Philosophy
Lovers!
Click Here

[The following passage is from Christopher Hollis’s autobiographical memoir, The Seven Ages: Their Exits and Their Entrances. A man of parts, Hollis (1902–1977) was a British schoolmaster, university teacher, author, and Conservative MP. At Oxford he belonged to the Hypocrites’ Club, along with Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell. The son of an Anglican bishop, Hollis converted to Catholicism in 1924. In the 1930s he became acquainted with some of the Kennedy clan, including the future president. Kathleen Kennedy, who married Lord Hartington, heir of the Duke of Devonshire, was a friend of his.]

English opinion greatly exaggerated the fervour of Joseph Kennedy’s Catholicism. His daughter Kathleen, known as ‘Kick,’ told me that there was a considerable period of his life during which he did not practise his religion at all. It was that very remarkable man, Cardinal Cushing, who with some difficulty got him back to his duties. Nor was Kennedy so fervently Irish as English opinion thought. Irish Catholicism was to him not so much a source of spiritual comfort as a political base. For success in Boston politics it was very convenient to be able confidently to rely on the Irish vote, and he was of course careful not to compromise this, but of the way of life of the Irish in Ireland he knew little and cared little. Of Christianity’s message of contempt for worldly success neither he nor, I suppose, any of his family had any understanding. They did not repudiate it, they were simply unaware of it. His sons turned out to be men of great charm and great generosity. They were willing to recognize and to honour demands that the rich should give of their superfluity to the poor, but I doubt if it ever occurred to them that there were dangers in being rich. Riches were to them without qualification an advantage.

I remember dining with their sister Kick Hartington and quoting in the course of an argument with her the biblical text about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. “Oh, I don’t agree with that,” said Kick, her eyes blazing with dissent. “I don’t agree with that at all.” “It hardly matters whether you agree with it or not, Kick,” I answered. “After all, you won’t be running the Last Judgement, and these words have considerable authority behind them.” But to her they were plainly entirely novel and as plainly entirely nonsensical. Riches could buy their way into anything and as easily into the Kingdom of Heaven as into anywhere else.

Click HERE to reach the associated topic for this webpage.
For more topics click HERE.