Shane Schaetzel †☧ (@RealClearCatholic)

This is the Kennedy Compromise. It was well intentioned, and designed to quell anti-Catholic fears. However, as we saw with JFK's younger brother, Teddy Kennedy, that compromise was turned into an excuse to ignore Catholic teaching entirely and pursue political ends that directly oppose Catholic teaching. Most Catholic Democrats (Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durban and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example) now use the Kennedy Compromise for the same reason, ignoring Catholic teaching entirely to pursue political ends that directly oppose Catholic teaching. The Kennedy Compromise may not have been intended to be heresy. It did, however, become the epitome of the Americanism Heresy condemned by Pope Leo XIII decades prior. The Democratic Party now refuses to support all Catholic candidates who do not support the Kennedy Compromise.