in my VIEW Cardinal
in my VIEW Cardinal Burke wasting the Pope’s and everybody else’s time As far as Vatican controversies go, there are two brewing at the moment and American Cardinal Raymond Burke is in the middle of both of them. He served as the Archbishop of St. Louis, from 2003 to 2008, before being appointed to a couple of prestigious posts in the Vatican by Pope Benedict. He also has a title called the MICHAEL G. SARAFA SPECIAL TO THE CHALDEAN NEWS patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which I’ll come back to. In the last couple of years, Pope Francis moved him out of influential positions as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and earlier from the Congregation for Bishops, which holds sway over the appointment of new Bishops. Burke was reappointed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where his extreme orthodoxy and traditionalism will be less of a nuisance to Pope Francis. Controversy One: The Old and the Restless Burke, 68 led three other Cardinals (combined average age of 83) in drafting a letter (dubia) to Pope Francis complaining about the ambiguity and incoherence of the Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), the document that resulted from the two Synods on the Family. Dubia is a Latin word for “doubts.” The divisions created are complicated and involve modern attitudes towards marriage in the context of church sacraments and pastoral obligations. But one core controversy is this: Can remarried Catholics, who have not received an annulment, receive communion if they are technically living in “sin?” According to the dubia, the four Cardinals say this issue is black and white based on prior teachings and moral history and the answer is “no.” According to Pope Francis and to Amoris Laetitia, the answer requires discernment on a case by case basis so that those who are wounded can be accompanied on their path by a pastor who attends to his flock in the place where they are as opposed to using only moralism and rigid legality. I’ve written on this before that it’s hard for me to believe that if Jesus showed up today, this particular problem would be on the top of his mind. But this dubia letter, initially a private communication, has exposed a deep rift in the Church and the existence of a small, but emboldened, opposition group to the Pope. When Francis essentially ignored the letter, the Cardinals made it public. When it became clear that he was not going to respond, Burke, seemingly on his own, threatened a “formal correction.” This arcane term of art from canon law has not been used in centuries and refers to the Cardinal’s ability to correct a grave error or heresy by the Pope. Burke isolated himself further, even from his fellow Cardinal doubters, by going that far. For Francis’ part, he is not being petty by not responding. He simply disagrees with the premise that the Amoris Laetitia changes prior teachings. Burke is so sure of himself here that when asked if he was concerned about losing the Pope’s favor (this has already happened by the way) he said he was more concerned about the Last Judgment. If you’re divorced and remarried and active in Church, God bless you. I don’t think anyone, other these octogenarians in Rome with too much time on their hands, really cares. Controversy two: Dumb and Dumber It gets better. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is more than 1000 years old and exists to defend the faith and help the poor. They do a great deal of good around the world. It is the off shoot of the Knights Hospitaller from the 11th century that use to provide medical care for Pilgrims to the Holy Land. Cardinal Burke is their patron. This controversy is rooted in byzantine questions of hierarchy and governance questions between the Vatican and independent Catholic organizations. The Order of Malta has formal diplomatic ties with more than 100 countries and has its own stamps and passports. Here is what happened. The Grand Master (Festing) fired the Grand Chancellor (Boeselager). Why? He was overseeing a program in Myamar that, amongst other forms of help for sex slaves, involved distributing condoms. Now lest you think that Boeselager supported the program, he did not. He had already ended two similar programs, in other places, but somehow ending the program in Myamar would end a slew of other medical services to the poor. We are not talking about condom distribution at Catholic schools in Bloomfield Hills or the suburbs of Paris. This was being done in one of the most depraved places on earth where human rights violations and sexual abuses run rampant. Apparently, just as in any good bureaucracy, there are rules and Order of Malta officials cannot just be “sacked.” But one way around the rules is to seek the permission of the Vatican, which was Cardinal Burke, and Grand Master Festing did. The problem was that the Vatican’s direction was to pursue “dialogue.” Instead, with Burke present, the Order dumped Boesalager anyway. In response, the Pope commissioned a five-member panel to investigate the matter, which the Order and Burke have rejected, and say they will not cooperate with it. Set aside the stupidity of a Catholic Church that will not distribute condoms to protect against HIV and sex slave pregnancy’s in Africa, these guys are consuming themselves about the job status of someone overseeing this program from a different continent. Dumb and dumber. In the process, they continue to throw up these absurd challenges to the Pope’s authority and Francis’ overriding emphasis on mercy and discernment over legalism and rigidity. The main cheerleader for the anti-Francis crowd is Cardinal Raymond Burke. Burke is the guy that said Catholic Churches should deny then U.S. Senator John Kerry Holy Communion. He also resigned from a Catholic hospital board because pro-choice singer Cheryl Crow was invited to sing at a charity concert for the hospital. He ranted about Notre Dame University granting President Obama an honorary degree calling it “the greatest scandal.” This guy apparently cannot distinguish between the assertion of Catholic morality and teachings, versus common sense and decency. He is prone to extreme formality, traditionalism and regality. Some of his vestments have trains longer than a royal bride and his dress otherwise suggests he may have spent too much time in his mother’s closet when he was growing up. It would be good if he would go away. But short of that, as a Catholic prelate, he should try to stay focused on the core of the Gospel message of love and mercy. Burke needs to get out of the Pope’s face and let him do the job that God has called him to do, and that his fellow Cardinal Electors chose him to do. At a minimum, he should stop wasting Francis’ and everyone else’s time with nonsensical issues that are a distraction to the core mission of our faith. As this article was going to print, it was being reported that Grand Master Festing offered his resignation to Pope Francis and that it was accepted. He will be replaced by a papal appointment to be announced. The dispute splits clearly down the line between the progressive and more conservative forces within the Roman Catholic Church with Festings resignation being a victory not only for the progressives but for papal authority over the Order. 8 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2017
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