GitWH 1

Kennedy made the statement that religion should not affect their choice for president, he said this because he was catholic, and the majority of American voters were Protestant, the air of religious opposition rejected the ideas of the Vatican and this made the majority see the Catholics as controlled by the church. Kennedy assured that he would never let the church control his actions or ideas.

As for if a modern candidate, I don't think that it's possible for a modern candidate to say something like that, I would say that we need at least a decade before the idea of a non-Christian candidate to give such a speech. This is because despite the increase of non-religious persons over the years, there are still the older, more religious generations who are still in control of the government.