - December 4, 2013

December 17, 1945 - December 4, 2013

The news of the deaths of my classmates from CGA'68 effected me tremendously, but none as much as the news of the passing of Johnnie Ryland. His passing struck a sensitive nerve. It hit home more so than the news of anyone else; even, Ray Wilcox, and he had saved my life along with M Blue Livesey in June 1964 at the Connecticut College swimming pool.

Johnnie Ryland was special to me. He was unique. We had a relationship that I did not have with any other human being on the planet Earth. We knew each other from 1963 when we were interviewing for the Coast Guard Academy Class of 1968. The interviews were run out of the same office in Memphis, Tennessee.

This does not seem strange today, but back then all the schools in Tennessee were segregated under a strict code of Jim Crow Laws. I attended Woodstock High School, also called Shelby County Training School. It was out in the boondocks. And John attended Christian Brothers High School in down town Memphis.

John had a car and I did not. I cannot remember if we were interviewed by the same Coast Guard Commander, or whether we finished at the same time. The fact of the matter is that we were leaving at the same time, and John offered to drive me back to my school. This was highly unusual and quite a surprise. We kept in contact after that.

John was offered a "Principal" Appointment initially and I was given an "Alternate" appointment. I would only receive a Principal Appointment if some one above me on the List declined his appointment. Then the Dean of Admissions would go down the List until some one else accepted. On the day before I was scheduled to graduate from high school, I received a telegram offering me a Principal Appointment. I was excited.

There were four high school graduates from Memphis that were offered Principal Appointments to the USCGA that year; John Ryland, Clifford King, James Smith and, myself, London Steverson. We were all booked on the same American Air Lines flight out of Memphis for New London, Connecticut. I met the other two cadet appointees for the first time at the airport. I believe that Clifford King is the only one who did not graduate and retire from active duty as a commissioned Coast Guard officer.

John Ryland and I were roommates for the first two weeks of Swab Summer. After that we were assigned new roommates.

We hitch-hiked across Florida, Alabama and Georgia on our first leave home in 1964. This was at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. We experienced some scary moments up close and personal on that hiking trip. We flew "space available" on a military hop to Florida. I think it was Jacksonville, Florida. We decided to hitch hike from there to Memphis. That was not the smartest decision to make at that time. We thought we were invincible and could do anything; so, we braved it. I was young and dumb. I would not do that today. One person who picked us up could have passed for The Imperial Wizzard of the KKK. In my bones I believe he was a member. John sat in the front seat next to the driver, and I sat in the back. He talked to John as if I was not even in the car. The driver told John, "Yes, our Governor (George Wallace) he's going to fix this here nigger problem." Some time later when John and I were discussing how scary that ride was through Alabama, John said guy must have assumed that I was a dark Italian. We were joking, of course.

We made it home in one piece. I flew back to the Academy on a military hop from the U S Naval and Marine Corps Air Technical Training Center at Millington, Tennessee.

(Obituary Published in The Seattle Times)
John Richard Ryland. In his home, with his wife and children praying him through his transition, John

passed on to his new home on December 4, 2013. The son of Jesse J. and Mary Jane Ryland, John was

born on December 17, 1945 in Jacksonville, Florida where his father was stationed in the Navy. John

graduated in 1964 from the Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Tennessee and from the United

States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. He served in the Coast Guard for 22 years before retiring with the

rank of Commander. John then joined the Port of Seattle as a Civil Engineer where he enjoyed his job and

his coworkers immensely.

John loved life and lived it fully with integrity and purpose, vigor, generosity, and a wonderful sense of

humor. He responded with enthusiasm and an emphatic "yes" each time God put it on his heart to reach

out to others using his God given gifts, talents and abilities. Some of these "yeses" included 28 years as a foster parent, providing

a home for immigrants, cooking meals and providing financial assistance for the care of persons without homes, reading books on

tapes for college students who were blind, assisting with facility maintenance at church, and proclaiming God's Word at Mass.

