Two alleged predatory-priest Ted Kennedy pals now facing the music

Sen. Ted Kennedy died 12 years ago this month, and now a second clergyman who eulogized him at his funeral has been charged with sexually assaulting a young boy in Massachusetts.

First it was the Rev. Mark R. Hession, Teddy’s “close friend” and beloved parish priest in Centerville. Now 63, Hession delivered what the Kennedy-worshiping media described as a moving homily at the swimmer’s funeral Mass in Roxbury.

In October, Father Mark goes on trial in Barnstable on charges of rape, attempted rape and witness intimidation. The boy was under the age of 14 when he was allegedly molested between 2005 and 2008.

And just last week the nation’s most infamous pederast cardinal, Teddy’s dear pal Theodore McCarrick, was charged with indecent assault and battery of a 16-year-old boy at, of all places, Wellesley College, back in 1974.

The 91-year-old McCarrick will be arraigned in Dedham next month. He was defrocked in 2018 after a lifetime of predatory behavior toward young males.

After Hession’s pious remarks in Boston, Teddy’s body was shipped to Arlington National Cemetery, where McCarrick delivered a graveside eulogy, which The Boston Globe described as a “stunning and powerful moment.”

No mention was made of the fact that the Vatican had known since at least 1994 of McCarrick’s scandalous lifestyle, or that two dioceses in New Jersey had already reached out-of-court settlements with young men who said he’d attacked them.

Between Hession in the morning and McCarrick in the afternoon, Teddy’s funeral was what the Globe so predictably called “an extraordinary day of observances.”

Indeed. Certainly it was an extraordinary group of luminaries who gathered at Mission Church for Teddy’s send-off — some of the most ethical, moral leaders in America.

There isn’t room enough here to list all of the miscreant mourners’ misogynistic misadventures, but here are a few of the devout laymen who showed up to bid farewell to their crapulous companion:

Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Al Franken, Barney Frank, Arnold Schwarzenegger (a Republican in-law!), Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Tom Brokaw, Jack Nicholson. …

Also in attendance was Teddy’s most recent father-in-law, Edmund Reggie, who’d done a stretch under house arrest for bank fraud, as well as Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who would soon be better known by his federal Bureau of Prisons number (32451-016).

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse slummed, coming up from one of his all-white Yankee-only social clubs in Newport. The very ethical Podesta brothers likewise paid their respects, as did the future unindicted co-conspirator Speaker Robert DeLeo.

As for the pallbearers, there aren’t enough Breathalyzers and Narcan kits in New England to properly list them all.

Addressing this devout congregation, accused pederast Hession spoke in hushed, reverential tones of the honky-tonk hero of Chappaquiddick.

“We bring with us treasured memories,” he said on live national television. “Memories not only of a national leader and master legislator, but of a beloved husband, a great father, a terrific grandfather, a sweet uncle, a dear friend, a trusted colleague, a wise mentor.”

Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.

The burial followed in Arlington, and before the interment the pervert prelate McCarrick praised the nation’s leading advocate of abortion:

“We were always touched by his passion for the underdog.”

An unfortunate word, “touched,” because Teddy’s spiritual guide is now accused of fondling his 16-year-old victim’s genitals while, as the child put it, “saying prayers to make me feel holy.”

The boy was at a wedding reception at Wellesley College for his older brother when the holy man assaulted him, and not for the first time either, according to the criminal complaint filed in Norfolk County.

Afterwards, the future Prince of the Church told the boy that for his penance, he should say either one Our Father and three Hail Marys, or one Hail Mary and three Our Fathers — the kid couldn’t remember which.

Incidentally, Teddy was this close to more than one cardinal who ministered, shall we say, to the catamite community. In 1958, Kennedy’s holy matrimony was consecrated by Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York.

Spellman was known in his day for maintaining two extensive, expensive collections — one of rare postage stamps, and the other of male Broadway chorus boys.

You can still see Spellman’s postage stamps — they’re in a museum at Regis College in Weston.

As for the cardinal’s chorus boys — who knows what became of them?

In the next few weeks, you’ll be reading a lot more about the despicable deeds of Hession and McCarrick. And as you do, recall the three words that the media will never, ever include in their stories:

Sen. Ted Kennedy.