Former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, recently promoted to the Vatican as head of the Apostolic Segnatura (a kind of church Supreme Court, only more complicated) wastes no time making waves on the other side of the pond. In an interview with Avvenire, the daily of the Italian bishops conference, Burke was asked if he knew that Sheryl Crow, whose support for abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research led the archbishop to bar her from a 2007 benefit at a Catholic children’s hospital in St. Louis, also performed at the Democratic convention:
“That does not surprise me much,” the archbishop said. “At this point the Democratic Party risks transforming itself definitely into a ‘party of death’ because of its choices on bioethical questions as Ramesh Ponnuru wrote in his book, ‘The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts and the Disregard for Human Life.’”
Archbishop Burke said the Democratic Party once was “the party that helped our immigrant parents and grandparents better integrate and prosper in American society. But it is not the same anymore.”
Burke goes on to express the view that more American bishops are coming around to his view on barring pro-choice Catholic pols from communion, which was once seen as a distinctly minority opinion.
Meanwhile, Ramesh Ponnuru must be happy. No?
posted September 29, 2008 at 5:20 pm
If Obama wins he’ll have a lot to be unhappy about, even hiding in Rome.
posted September 29, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Charles Cosimano—is this a typo error on your part? “If Obama wins
he’ll have a lot to be unhappy about, even hiding in Rome”????
If Obama wins, he won’t be hiding anywhere—He will be very visible. It will be interesting to see what and how the Official Church –with people like Archbishop Burke, will comment if Obama becomes President Obama.
And if, Catholics vote for Obama—it will certainly show that they are not looking at just one issue, and one issue only.
posted September 30, 2008 at 5:14 am
Little Bear, I believe Charles means that Archbishop Burke is the one who will be the one hiding in Rome.
Father Burke didn’t limit himself to one issue – he was usually offended by two – abortion and stem cell research.
Archbishop Burke wasn’t one to let facts get in the way of his position while in the St. Louis region. He seemed to enjoy fighting and strife when there.
posted September 30, 2008 at 7:38 am
CX
- I find it interesting, amusing, and revolting that one can ding a man of the cloth, especially a Bishop, for speaking the truth. That TRUTH is not his creation — it is the teaching of Jesus Christ’s church here on earth // the Catholic Church.
He has MORE courage than his fellow Bishops by speaking out.
I just loath the the world of Relativism !!!!!!!!!!
posted September 30, 2008 at 7:57 am
If one examines the voting records of Republican policticians, one will see that overall, the “pro-abortion” voting record of individual Republicans is not that much different from the Democrats.
Isnt it interesting how passionately the leadership of the Catholic Church condemns the entire democratic party, yet equally passionately ignores the same behavior as they passionate support of the republican party.
One has to wonder if perhaps the leadership of the church has been bought off by the republican party.
It is just one more piece of evidence to remind us that we can no longer trust the leadership of the catholic church.
posted September 30, 2008 at 9:51 am
I’m as offended by Burke calling the Democrats the “party of death” as I would be to hear someone call the Roman Catholic Church “the church of child abuse.”
posted October 2, 2008 at 9:07 pm
When will the time come, when people entering into serious discussions realize that looking at BOTH sides of the coin is a MUST. Name-calling, attacking, berating, discrediting didn’t work in any epoch of history. Abortion, for instance, is a very difficult problem. Pro-life advocates say ‘no abortion’ because they want to protect life. The very same people are helpless when it comes to providing only the basic necessities for everyone on earth. Should life be protected only before birth? Abortionists believe that the decision belongs to the woman without being concerned about when life actually begins. Both groups have a point and neither one has an answer that is acceptable to all. In a democratic system the majority must prevail.
posted October 3, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Burke is where he belongs…out of the U.S. in the land of super Catholics. He should realize that a person coming to communion is the one to decide whether he/she should be there or not, due to his/her conscience…not the Bishops sticking their noses in politics denying communion to those Catholic politicians who feel that a woman has a right to choose.
As to the almighty Bishop Burke, and his calling the Democrates the Party of Death …after the stunts the RCC has been pulling for the last zillion years, he has no place to call anyone anything.