The Pope's latest move
Pro-life leaders shocked by removal of Cardinal Burke from important Vatican post
· Mon Dec 16, 2013 20:09 EST
VATICAN CITY, December 16, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This morning the Vatican announced confirmations and new appointments to the important Congregation for Bishops leaving Cardinal Burke off the list. The news has shocked pro-life leaders for whom Burke has been the top ally in the Vatican curia in the work to restore a culture of life.
Burke has been known for his outspoken championing of the high priority that Popes Benedict and John Paul II gave to the Church’s pro-life and pro-family teachings. He has especially been both praised and criticized for his frequent insistence that persistently pro-abortion Catholic politicians must be denied Holy Communion according to Canon law requirements which Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became pope, directed the US bishops to follow.
The Vatican release confirmed Cardinal Marc Ouellet as the head of the Congregation of Bishops and also appointed Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl, and Westminster UK Cardinal Vincent Nichols among others as new members to the Congregation. Another American Cardinal who was retained on the Congregation is Cardinal William Levada.
Virginia Nunziante, the head of Italy’s March for Life has a special place in her heart for Cardinal Burke since he is the only Bishop in Italy to march in the March for Life, even though he’s at the Vatican rather than in Italy. The news of Burke’s being removed from the Congregation of Bishops, she described as “a tragedy.”
“Cardinal Burke has been for us an inspiration,” Nunziate told LifeSiteNews. While other Vatican and Italian bishops send statements, only Cardinal Burke has thus far joined the march. Nunziate hoped that the surprise appearance of Pope Francis at the march in May this year would encourage other bishops to participate publicly.
“We hope that Pope Francis will appoint some other very good pro-life bishops or cardinals in key positions in the Vatican because what we really need today is men who are courageous like Cardinal Burke has been in going into the public square,” she said. “We hope there will be others who will follow in his path.”
John Smeaton, President of the UK Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, told LifeSiteNews, "Cardinal Raymond Burke is a giant man of the Catholic Church and a fearless defender of unborn children, whom Mother Teresa rightly called the poorest of the poor.”
“While other leading churchmen downplay or dismiss the priority to be given to the right to life of babies before birth, billions of whom have been killed in recent years, Cardinal Burke stands strong and says such an attitude is wrong,” Smeaton added. “We need churchmen like Cardinal Burke to become bishops and so it's puzzling and disappointing to see him lost to the Congregation for Bishops which has the responsibility for appointing good bishops and to see other men appointed who don't have Cardinal Burke's clear commitment to the greatest human rights issue of the day and the gravest crisis facing the Catholic Church today.”
Cardinal Burke at the Rome March for Life
Jim Hughes, President of Campaign Life Coalition Canada told LifeSiteNews Cardinal Burke, “is a fine guy, and we think the world of him.” “We’re sorry he won’t be (on the Congregation for Bishops) and hope Pope Francis has a good reason for the move. I hope it’s not because of (Burke’s) strong conservative views.”
US Catholic pro-life leader Deal Hudson called the removal of Cardinal Burke from the Congregation “a very disappointing decision.” Cardinal Burke, said Hudson, “is looked upon by Catholics in America as one of our most important spiritual leaders. He is the top ranking American member of the curia. To be removed from this congregation can send only one message. And that being that Cardinal Burke should have less influence and that is not good news to us here in the United States.”
Austin Ruse, President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute which does pro-life and pro-family lobbying at the United Nations, told LifeSiteNews, I am heartbroken that Cardinal Burke is being shunted aside.” Ruse added, “This is the worst Church news I have heard in many a long while. He is such a good and kind man and he has made a strong impression on the American episcopacy. He will be sorely missed in that role.”
Ave Maria School of Law’s pro-life activist priest Fr. Michael Orsi was awed by Cardinal Burke who visited the Law School to make a presentation. Fr. Orsi called Burke a preeminent scholar and one of the few who step up to support canon 915 which is the basis in Church law for denying pro-abortion politicians Holy Communion.
Fr. Orsi told LifeSiteNews he was actually hoping Cardinal Burke would have been elected Pope. He sees in the move to remove Cardinal Burke a “tone from the top filtering down.” He said, “I think the tone from the top is to downplay the abortion debate. The present Pope seems to be someone who wants to turn down the volume.
Burke was moved out, said Fr. Orsi, because of his pro-life stance that pro-abortion politicians should be excommunicated.
That opinion is similar to the appraisal of Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane, Wash., who, speaking on the selection of bishops under Pope Francis, told the New York Times last month: “Pope Francis doesn’t want cultural warriors, he doesn’t want ideologues.”
Pro-life leaders in Latin America were incredulous at the news of Burke’s ouster. Christine Vollmer, President of the Latin American Alliance for the Family told LifeSiteNews that there must be some mistake. “We all know that there is a struggle going on within the Curia and certainly a lot of disinformation,” she said. “The Holy Father is new to this amazing situation and evidently was given the wrong brief.”
Vollmer concluded, “We must all pray that Cardinal Burke will be reestablished where he can be a real help to our Pope.”
Cardinal Burke, a world renowned expert in canon law, remains the head of the Apostolic Signitura, a type of final appeals court in the Vatican.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on
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Oh shoot, double post. I didn't see this till now.
Keep them both up. It's worthy of two posts! If someone misses one they will hopefully not miss the other.
