Free Republic

Catholic Group says "Archbishop Burke Right to Deny Communion to Giuliani" CHICAGO, October 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Fidelis, a national Catholic advocacy group, applauded the courageous decision by St. Louis' Archbishop Raymond Burke to deny Holy Communion to Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, and all pro-abortion politicians running for president, regardless of their political party. The Associated Press is reporting that Archbishop Raymond Burke would deny Holy Communion to Rudy Giuliani and any pro-abortion Catholic running for president. Four Catholic Democrats running for president also support abortion, include: Senator Christopher Dodd, Senator Joe Biden, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and...

Saint Louis (AP) -- Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke, who made headlines last presidential season by saying he'd refuse Holy Communion to John Kerry, has his eye on Rudy Giuliani this year. Giuliani's response: "Archbishops have a right to their opinion." Burke, the Archbishop of St. Louis, was asked by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch if he would deny Communion to Giuliani if the former New York mayor approached him for the sacrament. "If the question is about a Catholic who is publicly espousing positions contrary to the moral law, and I know that person knows it, yes I would," the...

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, a veteran of clashes between Catholic bishops and politicians, has attempted for years to enlist fellow bishops to deny Holy Communion to wayward politicians. Now, the conservative cleric is invoking the church's highest punishment -- mortal sin -- to persuade the lay and ordained Catholics who distribute Communion at Mass to safeguard the sacrament.Drawing on the works of the late Italian Jesuit scholar Felice Cappello, Burke says those ministers are "held, under pain of mortal sin, to deny the sacraments to the unworthy."That argument could place Communion ministers on the frontlines of the "wafer wars"...

Archbishop Burke: Bishops Must Discipline Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians Calls his brother bishops to task - “To remain silent is to permit serious confusion regarding a fundamental truth of the moral law" By Hilary White ST. LOUIS, September 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Writing in the latest edition of the Canon Law journal, Periodica De Re Canonica, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, bishop of St. Louis, Missouri, has called his brother bishops to task for their silence on the problem of Catholic politicians who support abortion, euthanasia, cloning, embryo research, the homosexual political agenda or other legislation “contrary to the natural moral law.” Burke’s lengthy...

The official statue of Our Lady of America stands in the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral) ST. LOUIS (CNS) A new official image of Our Lady of America, which stems from apparitions of Mary received by an Ohio woman religious, will be on display at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral) through Sept. 8.  The 9-foot statue of Our Lady of America, which includes its base, was first publicly displayed last November at the U.S. bishops' meeting in Baltimore, where St. Louis Archbishop Raymond L. Burke blessed it. The statue was...

Be not afraid!Two forms of the Rite of the Massby Archbishop Raymond L. Burke [Note: The Archbishop writes on the MP and on NFP in this column; for space considerations and in the interests of getting the word out on his thoughts about the traditional Mass, I will only post the Summorum Pontificum-relevant parts. Full article here, and I will post on the other later in the coming week] Introduction: Two different but related subjects In writing to you this week, I want to address two different but related subjects of concern to us all. The first is the recent...

On June 15th, 2007, His Grace Archbishop Raymond Burke will ordain two deacons of the Institute to the priesthood. The ordination will take place at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis at 1:00 pm. This will mark the first priestly ordinations of the Institute to be conducted in the United States. All are invited to attend. On the following day, Saturday, June 16th, Abbé Matthew Talarico will celebrate his first Mass at our St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis, and on Sunday, June 17th, will be the first Mass of Abbé William Avis, also at the Oratory. Both these...

New York, Apr 30, 2007 / 11:23 am (CNA).- The St. Louis media seems to be running a campaign against the Catholic Church, following Archbishop Raymond Burke’s protest of abortion-activist Sheryl Crow’s performance at a Catholic hospital fundraiser. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV (CBS affiliate), in particular, have invited the public to voice its opinion over the archbishop’s decision.Catholic League president Bill Donohue says the “voyeuristic posture assumed by these two media outlets is not legitimate.According to Donohue, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch “is inviting non-Catholics to opine about an internal matter of the St. Louis Archdiocese, beckoning the bigots...

Archbishop Raymond Burke made it to the Fox Theatre Saturday — but only as a punch line. When Bob Costas, the evening's host, walked onto the stage he scanned the crowd, gazing into the back rows of the upper balcony before breaking the prolonged silence."All right," Costas quipped. "I guess the archbishop is not showing up."Last week, Burke resigned from the board of the Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center Foundation because Crow — a vocal supporter of embryonic stem cell research — was scheduled to headline the annual fundraiser and concert. "Sheryl Crow made it clear that she is coming...

