his just in. Breaking News from CNN. Apparently, from all the accounts we've been able to bring in, it seems that average Americans actually believe in a ‘supernatural’ being, occasionally referred to as a Higher Power, but most commonly as 'G.O.D.' More details as events warrant."

That overstates the case somewhat, but while the death of New York’s John Cardinal O'Connor is saddening, the media coverage of his life and death has been quite eye-opening. There has basically been no other story in New York since the cardinal passed on May 3. The Senate race, the mayor's bout with prostate cancer, the subsequent revelation that Giuliani has a "very good friend" who happens to be a 45-year old divorcee — while stories have appeared, everything has essentially become background white noise.

The New York Times's coverage was the equivalent of what would have been received by a major political figure (which, in a sense, O'Connor was). The day-after obituary began in the upper right hand corner of Page One and then continued for a page and a half inside the paper. Being the Times, of course, the Gray Lady couldn't avoid putting "Staunch Foe of Abortion and Defender of Poor and Working Class" in its sub-headline. But even so, not even the Times was able to make abortion the be-all and end-all of the O'Connor story.

The night of O'Connor's death, local NBC affiliate Channel 4 expanded its 11 o'clock newscast to a full hour, delaying the beginning of the Tonight Show by a half-hour. This is almost unheard-of even though the station had already done yeoman work on covering religion in society. Its "Pope In The Holy Land" package was probably the most comprehensive of the local stations. Furthermore, local news legend Gabe Pressman had a lengthy and friendly relationship with His Eminence over the years. He was the journalist who hosted a series of "conversations" between the cardinal and Elie Wiesel as they discussed ties between Jews and Christians. Those conversations eventually became the foundation of a co-authored book.

Now it can be said that the overwhelming coverage O'Connor receives at his passing is that he was in many ways a true "Old Democrat." Yes, his strict adherence to church teachings caused him to fall on the ideologically conservative side of certain social issues of the day: abortion, gays, etc. However, those same teachings also led him to be anti-death penalty, while his blue-collar upbringing kept him staunchly pro-union as well. Yet, that mixture of political viewpoints doesn't normally get you a free pass in the media these days — and for many years, O'Connor was pilloried because he was against the ordination of female priests, thought homosexuality was wrong and that abortion was murder.

No, the irony is that the media has been forced to cover the cardinal as they would a "celebrity." At least in the New York area, O'Connor is being afforded near John Kennedy/Princess Di status. The major distinction is that the thousands who came to view the body or attend the several memorial services professed their admiration for the man and his principles. O'Connor's passing gave many — other priests, nuns, schoolchildren, parents, seniors, people of other religions — the great opportunity to "testify" to the importance of having a man of faith be a true tower in their community.

And the man triumphed even as his life was celebrated. In the funeral homily, Cardinal Bernard Law declared that the lasting lesson from O'Connor is that the Church must remain "unambiguously pro-life, from the moment of conception to the hour of natural death." At these words, delivered by all three 24-hour news channels, America saw spontaneous applause break out in the church. America saw congregants begin a standing ovation. But the nation also saw something else — a visibly awkward Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al Gore squirming in their seats, stung by words that were an explicit repudiation of the pro-choice position, tried to avoid joining in the applause. Then they realized that they were sticking out like sore thumbs. Finally, they struggled to their feet (to be fair, the mayor also was rather late to stand as well), but managed to avoid clapping, as the ovation dissipated.

It was a perfect television moment.

Yes, many political conservatives may conveniently ignore the significance of the "natural death" part of Cardinal Law's statement. But if they are to be deemed hypocritical when it comes to issues dealing with "life," at least they err at the extreme of the spectrum where adult free will and responsibility count for something. The argument for a death penalty following the commission of a capital crime is more coherent than the basic pro-abortion rationale. However, it is interesting that more pro-life Catholics appear to be drifting toward the anti-death- penalty position. For that matter, if Pat Robertson is in any way representative of the views of evangelical Christians, his recent call for supporting a moratorium on the death penalty might suggest that the "comprehensive pro-life" position of the Pope, O'Connor, and others might be gaining traction.

But that is a question for another time. Usually, the media sends the signal that church and state must be forever apart. Yet the passing of a great man of principle forced both print and broadcast media to perform a valuable service. We have been reminded that America is still a nation of law and religious conviction, as Alexis de Tocqueville first "discovered" nearly two centuries ago. For a man such as John O'Connor who manage to serve both his God and his country (as a Naval officer), that is a most fitting final legacy.