John is survived by Martha, his wife of 44 years, his brother Michael Ryland of Memphis TN, his children Patrick Morris Ryland of

Kent, WA, Stephen David Ryland of Renton, WA, and Theresa Ryland Warfield of Kent WA, and his grandchildren; Isaiah Michael

Ryland, Jamie Gabriel Warfield, Virginia Marita Warfield, James Ronin Ryland, Sean Magnus Ryland, Michael Xavier Ryland, and

David Ezekiel Ryland.

A Mass celebrating John's life was held December 13 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Kent followed by interment at St. Patrick's

Catholic Cemetery in Kent. The family requests that remembrances be made to St. Martin de Porres shelter in Seattle or to

Catholic Community Services.

Published in The Seattle Times from Jan. 4 to Jan. 5, 2014

(CDR Ron Mathews, above, standing 3rd from the left. CCGD12(LegalDept)

Ronald Scott Matthew
March 3, 1945-April 25, 2014

Ronald Scott Matthew of Bellevue, WA, died Friday, April 25, at home, at the age of 69.

Mr. Matthew was born March 3, 1945, in Berkeley, CA, the son of Norman Matthew and Anne Egli Matthew. He graduated from Hillsdale High School, in San Mateo, CA,  in 1963 and from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT,  in 1968. He served in the Coast Guard for 27 years as a legal officer, attaining the rank of Captain. He graduated from McGeorge School of Law in 1973 with a juris doctorate degree. He was known as an honest lawyer with the highest degree of integrity--not just in his legal dealings but in his entire approach to life.

He and his wife, Judith Place Matthew, were married September 25, 1982, in San Francisco. Their son, Allan, was born in June, 1984. Mr. Matthew’s Coast Guard career took him to many places, including Honolulu, HI; Juneau, AK; Washington D.C.; Long Beach, CA; San Francisco, CA; Governors Island, NY; back to D.C., and Seattle. The family moved to Bellevue in 1990. Mr. Matthew retired from the Coast Guard in 1995, and went on to work for the City of Bellevue in mediation and neighborhood outreach for 10 years.

Mr. Matthew loved his family, friends, and nature. During his years in California, he located and purchased 120 acres of land in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, property the family came to call Matthew Meadow. Mr. Matthew loved being a steward of these “delicious mountains”. Gatherings of family and friends there each summer were a highlight. He was generous, intelligent, and had a great sense of humor. He enjoyed photography and was known for the amazing digital photo albums he created, as well as an annual Christmas card featuring views from their deck taken on travels around the world. He also enjoyed hiking and model-making (especially lighthouse models).

Mr. Matthew lived by the creed capsulized in the poem “My Creed” by Edgar A. Guest, which reads in part, “To live undaunted, unafraid, Of any step that I have made; To be without pretense or sham, Exactly what men think I am.” He lived out the Coast Guard motto, “semper paratus”--always ready. Family and friends were awed by the strength and courage he showed during his 3-year battle with ALS.

He is survived by his wife, Judith, son and daughter-in-law Allan and Megan Matthew, mother, Anne Matthew, sisters Nancy Hain and husband Bill of Alna, ME, and Helen of Walnut Creek, CA.

The family thanks Ron’s dedicated caregiver, Mphatso Namwali, for the excellent care he provided. “Mr. Namwali always demonstrated compassion and superb skill in his care of Ron. We are very grateful to him,” they said.

A celebration of life will be held later, and his ashes will be spread at Matthew Meadow. Memorial contributions are suggested to Save the Redwoods League, 114 Sansome St. Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94104, www.savetheredwoods.org <http://www.savetheredwoods.org/>  or the ALS Association, Evergreen Chapter, http://www.alsa.org/ <http://www.alsa.org/>

"My Creed"
By Edgar A. Guest

To live as gently as I can,
To be, no matter where, a man,
To take what comes of good or ill,
and cling to faith and honor still,
to do my best and let that stand,
the record of my pen and hand,
And then, should failure come to me
Still work and hope for victory.

