Canon Fire: Burke vs. Wuerl

New Oxford Review ^ | April 2014 | Christopher Manion

[ebb tide]

In his guest column “On ‘Politicizing’ the Eucharist” (Dec.), Fr. Regis Scanlon explains the wisdom of canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law, which reads, “Those who are excommunicated…and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.” The argument over the canon’s application is not going to go away soon. Recent events, however, have significantly affected the prospects for applying this canon to pro-abortion politicians in the U.S.

[ebb tide]

And Burke undoubtedly took some heat.

In fact, he admitted as much when EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo asked him about it in a December 2013 interview. “I’ve received very severe criticism,” Burke said. “But…the [canonical] discipline itself is a consistent discipline from the time of St. Paul, from the very first years of the Church, and it makes perfect sense.” Whether by coincidence or not, five days after the interview aired, Pope Francis’s decision to replace Cardinal Burke with Cardinal Wuerl on the Congregation for Bishops was made public by the Vatican.

[JPX2011]

Wuerl is 73. Two more years before retirement submission. I’m sure Pope Francis will keep him on to continue his “pastoral” ministry.

[Alex Murphy]

“I’ve received very severe criticism,” Burke said. “But…the [canonical] discipline itself is a consistent discipline from the time of St. Paul, from the very first years of the Church, and it makes perfect sense.” Whether by coincidence or not, five days after the interview aired, Pope Francis’s decision to replace Cardinal Burke with Cardinal Wuerl on the Congregation for Bishops was made public by the Vatican.

IB4TNRC

[chajin]

It would seem to me that the issue is not Burke being replaced by Wuerl, but that the church is being blackmailed into not enforcing 916 concerning pro-abortion politicians. The way to break the blackmail is to refuse any Congressional subpoena, citing the First Amendment, and then be willing to go to jail for contempt of Congress, all the while explaining very plainly what is being done by the politicians, explained from the pulpit, EWTN, and any other venue it can find. The Catholic Church would find support from conservative liturgical churches, and from conservative evangelical churches. If you are going to be a warrior for Christ, you must fight with all the weapons that Christ has provided you. It took years, but it worked for the civil rights movement, and it will take years, but it would work for the pro-life movement.