Archbishop Raymond Burke denounced a Catholic charity Wednesday for scheduling a benefit-concert appearance by Sheryl Crow, who supports abortion rights.Burke submitted his resignation as chairman of the board for the Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation, saying the decision to let Crow sing on Saturday left him no other choice."It's very painful for me," Burke said during a news conference Wednesday. "But I have to answer to God for the responsibility I have as archbishop."A Catholic institution featuring a performer who promotes moral evil gives the impression that the church is somehow inconsistent in its teaching," Burke said.Crow is set to appear...

Unquestionably, canon 915 is the most discussed canon in the Codex Iuris Canonici, or Code of Canon Law, in recent Church history. Many in the media have reported on the January 8, 2004 canonical actions of Archbishop Raymond Burke, then bishop of the La Crosse, Wisconsin diocese. His actions have rocked the Catholic Church. Because of much misinformation, speculation and outright resentment, confusion reigns regarding the Archbishop's promulgation of his 'canonical notification' based on canon 915, the official communication of what the Church's discipline is.

The local paper takes note: BALTIMORE — St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke took center stage during debate on two controversial topics Tuesday as the nation's Roman Catholic bishops met in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting. Burke, who is trained as a canon, or church, lawyer, submitted 10 amendments to two proposed documents, more than any other bishop except former St. Louis and current Philadelphia archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali, who submitted 15. More coverage: Ann Rogers, typically, gives us a balanced view: Dignity USA, a group for gay Catholics that dissents from church teaching, called it "deeply flawed" and had...

The archbishop of St. Louis lamented that "We have lost a significant battle for the protection of human life" after voters in Missouri approved a measure protecting stem-cell research. The Missouri legislation allows any federally allowed stem-cell research and treatment to occur in the state. "The citizens of Missouri have succumbed to a false hope created by a campaign which has played on the desire of us all to help those suffering from deadly diseases and serious injuries," said Archbishop Raymond Burke in a statement after the passage of Amendment 2. "Over the last several months," the prelate said, "the...

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Four priests suspended by the Archdiocese of St. Louis amid allegations that they sexually abused children have been laicized, or permanently removed from the priesthood, the archdiocese said yesterday. Among the four is Bryan Kuchar, 41, who was released from jail in August after serving three years for molesting a 14-year-old boy. Also laicized were James Funke, James Gummersbach and Michael Seidel. The effort to remove the men began with a request from Archbishop Raymond Burke and required approval from the pope. The moves mean they are forbidden to function or represent themselves in any way...

ST. LOUIS, October 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For the first time, a Catholic bishop in the US has come out with a strong statement clarifying the Church’s teaching on the practice of donating, or sometimes selling, human ova for medical research. Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, a strong advocate for life and family, has published a pastoral letter in which he says unequivocally that the removal of ova for artificial reproduction, including cloning, is a grave moral evil. Referring to an upcoming ballot initiative to amend the state constitution, Archbishop Burke warned that the push to create cloned human...

ST. LOUIS, November 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis has again stepped up to the pro-life plate missed by many elsewhere in the Catholic hierarchy. Burke ordered the priests of his St. Louis Archdiocese to preach on Sunday about why embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) cannot be allowed and to instruct the Catholic faithful not to support it. The direction is in response to a petition about to circulate that would amend the state constitution to protect ESCR. In a move that is bound to stir up the usual secularist suspects with screeches of “separation of...

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- St. Louis Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will issue a pastoral letter following his comments in a radio interview that Catholics commit a mortal sin by knowingly voting for a candidate who advocates abortion. "It is a serious sin," Archbishop Burke told The St. Louis Review, newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese. He added that a person who voted that way could receive Communion only after a "true repentance" and obtaining absolution by going to confession. "It's not right to support candidates who are for abortion," he added. The archbishop was in Rome to receive the pallium...

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...

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Raymond Burke of the Archdiocese of St. Louis as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature. This is a tribunal of appeal from the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. It is the highest court of appeal available in matters concerning the Church's tribunals. Other members named include Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and Archbishop Lluís Martínez Sistach of the Archdiocese of Barcelona.

The St. Louis archbishop informed the six board members of the parish that the priest they hired is also excommunicated from the Catholic church.