Posted on 02/10/2005 7:45:57 AM PST by NYer
ST. LOUIS, February 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke said that as Catholics continue to speak out on life and family issues they will face persecution. “There is going to be a persecution with regard to this, that’s clear,” said the Archbishop.
The media has painted the St. Louis church leader as a mean-spirited bully, yet in person he is soft-spoken and kind with a keen sense of the truth and an urgency to convey it for the salvation of souls. Rather than using high-sounding platitudes which coast over the heads of many, Archbishop Burke speaks plainly the teaching of the Church on matters of central importance, without fear of being labeled politically incorrect.
During the debate in the US about refusing communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion, Burke issued a pastoral letter explaining that, although the refusal by a pastor or bishop to distribute holy Communion to anyone is a “source of great sorrow . . . What would be profoundly more sorrowful would be the failure of a bishop to call a soul to conversion, the failure to protect the flock from scandal and the failure to safeguard the worthy reception of Communion.”
With regard to voting by Catholics, the archbishop stated clearly in a meeting held by the diocesan pro-life office, "When we go to vote, we must take into consideration all of the stands politicians make. But procured abortion, that has to be our first question."
Archbishop Burke has been equally clear and courageous on the hot topic of same-sex ‘marriage’. Rather than avoiding the reason behind the gay ‘marriage’ push – the societal acceptance of homosexuality – Burke addressed it head-on, warning that the tendency to avoid the issue is dangerous.
In his diocesan paper Burke wrote, "There is a tendency to accept same-sex relationships because we do not want to deal with the embarrassment and hurt of recognizing same-sex attraction as disordered,” he said. “The fact that our American culture more and more fails to make any distinction between same-sex attraction and heterosexual attraction does not justify our failure to make the distinction, respecting God's gift of human life in its integrity and helping others to attain the perfection to which we are called as true children of God."
After concelebrating the massive vigil Mass preceding the US March for Life a few weeks ago, Archbishop Burke told LifeSiteNews.com that his motivation to continue to speak out on life and family comes from “Christ Himself” and “the natural moral law” which the archbishop said “is not the question of a belief of a particular religion, but is part of the patrimony of the whole human race.”
The archbishop acknowledged that speaking the truth was intimidating. “It’s intimidating because we live, as our Holy Father says, in a society of a culture of death where people want to convince us that everything should be convenient and comfortable and they don’t like to hear a voice which says ‘this isn’t right’”, he said.
But with being outspoken on the truth will come persecution, a fact the archbishop is willing not only to acknowledge but to accept. “Bishops will be persecuted,” he said, and “also priests and lay people.”
Even now those proclaiming the truth are called, homophobic and hateful. Yet the archbishop explains, “It’s what it means to be a sign of contradiction. We just have to accept that and we have to remain tranquil in proclaiming the truth with charity, but insisting on the truth.”
“If we look to the example of Our Lord, we have to take up the cross for the defence of life,” he said.
See former LifeSiteNews.com coverage on the archbishop:
Archbishop Burke Instructs Catholic Voters: "It would be wrong to give institutional recognition to same-sex relationships"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/jul/04071609.html
US Archbishop Says Abortion Has to be the "first question" for Catholic Voters
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/jun/04062504.html
St. Louis Archbishop Burke Speaks Out About Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians and Communion
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/jun/04062404.html
There are enough doctrinal differences between the evangelicals and the Baptists to separate them. Personally, I was raised Southern Baptist in an area of Texas that was half Catholic. All of us growing up together knew there were enough common areas to make common cause. The Baptists' big problem was CYO dances and drinking (I used to suffer through Sunday sermons in misery after a Saturday night partying with my buddies at CYO dances).
It did not bother my parents at all when I converted to Catholicism when I married a Chicago Irish girl. The RE teacher at her church was really surprised at how much I already knew.
He is a bit late to the party, the persecution is already going strong and the MSM is leading the charge.
They felt that dancing was the devil's gateway to get you to drinking and fornicating.
This alone says much of this fine man of God!
I'm not a Catholic, but I really like this Archbishop. He tells it like it is, stands for what he believes in, and is not intimidated by the flack from those who are offended by the truth.
Amen to that, NYer! Thanks for this most uplifting post.
Lol ... this past week was Cana Sunday. Our pastor began his homily with a personal story. Several years ago, he was invited to a wedding. At the reception, he found himself in conversation with a (female) Baptist Minister. He offered her a glass of wine. She politely refused, explaining that she was a Baptist. He asked her why Baptists don't drink and she cited various scriptures - all from the Old Testament.
Father asked her if she believed that Jesus was the Son of God and if she accepted the Bible as the Word of God, to which she of course said yes. He then asked her how Jesus had evangelized? She seemed perplexed by the question. Father cited the New Testament scriptures, showing her how Jesus evangelized by eating and drinking with the people. He asked her once again if she preferred red or white wine. She had a glass of red wine ;-D
I think drinking is one of the main moral issues that Christian conservatives ignore. To me there isn't a more destructive social behavior, at this poitn, than drinking. yet we ignore the issue becaause so many people do it--so who wants to call a friend or family member out?
I proudly do not drink and my denomination (nazarene) tends to argue against it as well.
Drinking isn't the problem [Jesus and Mary spoke of wine in the bible at the wedding feast etc.] ....it's the abuse of drinking that is the problem. We are all resposible to follow God's laws. Outlawing drinking never solves the problem of abuse drinking.
The world will hate us because it hated Him and we follow Him.
The world hated Him because He reminds us of a truth we do not want to hear.
We are men, not G-d. We are created, not Creator. When we faced a man who was, in fact, G-d, and we could see the difference, we hated Him for showing it to us.
Shalom.
Many Christians are ignorant and/or poorly catechized. In fact, many Christians wouldn't know the difference between catechized and cauterized.
If education is important then religious education is critical. Yet how many Christians are willing to allow their Christian education to be taken care of 1 hour/week on Sunday mornings and occasional casual reading of Scripture? And how many Churches/denominations don't offer any more?
Shalom.
We have differences because we think we can fathom an infinite G-d and have the temerity to try.
We have in common what He Himself has revealed in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ. When we focus on what is written, rather than on what we think was meant between the lines, we are clearly One in the Spirit.
There is One Faith, One Hope, and One Baptism. There is only One G-d, and One Savior, His Son, Jesus Christ.
Shalom.
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