Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro, a former congresswoman who in 1984 became the first woman to seek the vice presidency on a major political party ticket, died of cancer March 26 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She was 75.

She was also the first Catholic Democrat to be nominated after abortion became a significant issue in political campaigns.

A private Funeral Mass was offered March 31 at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Manhattan. Burial was in St. John’s Cemetery in Queens.

She is survived by her husband of 51 years, John Zaccaro, and her children, Donna, John Jr. and Laura.

From the first day of her campaign for vice president—as running mate of former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota—she was challenged about how she could be a “good Catholic” and vote as she did in support of legal abortion.

Throughout the campaign, she was met by pro-life protesters and regularly challenged for saying that, although she accepted Church teaching that abortion is wrong, a range of political positions on the topic could be acceptable.

In accepting the nomination for vice president, she stressed family, fairness and hard work. She traced her roots from an Italian immigrant family and was also the first Italian-American to seek the vice presidency.

She had a mixed record on issues of interest to Catholics. She always said that as a matter of conscience, she was against abortion. “I am Catholic and I accept the teachings of my faith,” she once said. But she opposed legal restrictions on abortion.

That view drew criticism from then-Archbishop John J. O’Connor of New York, who said Church teaching was very clear in opposing abortion. “I do not see how a Catholic in conscience could vote for an individual explicitly expressing himself or herself as favoring abortion,” he said.

On other issues, she received high marks for her stands on defense spending, foreign policy, human rights, jobs and food stamps. She supported tuition tax credits for parents who send their children to parochial school.

After losing the 1984 election, she became a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In 1993, President Bill Clinton named her U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. She held that post until 1996.

Born in Newburgh, she attended Marymount Manhattan College on a scholarship and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English. She earned a law degree at Jesuit-run Fordham University.

She was first elected to Congressfrom Queens in 1978.—CNS