To have no secret place wherein
I stoop unseen to shame or sin;
To be the same when I'm alone
As when my every deed is known;
To live undaunted, unafraid
Of any step that I have made;
To be without pretense or sham
Exactly what men think I am.

To leave some simple mark behind
To keep my having lived in mind;
If enmity to aught I show
to be an honest, generous foe:
To play my little part, not whine
That greater honors are not mine.
this, I believe, is all I need
For my philosophy and creed."

John Richard Ryland

1945 - 2013 | Obituary | Condolences

John Richard Ryland In his home, with his wife and children praying him through his transition, John passed on to his new home on December 4, 2013. The son of Jesse J. and Mary Jane Ryland, John was born on December 17, 1945 in Jacksonville, Florida where his father was stationed in the Navy. John graduated in 1964 from the Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Tennessee and from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. He served in the Coast Guard for 22 years before retiring with the rank of Commander. John then joined the Port of Seattle as a Civil Engineer where he enjoyed his job and his coworkers immensely.

John loved life and lived it fully with integrity and purpose, vigor, generosity, and a wonderful sense of humor. He responded with enthusiasm and an emphatic "yes" each time God put it on his heart to reach out to others using his God given gifts, talents and abilities. Some of these "yeses" included 28 years as a foster parent, providing a home for immigrants, cooking meals and providing financial assistance for the care of persons without homes, reading books on tapes for college students who were blind, assisting with facility maintenance at church, and proclaiming God's Word at Mass.

John is survived by Martha, his wife of 44 years, his brother Michael Ryland of Memphis TN, his children Patrick Morris Ryland of Kent, WA, Stephen David Ryland of Renton, WA, and Theresa Ryland Warfield of Kent WA, and his grandchildren; Isaiah Michael Ryland, Jamie Gabriel Warfield, Virginia Marita Warfield, James Ronin Ryland, Sean Magnus Ryland, Michael Xavier Ryland, and David Ezekiel Ryland.

A Mass celebrating John's life was held December 13 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Kent followed by interment at St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery in Kent. The family requests that remembrances be made to St. Martin de Porres shelter in Seattle or to Catholic Community Services.

Published in The Seattle Times from Jan. 4 to Jan. 5, 2014

- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=john-richard-ryland&pid=168895436#sthash.A5t3kVq3.dpuf

John Richard Ryland

1945 - 2013 | Obituary | Condolences

John Richard Ryland In his home, with his wife and children praying him through his transition, John passed on to his new home on December 4, 2013. The son of Jesse J. and Mary Jane Ryland, John was born on December 17, 1945 in Jacksonville, Florida where his father was stationed in the Navy. John graduated in 1964 from the Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Tennessee and from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. He served in the Coast Guard for 22 years before retiring with the rank of Commander. John then joined the Port of Seattle as a Civil Engineer where he enjoyed his job and his coworkers immensely.

John loved life and lived it fully with integrity and purpose, vigor, generosity, and a wonderful sense of humor. He responded with enthusiasm and an emphatic "yes" each time God put it on his heart to reach out to others using his God given gifts, talents and abilities. Some of these "yeses" included 28 years as a foster parent, providing a home for immigrants, cooking meals and providing financial assistance for the care of persons without homes, reading books on tapes for college students who were blind, assisting with facility maintenance at church, and proclaiming God's Word at Mass.

John is survived by Martha, his wife of 44 years, his brother Michael Ryland of Memphis TN, his children Patrick Morris Ryland of Kent, WA, Stephen David Ryland of Renton, WA, and Theresa Ryland Warfield of Kent WA, and his grandchildren; Isaiah Michael Ryland, Jamie Gabriel Warfield, Virginia Marita Warfield, James Ronin Ryland, Sean Magnus Ryland, Michael Xavier Ryland, and David Ezekiel Ryland.

A Mass celebrating John's life was held December 13 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Kent followed by interment at St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery in Kent. The family requests that remembrances be made to St. Martin de Porres shelter in Seattle or to Catholic Community Services.

