Raymond Leo Burke
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Archbishop Raymond Burke |
Archbishop
Raymond Leo Burke (b.
30 June,
1948) is the current
Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis,
Missouri. He has served as Archbishop of St. Louis since
26 January,
2004. He previously served as Bishop of the
Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Burke is seen as one of more controversial bishops in the United States, due to his political stances, as well as because of a very public dispute with the lay board of directors of a former parish of the
Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Archbishop Burke was born in
Richland Center, Wisconsin on June 30, 1948. The son of Thomas F. and Marie B. Burke, he was the youngest of six children. He grew up in
Stratford, Wisconsin in
Marathon County. 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, Italy from 1971 to 1975.
Pope Paul VI ordained Burke to the priesthood on
June 29,
1975 at
Saint Peter's Basilica.
After ordination, his first assignment was as assistant rector at the
Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman in
La Crosse, Wisconsin. He also taught religion at
Aquinas High School in La Crosse, where a hall is now named in his honor. From 1980 to 1984, Burke studied
canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he received his
license 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
American Defender of the Bond of the Supreme Tribunal of the
Apostolic Signatura, the highest court in the church.
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Archbishop Burke's Coat of Arms. |
In 1994, the Pope named Burke to be the head of the Diocese of La Crosse. Burke was ordained by the Pope as a bishop on
January 6,
1995 at St. Peter's Basilica. He was formally installed in office on
February 22,
1995. During his time in La Crosse, he founded the
Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1997, Bishop Burke approved the founding of the
Franciscan Servants of Jesus, a
Roman Catholic religious order for women, whose mother house was in
Prescott, Wisconsin. However, he suppressed the group in 2003 and it is no longer in existence. In 2002, Bishop Burke founded the
Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, an order of Augustinian canons dedicated to the traditional Latin rite. He served as the Bishop of La Crosse until
December 2,
2003, when he was named as the replacement for
Justin Cardinal Rigali, who had been reassigned to be the
Archbishop of Philadelphia. He was formally installed as Archbishop of St. Louis 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 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 Archbishop Burke has established churches for Catholics attached to the older Latin ("Tridentine") form of the Mass and sacraments. He has invited into his dioceses the traditionalist Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and ordained priests for the order. In
July 2006,
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Burke to be a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the
Apostolic Signatura[
1], the highest court in the Catholic Church.
Archbishop Burke is seen as a controversial figure to some Catholics in the United States. This is because of positions he has taken regarding the political actions of Catholics who hold public office, as well as a dispute with the lay board of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Church in St. 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 leader 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." [
2]
2004 Presidential Election
During the 2004 presidential election season, Burke publicly stated that
John Kerry and other Catholic politicians who vote
pro-choice should not receive the
Eucharist. He has also stated that Catholic voters who support a candidate because of the candidate's
pro-choice position are committing
grave sin and should also not receive
Communion without first having their sin absolved through the
sacrament of
Penance. This made the Archbishop a controversial figure nationally. It also made him one of a small number of bishops who declared that they would deny communion to such politicans if they attempted to receive it. Burke had articulated the same position while he was the bishop of La Crosse.
His actions during this time were seen by some as evidence that the Church was abandoning the careful neutrality that it normally maintained during election campaigns. While some Catholics hailed his courage for denying communion to Catholic politicians who hold pro-choice positions, others have criticized the Archbishop for what they see as undue interference in the electoral process.
St. Stanislaus Kostka Church
Another controversy Archbishop Burke was involved in concerned the governance of
St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, a
parish serving the
Polish community in
St. Louis.
The controversy centered around a change that the lay board of directors of the civil corporation of the
parish had made to the corporate bylaws in the early 1980's. This change placed the lay board in complete control of the funds and property of the
parish. However, the
canonical norm is for the
pastor, with the collaboration of the parish finance council, to control parish assets. Shortly after he became Archbishop of St. Louis, Burke mandated that the board of directors had to restore the original
parish bylaws in order to conform to
canon law.
Their refusal to comply eventually led to the
automatic excommunication of the lay board for the offense of
schism and the canonical suppression of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, since it operated independently of the
Holy See and the Archdiocese.
St. Agatha Church was designated as the new personal parish for persons of Polish language and heritage in the Archdiocese.
*Burke, Raymond L.;
Lack of discretion of judgment because of schizophrenia: doctrine and recent rotal jurisprudence, Pontificia Universita Gregoriana,
1986.
*Burke,Raymond L. ,et.al., Sable,Robert M., coordinator and editor;
Incapacity for marriage: Jurisprudence and Interpretation/Acts of the III Gregorian Collguium,
1987.
*
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:*
"Immaculate Deception"* Gay, Malcom.
Bishop Takes Queen. Article from the Riverfront Times web site.
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2004-08-25/sidebar.html. Date Accessed:
March 25,
2006. 2006: Village Voice Media.
