Cardinal Burke - a voice of traditionalism and orthodoxy
Raymond Leo Burke (born June 30, 1948) is an American cardinal prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is an archbishop and the patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He served as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri, from 2003 to 2008 and as the bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, from 1995 to 2004. He was Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura from June 2008 until November 2014.
A canon lawyer, Burke is often perceived as a voice of traditionalism and orthodoxy among prelates of the Catholic Church. He established a reputation as a conservative leader while serving in La Crosse and St. Louis. He is a major proponent of the Tridentine Mass, having frequently offered it and conferred ordination on traditionist priests. Burke has criticized what he sees as deficiencies in the newer Mass of Paul VI. Burke is frequently seen as the de facto leader of the Church's conservative wing.
Burke has publicly clashed with Pope Francis, vigorously opposing attempts by other bishops to relax Church attitudes towards gay people and those Catholics who have divorced and remarried outside the Church. He has expressed skepticism and criticism towards attempts by Pope Francis and other bishops to do so. Burke once mentioned the possible need to "formally correct" the Pope in relation to Amoris laetitia. on September 26, 2015, the Vatican announced that Burke had been reappointed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, from which he had been removed in December 2013, but not to his more influential positions on the Congregation for Bishops and the Apostolic Signatura. In 2016, he was not reappointed as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
In February 6, 2017, Burke was sidelined as the Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta when Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu as his special delegate to the Order with exclusive responsibility for the duties normally exercised by the Patron. on February 21, 2017, Albrecht von Boeselager, the Order's Grand Chancellor, announced that this meant Burke was "de facto suspended" from the Patronage. He was reappointed by Pope Francis as a rank and file member of the Apostolic Signatura in September 2017.
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