Published in The Seattle Times from Jan. 4 to Jan. 5, 2014

- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=john-richard-ryland&pid=168895436#sthash.A5t3kVq3.dpuf

AND ALL THE WORLD WONDERED AFTER THE BEAST.

Much of the christian world is surprised at Pope Benedict XVI’s statement on the unique claims of the Roman Catholic Church and, as a natural result of those beliefs, the Vatican’s highly logical point of view on the sacramental claims of other Christian flocks.
Rome considers other Christian groups to be “churches” based on the degree to which they claim ancient, apostolic, sacramental ties that bind.
The Vatican document repeated many of the contentious claims of a document issued in 2000 by the Vatican office on orthodoxy, which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger headed for more than two decades before being elected pope in 2005.
The document released Tuesday focused largely on the Vatican definition of what constitutes a church, which it defined as being traceable through its bishops to Christ’s original apostles. Thus, it said, the world’s Orthodox Christians make up a church because of shared history, if “separated” from the “proper” Catholic tradition, while Protestants split from Catholicism during the Reformation are considered only “Christian communities.”
In other words, the Eastern Churches and Rome are in a state of broken Communion, while the Protestant bodies do not share the same concept of Communion and apostolic succession. This is precisely, I would think, how most Eastern Orthodox leaders would view Rome. We are mourning an ancient and real schism.
There is some question as to why the pope elected to release this statement, since it repeated claims from the “Dominus Iesus” text in 2000. It appears, to me, that Benedict XVI may be underlining the unique bonds between Rome and the East and, this would be more controversial, putting new distance between Rome and the Anglican Communion that also insists that it can claim true ties to the early apostles (through centuries of shared history with Rome before the Reformation).
The disappointment of the Anglicans was evident in the response of Canon Gregory Cameron, Dr Williams’s former chaplain in Wales and a leading canonical lawyer and scholar who is now ecumenical officer of the Anglican Communion.
Canon Cameron said: “In the commentary of this document we are told that ‘Catholic ecumenism’ appears ‘somewhat paradoxical.’ It is paradoxical for leaders of the Roman Catholic Church to indicate to its ecumenical partners that it no longer expects all other Christians merely to return to the true (Roman Catholic) Church, but then for Rome to say that it alone has ‘full identity’ with the Church of Christ, and that all others of us are lacking.”
The Rev David Phillips, General Secretary of the Church Society, said: “Nothing new is said, but it does clarify the way in which the Vatican has torn apart Christianity because of its lust for power. They remind us that in their view that to be a true church one has to accept the ludicrous idea that



the Pope is in some special way the successor of the apostle Peter and the supreme earthly leader of the Church.
“These claims cannot be justified, biblically, or historically, yet they have been used not only to divide Christians but to persecute them and put them to death.
“We are grateful that the Vatican has once again been honest in declaring their view that the Church of England is not a proper Church. Too much dialogue proceeds without such honesty. Therefore, we would wish to be equally open; unity will only be possible when the papacy renounces its errors and pretensions.”
George Weigel, who has written biographies of Pope Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, said the document contains nothing new, and questioned why it had been issued now.
It “does not deny the presence of God’s grace in other Christian communions, but the Catholic Church is never going to say . . . that it is anything other than the most properly ordered expression of the will of Christ for his church,” he said. “If people do not want to contend with that, then ecumenism has simply become another form of political correctness,” Weigel said.
Interesting, but rather predictable. But check this out, with one jab at Rome and then another at the mainstream media:
Weigel faulted the Vatican for failing to place documents on ecumenism in context, leading to the pope’s intentions being misinterpreted.
“The inability of the Vatican to communicate the meaning of these documents is a serious problem, but it’s a serious problem magnified by the inability of the Western press to admit that its cartoon picture of Joseph Ratzinger was mistaken,” he said.
So the Vatican needs to do a better job of helping journalists get religion?





















Pope Announces Pilgrimage To Israel
03/08/09 · Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will make a long-planned pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May, visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as Jordan.

The Pope told pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square, "I will make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to ask the Lord for the precious gift of unity and peace for the Middle East, and for all humanity."

