Vatican reverses Kennedy annulment

BOSTON, June 21 (UPI) -- The Vatican has reversed the annulment of former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II's marriage, in a victory for his ex-wife.

Shelia Rauch Kennedy had appealed the Archdiocese of Boston's annulment of her marriage to Kennedy, with whom she has twin sons. She told the Boston Globe she felt vindicated by the Vatican's decision.

"When you try to defend your marriage, the army that comes after you is pretty brutal," Rauch Kennedy told the Globe. "You're accused of being a vindictive ex-wife, an alcoholic bigot, an idiot."

Rauch and Kennedy married in 1979 and divorced in 1991. In 1993, Kennedy married a former aide and sought an annulment. At the time he said he wanted it so that he could take communion.

Rauch Kennedy, who is an Episcopalian, said she fought the annulment "almost entirely because we had two children."

"I felt we had a very good marriage in the beginning," she told the Globe. "The children were conceived and born in that marriage and for a number of years, before it unraveled, it worked. That was something I felt was very true."

The Globe said Rauch Kennedy's book "Shattered Faith," helped end Kennedy's political career.