Raymond Leo Burke

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Most Rev. Raymond Leo Burke

Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Senior posting
See	Saint Louis
Title	Archbishop of Saint Louis
Period in office	January 26, 2004—
Predecessor	Justin Francis Rigali
Religious career
Priestly ordination	June 29, 1975
Previous post	Bishop of La Crosse
Personal
Date of birth	June 30, 1948 (1948-06-30) (age 59)
Place of birth	Richland Center, Wisconsin

Raymond Leo Burke (born June 30, 1948) is an U.S prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is currently Archbishop of Saint Louis, having previously served as Bishop of La Crosse from 1994 to 2003.

Archbishop Burke is seen as one of the more orthodox and outspoken bishops within the Catholic Church. Within the Roman Curia, he is a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court in the Catholic Church.

Contents 1 Background 2 Priestly Ministry 3 Episcopal Ministry 4 Controversies 4.1 2004 Presidential Election 4.2 Sheryl Crow concert 4.3 St. Louis University faculty 5 Published works 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Background

Raymond Leo Burke was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, the youngest of the six children of Thomas (d. July 21, 1956) and Marie (d. February 29, 1996) Burke. Baptized on the following July 11, he received his first Communion on May 13, 1956. The family later moved to Stratford, where Burke was confirmed by Bishop John P. Treacy on April 5, 1962. From 1962 to 1968 he attended the Holy Cross Seminary in La Crosse, Wisconsin. From 1968 to 1971 Burke studied at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where he is now a member of the Board of Trustees. He then completed his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from 1971 to 1975. Pope Paul VI ordained Burke to the priesthood on June 29, 1975, at Saint Peter's Basilica.

[edit] Priestly Ministry

After his ordination to the priesthood, he was first assigned as assistant rector of the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He also taught religion at Aquinas High School in La Crosse, where a new addition built in 1996 - 1997, the Bishop Burke Hall, was named in his honor. ^[1] From 1980 to 1984, Burke studied canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he received his licenciate and doctorate. He then returned to La Crosse and was named the Moderator of the Curia as well as the Vice Chancellor of the La Crosse Diocese. In 1989, Pope John Paul II assigned Burke to be the first U.S Defender of the Bond of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial court in the Catholic Church.

[edit] Episcopal Ministry

Styles of Raymond Leo Burke
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Your Excellency
Posthumous style	not applicable

On December 10, 1994, Pope John Paul II named Burke Bishop of La Crosse, consecrating him to the episcopate on January 6, 1995 in St. Peter's Basilica.^[2] Bishop Burke took possession of the See of La Crosse on February 22, 1995.^[3] During his time in La Crosse, he founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.^[4][5][6] In 2000, Bishop Burke convened the fifth diocesan synod for the Diocese of La Crosse. Synod V, Acts: celebrated June 11-14, 2000/ Diocese of La Crosse, published by the Diocese of La Crosse, (circa 2003) were the documents of the fifth diocesan synod that were published.^[7] In 2002, Bishop Burke was influential in founding the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, an order of Augustinian canons dedicated to the pre-Vatican II Latin liturgy.^[8]

He served as the Bishop of La Crosse until December 2, 2003, when he was named as successor to Justin Rigali, who had been appointed to be the Archbishop of Philadelphia.^{[9][10][11][12]} He was formally installed on January 26, 2004. Not long thereafter, Burke was presented with the pallium on June 29, 2004 by Pope John Paul II. In St. Louis, Burke has given particular emphasis to the promotion of vocations to the ministerial priesthood; he also publishes a column in the archdiocesan weekly newspaper, the Saint Louis Review. In both La Crosse and St. Louis, Burke has established oratories for those who attend the Tridentine Rite. He has invited traditionalist Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest into his dioceses and has ordained priests for the group. His ordination of two traditionalist priests on June 15, 2007, was the first time in 40 years that the Tridentine rite of ordination had been used in the cathedral.^[13] In July 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Burke to be a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura^[14], the highest court in the Catholic Church. He issued a statement, in line with Catholic moral precepts, opposing embryonic stem cell research when an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that allows it was narrowly passed by voters there.