This shows just what Francis the destroyer is all about!!!
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Permalink Reply by Cathleen on
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And instead we get Cardinal Wuerl...... :-p
"May God arise and let His enemies be scattered. Let those who hate Him flee from before His Face."
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And And Allen calls Wuerl a 'moderate' - good grief. As a friend remined me, Wuerl is the bishop who suspended Fr. Guarnizo for not giving Holy Communion to a practicing lesbian Buddhist - jv (John Vennari)
Preparing a generation of 'Francis bishops'
RomePope Francis is celebrating his 77th birthday in relatively quiet fashion, which isn't stopping others from marking the occasion -- including, improbably enough, the pro-gay magazine The Advocate, which named him its Person of the Year.
In truth, however, Francis had already given himself a major birthday present 24 hours before by shaking up the membership of the Congregation for Bishops in order to lay the groundwork for a new generation of "Francis bishops."
In the United States, attention was understandably focused on the nomination of Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and the effective removal of Cardinal Raymond Burke, president of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's supreme court. Putting in the moderate Wuerl and taking the strongly conservative Burke off couldn't help but seem a signal of the kind of bishop Francis intends to elevate in the United States.
As pope, however, Francis is responsible not just for the 6 percent of the world's Catholic population that lives in the United States, but the whole shooting match, 1.2 billion faithful all over the planet.
In that regard, it's worth looking at the other appointments Francis made Monday to the Congregation for Bishops -- 30 in all, including 12 new members and confirmations for 18 prelates who already sat on the body.
For the sake of analysis, two assumptions need to be stipulated:
· The 12 new members best reflect Francis' personal touch, given that most of the 18 confirmations were for Vatican personnel whose jobs generally entitle them to a seat at the table;
· The kind of man Francis picks for the Congregation for Bishops is, in effect, a proxy for the kind of bishops he wants this panel to identify.
If those postulates are correct, we can draw some early conclusions about what a "Francis bishop" looks like -- ideological moderates with the broad support of their fellow bishops and a real commitment to the social Gospel.
From Mexico, Francis turned not to Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, generally seen as a John Paul II protégé and a champion of the church's conservative wing, but to Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega of Guadalajara, who comes from a working-class family in Jalisco and, though he's never been part of the liberation theology movement, has good relationships with progressive sectors of the Mexican church.
Robles commands the respect of his brother bishops, having been elected in November 2012 to take over as president of the episcopal conference. He's also drawn good marks for his candor and lack of defensiveness, among other things offering an apology in a recent homily for "the scandals of those who lead the church."
From Colombia, Francis tapped Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez, who has occasionally come under fire for alleged waffling on the church's moral teachings.
In 2011, he drew criticism for voicing qualified support for the de-penalization of drugs, and in 2012, he was compelled by the Vatican's Secretariat of State to amend comments implying acceptance of the de-penalization of abortion in three cases anticipated by Colombian law, including rape, incest and threats to the life of the mother.
Despite those controversies, Salazar too has the support of his fellow bishops, having twice been elected president of the Colombian conference.
From Westminster in the United Kingdom, Francis elevated Archbishop Vincent Nichols, generally seen as a doctrinal and political moderate who has been criticized from the right in the U.K., among other things, for his allegedly lukewarm support for the old Latin Mass and for the new structure created under Benedict XVI to welcome former Anglicans into the Catholic church.
On the other hand, admirers say Nichols is a gifted administrator and builder of consensus who serves as the elected president of the bishop's conference in England and Wales.
In terms of new Vatican personnel named to the Congregation for Bishops, Francis added several of his own nominations, including his new secretary of state, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, and the new prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, Archbishop Beniamino Stella. Both are veteran Italian diplomats known for pragmatic and generally nonideological approaches.
Francis also tapped two Vatican officials he inherited from Benedict XVI, including one, Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Religious, who has occasionally come under fire for allegedly being too soft, including in the Vatican's ongoing examination of American nuns.
His efforts to promote reconciliation with religious women began even before he got to Rome in an interview he gave to NCR the day his Vatican appointment was announced.
"I want to learn from them and walk with them," he said of the sisters. "You have to see people up close, get to know them, what will help them overcome whatever problem there is."
Certainly no one can accuse Bráz de Aviz of having lived a sheltered life, disconnected from the sufferings of ordinary people in the developing world.As a young priest, Bráz de Aviz was once on his way to a village to say Mass when he stumbled upon an armored car robbery. He was shot during the crossfire, with bullets perforating his lungs and intestines and one eye. Although he survived and surgeons were able to save his eye, he still carries fragments of those bullets in his body.
To be sure, Francis did not exactly flush out the more conservative elements from the congregation. For instance, he confirmed Cardinal George Pell of Australia, who's also a member of the pope's Council of Cardinals, as well as Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and known around Rome as the "little Ratzinger" -- not only because of his diminutive size, but also his affinity for Benedict's doctrinal views.
No doubt, Francis thinks it's important to maintain some balance, helping to ensure that bishops around the world are capable of understanding the concerns of all types of Catholics.
There's equally no doubt, however, that as of Monday, Francis shifted the center of the gravity inside the body responsible for selecting bishops towards the middle -- not just with the American members, as it turns out, but across the board.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/preparing-generation-francis-bishops
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