Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. honored late conservative leader Charlie Kirk at his Sunday memorial service, telling the tens of thousands in attendance at the Arizona gathering that he was a man whose faith and devotion to free speech left a lasting mark on American life.
“Charlie’s overarching passion was his Christianity and his devotion to his God,” Kennedy said. “He believed what Saint Francis taught us almost a thousand years ago — that we should strive to live our lives in perfect imitation of Christ. Charlie understood the paradox that it’s only by surrender to God that God’s power can flow into our lives and make us effective human beings.”
Kennedy reflected on Kirk’s untimely death on Sept. 10 at age 31, drawing a parallel to the life of Christ. “Christ died at 33 years old, but he changed the trajectory of history. Charlie died at 31 years old, but because he had surrendered, he also now has changed the trajectory of history,” he said.
Beyond faith, Kennedy said Kirk’s second passion was the defense of free speech.
“He understood that the free flow of information was the soil, the water, the sunlight for democracy,” Kennedy said. “He thought conversation was the only way to heal our country. … The only way to develop community was through conversation.”
The secretary recalled how Kirk welcomed opposing voices. “He always gave the biggest microphone to the people who were most passionately aligned against him, because he believed that we need to talk to each other,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also shared a personal story about loss, recalling his mother’s words after his brother’s death: “It never gets any smaller. But our job is to grow ourselves bigger around the hole. … We also give a kind of immortality to the person who left us, because their work continues through us.”
In closing, Kennedy recalled a 2021 conversation with Kirk about the risks of challenging entrenched power. “He asked me if I was scared of dying. And I said, there’s a lot worse things than death. … Sometimes the best consolation we can hope for is that we get to die with our boots on. Well, Charlie died with his boots on.”
Kennedy added that Kirk’s friendships themselves were proof of God’s love: “For those of us who were friends with Charlie, we don’t need any more evidence of the love of God, because the friendship is the best evidence that God loves us all.”
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