Cardinal Burke at a pro-life march in Rome seven years ago, in 2014 (link).
Cardinal Burke: A cardinal who has been a sign of contradiction in our time — and profoundly misunderstood...
Cardinal Burke has often been characterized as a "rigid conservative" by the secular and liberal press, but those who know him separate the two words, saying one is true, but the other is false.
Yes, they say, Cardinal Burke is indeed a "conservative"... in that (of course) he seeks to "conserve," to "preserve," to "protect" and to "defend" and to "propose" as a great blessing, and to "teach" as a great "Good News" of redemption and eternal life, the Catholic faith in all its mysterious, austere and redeeming splendor.
But no, Cardinal Burke is not "rigid," "cold," "judgmental."
Not at all.
***
I know Cardinal Burke personally. I had many lunches and dinners with him in Rome, especially in the 1990s, when he was a young monsignor, before he was made a bishop.
Cardinal Burke is a Wisconsin farm boy, who come from the rural, working-class people of Wisconsin, and cares for ordinary people with ordinary problems in life.
And though Pope Benedict chose to raise him to the College of Cardinals, making him what is called "a Prince of the Church," he has never forgotten his roots, where he came from.
And it is precisely for this reason that he has tried with all his strength to defend and conserve the faith — because he believes that it is the greatest gift and the greatest good that he can give to those very simple, ordinary people from whose community he emerged to be a global leader of the Church.
***
A comment from someone who knows the cardinal
"I know Cardinal Burke personally, from my wife's participation in the Marian Catechists, and having spoken with him several times at The Church Teaches Forums in Louisville, Kentucky," wrote a commenter named "Borghesius" at the link cited in the photo caption above.
Cardinal Burke is "very soft spoken, kind, and concerned for actual people in actual difficult moral situations," the commenter writes.
"As part of this concern, he sincerely believes that ripping apart clear consistent moral teaching, instituted by God and held by the Church for the sake and salvation of mankind, is the opposite of compassionate: all that does is cause more suffering in the long run and makes people have a sense of false comfort in their separation from Christ," Borghesius continues.
"He would rather slit his own throat with a rusty butterknife than ever dissent from any authentic Church teaching," the commenter added.
And "if you are trying to undermine Church teaching, Cardinal Burke is exactly the man who would be standing in your way, and must be belittled and talked down," he added.
"What they don't realize, is that the more they spitefully strike out, the higher Burke's profile becomes," he concluded.
Let us pray for Cardinal Burke, in this his hour of greatest need.
—Robert Moynihan