Stops include Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jordan's largest mosque in Amman.


The visit follows the controversy over the pope's decision to lift the excommunication of a bishop who has denied the Holocaust happened.

In a further sign of Jewish-Catholic tensions, the pope will not visit Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, where a caption on a photo of World War II-era Pope Pius XII accuses the pontiff of silence during the Holocaust.

Israel's ambassador to the Vatican, Mordechai Levi, told the Italian news agency ANSA that the pope will attend a memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem, but will not visit the museum itself.

The Vatican has sought for years to persuade Yad Vashem to remove the caption, which it considers defamatory.


Body language says a lot about a world leader's audience with the Pope. During his 2007 visit to Pope Benedict XVI's private library, President George W. Bush sat down across the desk from the Pontiff as if he had just landed on his own porch in Crawford, Texas: leaning back in the velvet chair, legs crossed, apparently eager to show his command of the situation.

When President Barack Obama sat down in that same spot on Friday, July 10, for his first papal meeting, his posture was altogether different. Leaning forward from the front edge of the chair, his shoulders slightly hunched, his crossed hands resting softly on the edge of the Pope's desk, the leader of the free world looked more like a schoolboy who'd arrived to humbly plead his case to the principal. "You must be used to getting your picture taken," Obama commented to the Pope as a scrum of photographers clicked away, then continued, "I'm still getting used to it."

The 82-year-old Pope in white, the world's most recognizable religious leader and head of its largest single denomination, came face-to-face with the charismatic Black President of the world's last superpower.

As a child in Indonesia, Obama's Muslim father enrolled him in Catholic school for a few years. President Obama is a Protestant.

Pope Benedict issued a major document calling for a "new world financial order" guided by ethics and the search for the common good, denouncing the profit-at-all-cost mentality blamed for bringing about the global financial meltdown after the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

There was a poignant footnote to President Obama's historic July 10 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Behind closed doors in the papal library, Obama handed Benedict a letter that Senator Edward Kennedy had asked him to personally deliver to the pontiff. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later told reporters that nobody - not even the President - knew the contents of the sealed missive. Obama himself asked Benedict to pray for Kennedy, and called the ailing Senator afterward to fill him in on his encounter with the 82-year-old Pope.
The letter, most likely already re-sealed and tucked away in the Vatican archives, was probably just a dying Catholic's request for a papal blessing. In the eyes of the traditionalist wing of the Church, however, Kennedy should have been asking the Pope for forgiveness. The Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported Kennedy's death, praising his work on civil rights and fighting poverty, but noted that his record was marred by his stance on abortion. As of yet, unlike some other world leaders, Pope Benedict has not commented or issued an official communique in response to Kennedy's death. One veteran official at the Vatican, of U.S. nationality, expressed the view of many conservatives about the Kennedy clan's rapport with the Catholic Church: "Why would he even write a letter to the Pope? The Kennedys have always been defiantly in opposition to the Roman Catholic magisterium." Magisterium is the formal expression for the authority of Church teaching.
Since Kennedy's death on Aug. 25, commentators have been poring over the Liberal Lion's many legislative achievements and the details of his biography. But it is also worth remembering that for four decades Ted Kennedy remained the nation's most prominent Roman Catholic politician, and brother of America's first and only Catholic President. Ted Kennedy received his first communion directly from Pope Pius XII, and his marriage in 1958 was performed by Cardinal Francis Spellman, the influential Archbishop of New York. His mother, Rose Kennedy, once reportedly said that she'd dreamed that her youngest son Teddy would become a priest rather than a politician, destined to ultimately rise to bishop status.
Edward Kennedy, it can be said, was not cut out for the priestly life. His first marriage to former model Virginia Joan Bennett, ended in divorce in 1982, with the marriage annulled by the Roman Rota more than a decade later. And there are the infamous episodes in his life that showed a man not quite in control of his demons. But ultimately, beyond his personal travails, Kennedy's relationship with the Church hierarchy was destined for conflict because of politics. The Senator became both the face and engine of the liberal wing of the Democratic party that has long led the battle for abortion rights, stem cell research and gay marriage, all of which Catholic doctrine strictly forbids.
"He is a complicated figure," says Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and the culture editor of the Catholic magazine America. "Catholics on the right are critical because of his stance on abortion. Catholics on the left celebrate his achievements on immigration, fighting poverty and other legislation that is a virtual mirror of the Church's social teaching."
Back at headquarters, however, there is little room for nuance. "Here in Rome Ted Kennedy is nobody. He's a legend with his own constituency," says the Vatican official. "If he had influence in the past it was only with the Archdiocese of Boston and that eventually disappeared too." Some say the final sunset on the Kennedy name within Catholic halls of power was the Vatican's decision in 2007 to overturn the annulment of the first marriage of former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy, the eldest son of Robert Kennedy. The successful appeal by Joe Kennedy's ex-wife Sheila Rauch, an Episcopalian, was another blow for the Kennedy image in Catholic circles.
During Benedict's 2008 trip to the U.S., there was some heated debate (with conflicting photographs and eyewitness accounts) about whether or not Kennedy took Holy Communion at the papal mass at Nationals Stadium in Washington, with conservatives insisting that the Pope says the rite should be denied to pro-choice politicians. With this in mind, Church observers are keen to see if Boston's Archbishop Cardinal Sean O'Malley will preside over Kennedy's funeral.
In what may mark the final flicker of Kennedy influence in American Catholicism, reports circulated last spring that Obama was considering JFK's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, as the possible next U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. That was not to be. Indeed in the wake of Uncle Ted's death came word Thursday 27 August 2009 that Obama's final choice had arrived in Rome to take up the diplomatic post at the Holy See. His name is Miguel Diaz, a little-known Cuban-born professor of theology firmly on the record as pro-life.

