When John F. Kennedy ran for president 45 years ago much was made of his Catholicism.  After all, he was only the second Catholic to run for president on a major party ticket.  Naturally Catholics across the country, thrilled to have a fellow Catholic with whom they also agreed on social and political issues on the ticket, voted for him in overwhelming numbers.  To help a fellow Irish Catholic win, Chicago's mayor, Richard Daley (the elder), supervised a plan for vote fraud, massive even by Chicago's notoriously corrupt election standards, to guarantee Illinois for the Democrats.

Kennedy won by the barest of margins; Nixon, though encouraged to do so, never contested the election.
 
Fast forward 45 years: another Catholic heads the ticket of the Democratic party, and except for the ever—present fringe element, Kerry's religion is not a major issue in the campaign.  Indeed  it is so irrelevant that Catholics, many of whom disagreed with Kerry, voted for George Bush who is not a Catholic.

Kerry's religion as an irrelevant campaign issue and Catholics rejecting a Catholic candidate certainly demonstrate what progress all of America  has made in opening up society to all qualified candidates  Long may it continue.

Ethel C. Fenig   2 6 05