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Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass) comes to West Virginia today for his first serious bit of campaigning for the state's May 10 Democratic presidential primary.

His opponent, Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey (D-Minn) already on the scene, will move deeper into southern West Virginia today. There is little chance the paths of the two candidates will cross.

Kennedy will make a combination auto-airplane whirlwind tour of Parkersburg, Charleston, Huntington and Beckley during his one-day appearance in West Virginia.

Humphrey will continue to stump the state by chartered bus, leaving Charleston at 5 a.m. for a trip which will take him through the southern coal fields with stops at Logan, Man, Oceana, Pineville, Welch and Bluefield.

Kennedy will fly to Parkersburg, arriving there in time for an 8 a.m. coffee session and rally before proceeding by air south to Charleston.

He is due to arrive at Kanawha Airport at 9:45 a.m., then go to Morris Harvey College, where he will deliver an address in and answer questions in the college auditorium. The program will be open to the public.

At 11 a. m., he will hold a half-hour press conference on the steps of the State Capitol Building here, then he will tour downtown streets and visit Frankenberger's store on Capitol St.

At 12:30, he will have lunch at the Kanawha Hotel, where his local political headquarters are located.

He will travel by auto from Charleston to Huntington and then will fly on to Beckley for an evening speech.

Although Kennedy has been absent, there has been activity on his behalf in the state. Former Rep. Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. was in West Virginia over the weekend putting in a plug for Kennedy.

At Logan Saturday in the heart of the southern mine fields where the name Franklin D. Roosevelt Sr. is almost revered among older miners, Roosevelt urged the voters not to let religion influence their choice.

"As a Protestant," Roosevelt said, "I urge all my fellow protestants not to make a religious issue in the West Virginia campaign.

"Our Constitution clearly guarantees that there be no religious test for holding office, and I hope this will be kept in mind in this election."

Kennedy is a Roman Catholic. Humphrey is a Congregationalist. West Virginia is 95 per cent Protestant. Most of the Catholics live in the northern part of the state.

Humphrey has kept the question of religion out of his West Virginia speeches.

The May 10 primary will serve as a popularity test. Its outcome will not bind any of West Virginia's 25 votes at the Democratic National Convention.

The primary is expected to shed some light on a question that haunts many Democratic professionals.

Would the election chances of Kennedy, if he were to become the first Roman Catholic presidential nominee in 32 years, be seriously hurt by his religion?

Presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey found himself in a Charleston church Sunday night - and took the occasion to denounce "super-patriots," Communism, the Eisenhower Administration, and poverty in West Virginia.

Humphrey's sister, an official of the national United Nations Assn., had been scheduled to speak to the Kanawha Valley Unitarian Fellowship here, but became ill and couldn't make it.

Juggling his tight campaign schedule, the Minnesota senator took her place, missing his dinner and arriving at the North Charleston church 45 minutes late.

He attacked the Eisenhower Administration's reluctance to spend money for programs to relieve unemployment and for other welfare plans.

"There are a few things in West Virginia that need doing," he said ironically. "The President ought to quit going to Augusta and come down here and see the economic conditions I saw today.

"I thought I had seen hovels in Moscow... This nation wallows in its prosperity, but refuses to help those in need.

"There doesn't need to be one family in America that is hungry, or homeless, or without enough clothing..."

He also discussed Communism, saying:

"Mr. Khrushchev is one of the fairest opponents we've ever faced. He keeps remind us of what he intends to do - bury us.

"The super-patriots tell us that this is the vodka-drinking fat boy, but they are wrong. They are the dangerous ones in our nation..."

Humphrey also disparaged the "suicidal" arms race, calling for all-out disarmament efforts to avert the possibility of an "accidental war."

"Within 24 months, Red China will be in the nuclear club, and then if we get hit by an atomic missile, we won't even know where it came from...

"We don't put enough money into disarmament to qualify even as amateurs. For every $8,000 we spend for arms, we spend one penny for disarmament...

"If I sound cynical, I am."

Earlier Sunday, the Minnesota Democratic candidate said that if pictures of some of the conditions he has seen in West Virginia were shown around the world "it would make American democracy look pretty sick."

He was referring to the Cabin Creek area about 25 miles southeast of here, that he stopped at Friday while campaigning in the southern part of the state. The closing down of mines there has left many men unemployed, and they and their families are just getting by on free food from the government.

In a news conference, Humphrey was asked if he had found at Cabin Creek and similar areas what he had been led to expect from other reports. His reply was:

"I was not quite psychologically or emotionally prepared for it. I don't believe an American can see this and be satisfied. If the Soviet newspapers would take pictures of these conditions and show them around the world, it would make American democracy look pretty sick."

Humphrey had just returned here today, in Parkersburg, spent Friday and Saturday in the state. He will resume his tour today of the southern coal fields, with stops at Logan, Man, Oceana, Pineville, Welch and Bluefield.

His opponent in the West Virginia Democratic presidential primary May 10, Sen. John Kennedy, will also be campaigning here from Washington. He had Charleston, Huntington and Beckley.

Humphrey criticized the Republican Administration for not intervening to get something done about conditions such as those at Cabin Creek.

"It seems to me it would be helpful, and it is long overdue, for the President of the United States or the vice president, or one of the members of the Cabinet, to tour this area and make a direct report to the Congress. We have a government today that just doesn't care - and I repeat that - just doesn't care."

"I hope I'll get support from all sorts of people in the state. If anybody wants to support me, and do it with honor, up and above board, I will welcome it, whoever may be, as long as they are honorable, decent, and good American citizens."

Humphrey will continue his stumping by chartered bus today, leaving here at 5 a. m. for his trip through the southern section.