Posted on 08/26/2004 3:38:43 PM PDT by corpus
BISHOP TAKES QUEEN Raymond Burke is highly traditional. That's why he received the final vows of a transgendered nun. By Malcolm Gay
Archbishop Raymond Burke might be a favored son of the Vatican, but interviews with more than a dozen priests reveal that as father to his former flock in La Crosse, his neo-conservative eccentricities alienated a large number of the clergy and the laity alike. "He's left a presbyterate that's demoralized and divided," says one former diocesan priest who spoke to Riverfront Times on condition he not be named in print. "For many years the priests in La Crosse were very unified. We didn't agree with one another, but anybody could sit down with anybody and carry on a civil conversation. That's history now, and I lay that at the doorstep of Ray Burke."
So strongly did some priests feel about Burke that at least two left the diocese in protest. "I can no longer minister as a priest in this diocese and retain a sense of integrity," writes Richard Dickman, former pastor of St. Mary Parish in Tomah, Wisconsin, in a letter to parishioners explaining his departure in 2001. "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."
Certainly, Burke's construction of the $25 million Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe drew wide opposition, and his abrupt withdrawal from Church World Services' annual Crop Walk made him more than a few enemies. But it was his gathering of fringe religious orders to the diocese that alienated many priests.
"He brought in any number of people -- hermits we called them, or consecrated virgins and religious orders of one and two and three people," says the priest who requested anonymity. "They were just -- forgive me for saying so -- but to most of us they were wackos. They're just psychologically not well equipped, and he brought these people in because theologically they agree with him."
At times his theological allegiance with these orders placed Bishop Burke in some compromising positions. Most striking, perhaps, was the case of Sister Julie Green, a member of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus:
"Julie Green is living a lie!" writes Mary Therese Helmueller in an October 25, 2002, letter to Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Papal Nuncio to the United States. "[She] is a transsexual, a biological male. He is really Joel Green, who had a sex operation to make him physically appear as a woman.... I fear that The Church in America will suffer another 'sex scandal' if Julie Green continues to be recognized as a Catholic Religious Sister, and if Bishop Raymond L. Burke receives his final vows, as a religious sister, on November 23rd, 2002."
Montalvo forwarded the letter to Burke, who on November 20, 2002, replied to Helmueller. "With regard to Sister Julie Green, F.S.J., the recognition of the association of the faithful which she and Sister Anne LeBlanc founded was granted only after consultation with the Holy See," he writes. "These are matters which are confidential and do not admit of any further comment.... I can assure you that Sister Julie Green in no way espouses a sex change operation as right or good. In fact, she holds it to be seriously disordered. Therefore, I caution you very much about the rash judgments which you made in your letter to the Apostolic Nuncio."
Adds Burke: "I express my surprise that, when you had questions about Sister Julie Green, you did not, in accord with the teaching of our Lord, address the matter to me directly."
Green and the Franciscan Servants weren't the only controversial religious order with which Burke allied himself. In the late 1990s, the bishop combined the parishes of St. Mary and St. James in Wausau, Wisconsin. The two parishes formed the Resurrection Parish at what was formerly St. James' Parish.
St. Mary's was sold. Burke then asked the conservative Latin-rite religious order, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, to perform the Tridentine Mass at what was formerly St. Mary's. In February 2002, the order's superior, Monsignor Timothy Svea, pleaded guilty to exposing himself to and molesting teenage boys.
"What never really got any attention was that Bishop Burke brought them in," says a second priest who asked not to be named. "That's really a sore point for a lot of people in Wausau."
END
TTGC is ready to assist, any time, any place.
Nope.
It's the butch nuns--you know, Chittister.
Rembert Weakland built a $25MM shrine to himself when he "renovated" the Cathedral and added a very, ah, pink glass-enclosed garden walkway.
Rembert also spent $900K remodeling his 1800-square-foot residence; this included Coryan counters and a very nice 2-seater hot-tub.
Just where were the complaints from Fort Worth?
It's strange, AFAIC.
At the very minimum, you presume the innocence of the Bishop until otherwise is shown, and I happen to agree with that predicate, even though I think that Bishop is a scumbucket--and he's merely meeting his mirror-image in the lawyer.
To repeat: do you know with MORAL CERTAINTY that the claims made in this article about the nun are true?
They'd have been there if I had known about it.
These are both (LaCrosse and Milwaukee) just smaller versions of the Taj Mahoney, the single most egregious example of excess in the history of the US church.
The reliability of which is based on priests of Burke's previous diocese, as I quoted in Post 1, which also names one of the priests.
OK, and the fact remains that you used a flaky source... see above picture above with their links. Perhaps we are in agreement here?
I wasn't sure if it was "legal"... ???
None of my postings on this thread have related to homosexuality or sexual perversion, nor was it the topic I originally addressed.
uhhhhh... a yeoman's task considering the source?
The "different tale" was in reference to how priests and laymen view their superiors or those who have authority over them...
Those "views" you chose to use are selected for publication in a gay/progressive rag; facts ought to be gleaned from better sources on your quest to tell "a different tale" about the good Archbishop Burke.
A question worth answering, in my opinion. If true, the traditionalists that I know wouldn't be supporting him, and they would probably know.
Mary Therese Helmueller is quoted as having objected about the transgendered nun to the Papal Nuncio.
That would be the same Mary Therese Helmueller who asked Burke to be spiritual director on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city, documented here.
I will take you off my ping list, if you so desire.
From http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1186232/posts:It is important to note that not only does the canonical discipline Canon .915 include the estimated 500 so-called 'Catholic' pro-abortion politicians (Democrat as well as Republican) in the U.S., but it also includes other manifest, obstinate, persistent sinners.
A short list of such sinners would include homosexual couples approaching the Eucharist arm-in-arm or with sodomite, rainbow banners over their shoulders, as well as those divorced and 'remarried' without benefit of annulment. [11]
Also, included would be employees of abortion mills and Planned Parenthood, Mafia figures, drug lords, notorious criminals, couples living openly in fornication or adultery (this is certainly not an exhaustive list of manifest sinners).
Earlier, Archbishop Burke said, "So serious is the moral obligation to avoid scandal that we are admonished not only not to do wrong but also not to appear to do wrong. When a person acts, he or she must always consider the appearance of the act to be done." [12]
Footnotes: 11. "Declaration by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts," June 24, 2000, by Cardinal Julián Herranz, President; Cf. Apostolic Constitution 'Familiaris consortio,' the Letter 'Annus internationalis familiæ,' 'Ecclesia de Eucharistia,' and Redemptionis sacramentum,' for those teachings regarding irregular marriages.
12. 'The Catholic Response to Scandal,' by Archbishop Raymond Burke, address given at the Milwaukee Wanderer Forum, December 6-7, 2002.
Anything else is fluff.
Facts? Are they true? You have yet to prove they are.
I don't have to prove something true. If you don't believe it, knock it down.
We've heard of this before. Diocesan boards all over the country said the same of orthodox candidates to the priesthood, while rubber stamping the future members of the homosexual Mafia in the priesthood. This whole article is a farce.
See #57.
So, knock down the transgendered nun. Do you deny that Mary Therese Helmueller wrote the Nuncio, who forwarded the letter to Burke, who then commented on it?
I see why you are holding fast to this point. I just did a search on Google using "Burke" and "Mary Therese Helmueller," and lo and behold, the first hit I get is a story from the National Catholic Reporter, which many know is your favorite publication.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.