On June 25, 2007, Burke accompanied Seán Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, on a trip to Rome, where the prelates reviewed Pope Benedict's impending motu proprio Summorum Pontificum granting greater freedom for the use of the Tridentine Rite^{[15] [16]}.

When he was still bishop of La Crosse, Burke initiated a plan to construct a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas. The spacious church, designed in the Renaissance style, is due for completion by July 31, 2008. The archbishop has also installed a prominent shrine to the Sacred Heart in the diocesan cathedral. Both projects represent his desire to foster the sacred arts and to encourage spiritual devotions which have long been characteristic of Catholicism.^[17]

On May 6, 2008 Pope Benedict XVI named Burke to two Vatican offices, increasing Burke's already prominent stature in Rome.

Burke was named to the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which interprets canon, or church, law and also assigned to the Congregation for the Clergy, which regulates the formation and training of diocesan priests and deacons.

The Congregation for the Clergy is one of nine congregations in the Roman Curia, as the church government is known. The Council for Legislative Texts is one of 11 pontifical councils in the Curia.^[18]

[edit] Controversies

Burke is seen by some as one of the more controversial bishops in the United States. Among the reasons are his position regarding the political actions of Catholics who hold public office, and his disputes with St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Saint Louis.

A few priests in the Diocese of La Crosse have claimed that Burke's leadership there was divisive. Richard Dickman, who had served as pastor of St. Mary's Church in Tomah, Wisconsin stated in a resignation letter that "I can no longer minister as a priest in this diocese and retain a sense of integrity. I find that my conscience is in conflict with the vision of ministry characterized by the bishop I have promised to obey. I am in an impossible position."^[19]

[edit] 2004 Presidential Election

During the 2004 presidential election, Burke publicly stated that John Kerry and other Catholic politicians who vote pro-choice should not receive the Eucharist^[20]. This statement was based mainly on two canons of Catholic Canon Law, which state that ministers of Holy Communion should not administer the Eucharist to people who obstinately and publicly persist in some serious sin.^[21] and that those who are conscious of being in a state of grave sin (as determined by Catholic doctrine) should not receive the Eucharist.^[22] Burke had articulated the same position while he was in La Crosse but the statements made as Archbishop of St. Louis gained more notice and added to his controversial reputation. He is one of a small number of bishops who have declared that they would refuse Communion to such politicians.

He also stated that Catholic voters who supported pro-choice candidates were committing grave sin and shouldn't receive Communion without first having their sin absolved through the Sacrament of Penance. Later, Burke clarified his position to state that one could vote for a pro-choice politician and not commit a mortal sin, if one believed there was a more significant moral issue than abortion at hand, but had also stated that he could not think what sort of issue would qualify ^[23].

[edit] Sheryl Crow concert

On April 25, 2007, after singer Sheryl Crow, a pro-choice supporter, was scheduled to perform at a benefit concert for the Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, Archbishop Burke resigned as chair of the hospital foundation's board of directors^[24].

Deeming this a scandal, Burke claimed that to have the hospital host Crow would give "the impression that the Church is somehow inconsistent in its teaching." The Saint Louis archbishop reportedly asked that her invitation be privately removed, but then felt compelled to submit his resignation when Crow's performance at the concert was confirmed^[25].

[edit] St. Louis University faculty

On January 22, 2008, Archbishop Burke urged St. Louis University to take disciplinary action against its head basketball coach, Rick Majerus, after Majerus publicly supported the rights of abortion and stem cell research at a campaign event for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton three days earlier^[26].

With St. Louis University being run by the Society of Jesus, Burke responded by saying, "When you take a position in a Catholic university, you don't have to embrace everything the Catholic Church teaches. But you can't make statements which call into question the identity and mission of the Catholic Church." St. Louis spokesman Jeff Fowler responded to Burke's statement thus: "Rick's comments were his own personal view. They were made at an event he did not attend as a university representative"^[27].

