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In 2015, he criticized the modernization of the church and said he feared that the church was becoming too feminine. At this very critical moment, there is a strong sense that the church is like a ship without a rudder,” Burke said.īy November 2014, Francis demoted Burke from overseeing the high court and gave him a ceremonial title as the patron of the charity Knights of Malta.īurke continued to speak out on controversial topics. “Many have expressed their concerns to me. In an interview that same month with Vida Nueva, a Spanish Catholic publication, Burke questioned Francis’s leadership.
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In an interview with BuzzFeed News in October 2014, Burke criticized Francis, claiming he had “done a lot of harm.” He noted Francis’s comments on homosexuality: “The pope is not free to change the church’s teachings with regard to the immorality of homosexual acts.”
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He soon clashed with Francis, who is known for his liberal beliefs. Benedict promoted Burke to cardinal in 2010.īurke’s influence in the Vatican was ephemeral, though. The cardinal’s conservative opinions propelled his career in the past, catching the attention of then-Pope Benedict XVI, who appointed Burke to run the Vatican’s highest court in 2008, making him the church’s most senior-ranking American. In a statement last December, the Vatican called the vaccines “morally acceptable.” Pope Francis received the Pfizer vaccine, and in February, the Vatican City governor said employees who do not take a vaccine could be sanctioned or fired.īurke did not reveal whether he got the vaccine. The cardinal further condemned the use of abortion-derived cells in vaccine development as “rightly abhorrent,” saying it is “never morally justified to develop a vaccine through the use of the cell lines of aborted fetuses.”īurke’s comments were misleading – both Pfizer and Moderna used cell lines derived from fetal tissue taken from elective abortions in the 1970s and 1980s to test whether the vaccines worked.
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placed under the skin of every person so that at any moment he or she can be controlled by the state regarding health and about other matters which we can only imagine.” God is,” he said during a May 2020 address.īurke also repeated false information about vaccines, claiming that some believe there should be a “microchip. “While the state can provide reasonable regulations for the safeguarding of health, it is not the ultimate provider of health. In an interview, Burke said that Catholics who voted for Obama “collaborated with evil.”ĭuring the global pandemic, Burke spoke out against vaccine mandates, claiming the practice “violates the integrity of its citizens.” Two years later, he excoriated the University of Notre Dame for giving former president Barack Obama an honorary degree. In 2007, Burke resigned from the board of a Catholic hospital in protest of its invitation for Sheryl Crow, who is also pro-choice, to play at a benefit concert. Kerry because the Democrat was pro-choice. In 2004, he refused to give Communion to then-Massachusetts Sen. Louis, Burke made a name for himself as an outspoken conservative figure in the mid-2000s. The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Sunday.Ī former archbishop of St. “ faithfully prayed the Rosary for those suffering from the virus. “Doctors are encouraged by his progress,” Burke’s press team tweeted Saturday night. Now, the cardinal is in a hospital bed in his native Wisconsin, breathing with the help of a ventilator. Last Tuesday, Burke announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. The 73-year-old conservative cardinal was an early critic of social distancing and, later, an unabashed skeptic of the vaccine. Burke could be found strolling down the streets of Rome maskless and carrying rosary beads. Most days during the coronavirus pandemic, Cardinal Raymond L.
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