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Most Rev. Raymond Leo Burke

Denomination	Catholic Church
Senior posting
See	Saint Louis
Title	Archbishop of Saint Louis
Period in office	January 26, 2004 — present
Predecessor	Justin Cardinal Rigali
Successor	incumbent
Personal
Date of birth	June 30, 1948
Place of birth	Wisconsin

Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke (b. 30 June 1948) is the current Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri. He has served as Archbishop of St. Louis since 26 January 2004. He previously served as Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Burke is seen as one of more controversial bishops in the United States, due to his political stances, as well as because of a very public dispute with the lay board of directors of a former parish of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Archbishop Burke is seen as one of the most learned and scholarly bishops in the United States and is a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court in the Catholic Church.

Contents 1 Background 2 Priestly Ministry 3 Episcopal Ministry 4 Controversies 4.1 2004 Presidential Election 4.2 St. Stanislaus Kostka Church 5 Published works 6 External links 7 Reference

Archbishop Burke was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin on June 30, 1948. The son of Thomas F. and Marie B. Burke, he was the youngest of six children. He grew up in Stratford, Wisconsin in Marathon County. From 1962 to 1968 he attended the Holy Cross Seminary in La Crosse, Wisconsin. From 1968 to 1971 Burke studied at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where he is now a member of the Board of Trustees. He then completed his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy from 1971 to 1975. Pope Paul VI ordained Burke to the priesthood on June 29, 1975 at Saint Peter's Basilica.

After his ordination to the priesthood, he was first assigned as assistant rector of the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He also taught religion at Aquinas High School in La Crosse, where a hall is now named in his honor. From 1980 to 1984, Burke studied canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he received his licenciate and doctorate. He then returned to La Crosse and was named the Moderator of the Curia as well as the Vice Chancellor of the La Crosse Diocese. In 1989, Pope John Paul II assigned Burke to be the first American Defender of the Bond of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court in the church.

Styles of Raymond Leo Burke

Reference style The Most Reverend Spoken style Your Excellency Religious style Your Excellency Posthumous style not applicable

In 1994, the Pope named Burke to be the head of the Diocese of La Crosse. Bishop Burke was elevated by the Pope as a bishop on January 6, 1995 at St. Peter's Basilica. He was formally installed in office on February 22, 1995. During his time in La Crosse, he founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1997, Bishop Burke approved the founding of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order for women, whose mother house was in Prescott, Wisconsin. However, he suppressed the group in 2003 and it is no longer in existence. In 2000, Bishop Burke convened the fifth diocesan synod for the Diocese of La Crosse. Synod V, Acts: celebrated June 11-14, 2000/ Diocese of La Crosse (circa 2003) were the documents of the fifth diocesan synod that were published. In 2002, Bishop Burke was influential in the founding of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, an order of Augustinian canons dedicated to reformation of the liturgy.

He served as the Bishop of La Crosse until December 2, 2003, when he was named as the replacement for Justin Rigali, who had been reassigned to be the Archbishop of Philadelphia. He was formally installed as Archbishop of St. Louis on January 26, 2004. Not long thereafter, Burke was presented with the pallium on June 29, 2004 by Pope John Paul II. In St. Louis, Burke has given particular emphasis to promotion of vocations to the ministerial priesthood; he also publishes a column in the archdiocesan weekly newspaper, The Saint Louis Review. In both La Crosse and St. Louis Archbishop Burke has established oratories for those who attend the Tridentine Rite. He has invited into his dioceses the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and has ordained priests for the order. In July 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Burke to be a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura[1], the highest court in the Catholic Church. He issued a statement, in line with Catholic moral precepts, opposing embryonic stem cell research when an amendment that would have allowed it in the Missouri Constitution was narrowly passed by voters there.

Archbishop Burke is seen by some to be a controversial figure in the United States due to his courage to enforce the integrity of Canon Law. This is because of positions he has taken regarding the political actions of Catholics who hold public office, as well as a dispute with the lay board of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Church in St. Louis.

A few priests in the Diocese of La Crosse have claimed that Burke's leadership there was divisive. Richard Dickman, who had served as pastor of St. Mary's Church in Tomah, Wisconsin stated in a resignation letter that "I can no longer minister as a priest in this diocese and retain a sense of integrity. 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."^[1] It must be said, though, that he has won the admiration of many for seeking always to be faithful to Jesus Christ and His Church in the weighty office of diocesan bishop.