Burke again responded to the controversy aroused by his statements in an interview with the archdiocesan newspaper, The St. Louis Review, on the following February 1^[28]. The Archbishop said, "It gives scandal to other people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, if they hear a Catholic give an interview to the media, saying that I am proud to be a Catholic but at the same time I hold these views." When asked about his usually outspoken manner in controversial issues, he responded, "Is there something unusual about a bishop saying that it’s wrong to be in favor of procured abortion? I’m a Roman Catholic priest and bishop. What else would you expect me to say?"

[edit] Published works

• Lack of discretion of judgment because of schizophrenia: doctrine and recent rotal jurisprudence, Doctoral Dissertation, (Rome: Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1986). See also "Defectus discretionis iudicii propter schizophreniam: Doctrina et recens iurisprudentia," Periodica, 73 (1984) 555-570; and "Lack of Discretion of Judgment: Canonical Doctrine and Legislation," in The Jurist, 45 (1985) 171-209.
• "Canon 1095, 1° and 2°," in Incapacity for marriage: Jurisprudence and Interpretation, Acts of the III Gregorian Collguium, Robert M. Sable, coordinator and editor (Rome: Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1987).
• In I procedimenti speciali nel diritto canonico, Studi giuridici 27 (Vatican City: Libreria editrice Vaticana, 1992): "La procedura amministrativa per la dichiarazione di nullità del matrimonio," 93-105, and "Il processo di dispensa dal matrimonio rato e non consummato: la grazia pontificia e la sua natura," 135-144.
• "The Application of Canon 1095 and sacramental-pastoral activity concerning marriage," in Ius in vita et in missione Ecclesiæ, Acta Symposii internationalis iuris canonici occurrente X anniversario promulgationis Codicis iuris canonici diebus 19-24 aprilis 1993 in Civitate Vaticana celebrati, Pontificia Concilium de legum textibus interpretandis (Vatican City: Libreria editrice Vaticana, 1994) 1095-1102.
• "The Distinction of Personnel in Hierarchically Related Tribunals," in Studia canonica, 28 (1994) 85-98.
• "Canon 1421: The Nullity of a Decision by a Single Lay Judge," [1994] in Arthur J. Espelage, OFM (ed.), CLSA Advisory Opinions 1994-2000 (Washington, DC: CLSA, 2002) 451-452.
• "Canons 1421-1422 and 1435-1436: The Exercise of the Office of Judge or Defender of the Bond by a Priest on Leave of Absence from Priestly Ministry," [1995, co-authored with Joseph R. Punderson] in Arthur J. Espelage, OFM (ed.), CLSA Advisory Opinions 1994-2000 (Washington, DC: CLSA, 2002) 453-454.
• "La confessio iudicialis e le dichiarizioni giudiziali delle parti," in I mezzi di prova nelle cause matrimoniali secondo la giurisprudenza rotale, Studi Giuridici XXXVIII (Vatican City: Libreria editrice Vaticana, 1995) 15-30.
• Commentary on the July 12, 1993, Decree of the Apostolic Signatura relating to the qualifications of advocates, Canadian Canon Law Society Newsletter, 21 (1996) 9-13.
• "Canon Law at the Service of the New Evangelization," given on the occasion of receiving the Role of Law Award from the Canon Law Society of America, in Canon Law Society of America Proceedings, 62 (2000) 497-500; introductory remarks of gratitude, 495-496.
• "On Our Civic Responsibility for the Common Good," (Saint Louis: Archdiocese of Saint Louis, 2004).
• "Canon 915: The Discipline Regarding the Denial of Holy Communion to Those Obstinately Persevering in Manifest Grave Sin," in Periodica, 96 (2007) 3-58.

[edit] External links

• The Archdiocese of St. Louis - Biography of Archbishop Burke
• The Church of St. Agatha - Polish Roman Catholic
• Aquinas High School La Crosse, Wisconsin
• Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wisconsin

[edit] References

Preceded by John Joseph Paul	Bishop of La Crosse 1994–2003	Succeeded by Jerome Edward Listecki
Preceded by Justin Rigali	Archbishop of Saint Louis 2004 – present	Incumbent