Washington converges on Boston for Kennedy funeral

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. presidents, members of Congress and the public gathered on a rainy Saturday to say goodbye to Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in American politics who contributed to major social changes in the United States over the last 50 years.

Senators and U.S. representatives of both political parties joined the large Irish-American Kennedy clan, the country's pre-eminent political dynasty, at a Roman Catholic basilica for a funeral where President Barack Obama was to deliver the eulogy.

Dozens of lawmakers from the last several decades -- many of whom had been Kennedy's fiercest foes on legislation -- attended the traditional Catholic funeral Mass in the stone, 130-year-old Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica.

Mourners -- from Hollywood star Jack Nicholson to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer -- packed the white and gold interior of the church beneath soaring arches and stained glass.

Obama and former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton sat at the front with their wives.

Since Kennedy's death on Tuesday of brain cancer at age 77, Americans have staged a series of memorials to the last of the Kennedy brothers, and his death has been treated like the passing of a president.

Kennedy's casket will be flown to Washington after the funeral and taken to Arlington National Cemetery to be buried close to his brothers, former President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy, who were assassinated in the 1960s.

Edward Kennedy's early career was overshadowed by the lives and deaths of John and Robert, but he went on to serve nearly 47 years in the Senate, where he became a champion of liberal Democrats and was both reviled and respected by conservative Republicans.

'WHERE WOULD I BE?'

"Where would I be as a black man without the Kennedys? They believe in civil rights and that's why I am here to honour this great man," said Clint Haymon, one of hundreds of mourners gathered outside the church despite a steady rain.

"We had to come here. He committed a lot of his time to causes we believe in," said Douglas Geer, 43, of Walpole, Massachusetts, the father of an autistic child. "Our child benefited from his work."

Boston police opened a blocked sidewalk and spectators ran to get a spot. Across the street, families leaned out windows from a row of three-story apartment buildings.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma was to play and opera star Placido Domingo sing in the funeral at the basilica in a working class section of Boston.

Kennedy chose Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica because it was where he prayed daily while his daughter Kara, now 49, was at nearby hospital battling lung cancer in 2003.

On Friday, dignitaries from both sides of the political aisle attended an invitation-only memorial service at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library that was punctuated by teary remembrances, funny anecdotes and song.

That followed a two-day public viewing that drew more than 50,000 mourners -- so many that security had to turn people away.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing Anthony Boadle)

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