During the 2004 presidential election season, Burke publicly stated that John Kerry and other Catholic politicians who vote pro-choice should not receive the Eucharist. He was confronted with this question after private letters he had sent to pro-choice politicians had been revealed to the press by the recipients. He has also stated that Catholic voters who support a candidate because of the candidate's advocacy in support of abortion are committing grave sin and should also not receive Communion without first having their sin absolved through the sacrament of Penance. This made the Archbishop a controversial figure nationally. It also made him one of a small number of bishops who declared that they would deny communion to such politicians if they attempted to receive it. Burke had articulated the same position while he was the bishop of La Crosse. He invoked canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law which requires ministers of Holy Communion (especially bishops, who are charged with overseeing the entire liturgical and sacramental life of the diocese) not to admit to Holy Communion people who persistently and publicly commit some serious sin, such as supporting legislation that permits the killing of the innocent unborn.

His actions during this time were seen by some as evidence that the Church was abandoning the careful neutrality that it normally maintained during election campaigns. While some Catholics hailed his courage for denying communion to Catholic politicians who contradict their faith by being abortion rights activists, others have criticized the Archbishop for what they see as undue interference in the electoral process. Still others who do dissent against the teachings of the Church contend that the reception of Communion by a Catholic has nothing at all to do with politics.

Main article: St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (Saint Louis)

A controversy Archbishop Burke was involved in concerned the governance of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, a parish serving the Polish community in St. Louis.

The controversy centered around a change that the lay board of directors of the civil corporation of the parish had made to the corporate bylaws in the early 1980's. This change placed the lay board in complete control of the funds and property of the parish. However, the canonical norm is for the pastor, with the collaboration of the parish finance council, to control parish assets. Shortly after he became Archbishop of St. Louis, Burke mandated that the board of directors had to restore the original parish bylaws in order to conform to canon law.

Their refusal to comply eventually led to the automatic excommunication of the lay board for the offense of schism and the canonical suppression of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, since it operated independently of the Holy See and the Archdiocese. St. Agatha Church was designated as the new personal parish for persons of Polish language and heritage in the Archdiocese.

• Lack of discretion of judgment because of schizophrenia: doctrine and recent rotal jurisprudence, Doctoral Dissertation, (Rome: Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1986). See also "Defectus discretionis iudicii propter schizophreniam: Doctrina et recens iurisprudentia," Periodica, 73 (1984) 555-570.
• Paper published in Incapacity for marriage: Jurisprudence and Interpretation, Acts of the III Gregorian Collguium, Robert M. Sable, coordinator and editor (Rome: Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1987).
• "The Application of Canon 1095 and sacramental-pastoral activity concerning marriage," in Ius in vita et in missione Ecclesiæ, Acta Symposii internationalis iuris canonici occurrente X anniversario promulgationis Codicis iuris canonici diebus 19-24 aprilis 1993 in Civitate Vaticana celebrati, Pontificia Concilium de legum textibus interpretandis (Vatican City: Libreria editrice Vaticana, 1994) 1095-1102.
• "The Distinction of Personnel in Hierarchically Related Tribunals," Studia canonica, 28 (1994) 85-98.
• "La confessio iudicialis e le dichiarizioni giudiziali delle parti," in I mezzi di prova nelle cause matrimoniali secondo la giurisprudenza rotale, Studi Giuridici XXXVIII (Vatican City: Libreria editrice Vaticana, 1995) 15-30.
• Commentary on the July 12, 1993, Decree of the Apostolic Signatura relating to the qualifications of advocates, Canadian Canon Law Society Newsletter, 21 (1996) 9-13.
• "Canon Law at the Service of the New Evangelization," given on the occasion of receiving the Role of Law Award from the Canon Law Society of America, in Canon Law Society of America Proceedings, 62 (2000) 497-500; introductory remarks of gratitude, 495-496.
• "On Our Civic Responsibility for the Common Good," (Saint Louis: Archdiocese of Saint Louis, 2004).

• The Archdiocese of St. Louis - Biography of Archbishop Burke
• The Church of St. Agatha - Polish Roman Catholic
• Aquinas High School La Crosse, Wisconsin
• Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wisconsin

1. ^ Gay, Malcolm (2004-8-25), "Bishop Takes Queen", The Riverfront Times

• Gay, Malcolm (2004-8-25), "Immaculate Deception", The Riverfront Times

Preceded by John Joseph Paul	Bishop of La Crosse 1994–2003	Succeeded by Jerome Edward Listecki
Preceded by Justin Rigali	Archbishop of Saint Louis 2004 – present	Incumbent