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come, except there comes a falling away first and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing that he is God. (2 Thess. 2:3,4)
And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and the Law. (Dan. 7:25)
And all the world wondered after the Beast. (Rev. 13:3)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says no mass Bastille Day pardons.

Unlike a certian President, whom he even admires, Nicolas Sarkozy is not considering using his Presidential Pardon Power this summer. True to his law-and-order reputation, he is offering no mass mercy to the nation's prisoners on Bastille Day this year.
Speaking in an interview in the French press 8 July, he said that he was not likely to grant a mass pardon of prisoners this Bastille Day, turning around a longstanding tradition in modern French history.
Chirac and previous leaders had used the measure to relieve chronic overcrowding in French prisons, a move supported by prisoners' rights groups and prison guards. Several categories of violent or dangerous criminals are excluded.
"There will be no mass pardon," Sarkozy told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, confirming a pledge he made during his presidential campaign this spring.
He said he had been presented with a decree proposing the release of 3,000 prisoners. "Since when has the right to pardon served as a way to manage prisons?" he asked.
Sarkozy said he would issue individual pardons on a case-by-case basis for "humanitarian or exceptional reasons."
"Someone jumps in the Seine River, and saves three drowning children. It turns out he has a criminal record. The presidential pardon could play a role here," he was quoted as saying.
Chirac came under fire for using presidential pardons for personal reasons when he cleared his friend and former athlete Guy Drut of corruption charges last year.
Prison officers said they were concerned that Mr Sarkozy's decision could lead to disturbances among inmates.
"The reduction of sentences are much anticipated and have a real psychological impact at the heart of the prison population," the SNP-FO prison staff union said in a statement.
Sarkozy has also indicated that he will scrap another set of Presidential pardons: Another tradition in France is that minor offences by drivers are pardoned after an election. Sarkozy said he has no plans to let drivers off the hook this time. Again, unsurprising, given that one of his most energetic campaigns while in government was against speeding and drunk drivers. Sarkozy points to his success in cutting the number of deaths on French roads significantly during his time as interior minister.
Bastille Day commemorates the 1789 storming of the former Bastille prison in Paris by angry crowds, sparking the revolution that rid France of its monarchy.