Friday, March 29, AD 2024 2:13am

Cardinal Burke’s Strange Commentary on Amoris Laetitia

 
(Guest post by commenter Greg Mockeridge)

I remember watching a documentary on Michael Jackson shortly after his death. In this documentary, a journalist had said regarding Jackson’s ever-changing facial appearance, ” Just when I thought Michael couldn’t look any weirder, he would look weirder.” Likewise, Just when I thought the pontificate of Pope Francis couldn’t get any more bizarre, it gets more bizarre.

And the release of the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (AL) added another bizarre twist to the disaster that is this pontificate. I’m not really surprised by the document itself. From what precious little I have read, it seems to be standard Pope Francis writ, some beautiful statements along with incoherent gibberish and laced with a poison pill or two.
What I really find bizarre is this essay from former prefect of the  Apostolic Signatura and now Patron of the Knights of Malta Cardinal Raymond Burke that appeared on the National Catholic Register’s website on Monday April 11th. The first two paragraphs state:

The secular media and even some Catholic media are describing the recently issued post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, “Love in the Family,” as a revolution in the Church, as a radical departure from the teaching and practice of the Church, up to now, regarding marriage and the family.

Such a view of the document is both a source of wonder and confusion to the faithful and potentially a source of scandal, not only for the faithful but for others of goodwill who look to Christ and his Church to teach and reflect in practice the truth regarding marriage and its fruit, family life, the first cell of the life of the Church and of every society.

As to what His Eminence means by “even some Catholic media” is not all together clear. Some have tried to say that the Cardinal is merely referring to the National Catholic Reporter/America Magazine crowd. Regardless of who the good cardinal had in mind by that statement, the upshot of it is that the Pope Francis shills in the orthodox Catholic Media Complex have used Burke’s essay as a club to beat the pope’s orthodox critics over the head. One such example is this attack on Steve Skojec (of One Peter Five fame) from blogger Dave Armstrong. 

 
But contrary to what Mr. Armstrong asserts in his post, the Cardinal has not come out “strongly in support” of the apostolic exhortation. He utters not a word of praise (or criticism for that matter) of AL. He merely says, repeatedly, that the document is not magisterial. 

 
Cardinal Burke claims that Pope Francis makes clear the non-magisterial nature of the document in AL #3. But all the pope says in the cited passage is that he wants to make clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium.” It says nothing about the nature of the document itself. Furthermore, it makes it sound like some doctrinal and moral matters can be settled locally. And that, in practice, would run counter to the universality of Church teaching. 
 
Dr. Ed Peters would beg to differ on the magisterial status of the Exhortation. He points out that while a document may be in and of itself magisterial, it may state things that are of magisterial and non-magisterial import. It seems to me that Peters position is the correct one. Cardinal Burke goes on to say that the document is a personal reflection of the Holy Father on the “work of the last two synods”:
 

“For instance, in Chapter Eight, which some wish to interpret as the proposal of a new discipline with obvious implications for the Church’s doctrine, Pope Francis, citing his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, declares: ‘I understand those who prefer a more rigorous pastoral care which leaves no room for confusion. But I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a Church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness, a Mother who, while clearly expressing her objective teaching, “always does what good she can, even if in the process her shoes get soiled by the mud of the street” (308).'”

I find it troubling that Cardinal Burke would cite this as though it were no big deal. When a pope, in an official document, says such things, the pressure to change pastoral practices according to what he “personally believes is the will of Christ for his Church” will be enormous. And a pastoral practice that leaves “room for confusion” especially on these issues is obviously very dangerous.

I understand that real life situations can cause confusion and that alleviating that confusion can be difficult for pastors. But alleviating, not “making room for” confusion is the goal of any sound pastoral approach.

Back in October of 2014, His Eminence strongly, and rightly, decried such confusion when it was being fostered by many of the Fathers of the Extraordinary Synod. Anyone who sees the Cardinal Burke of 2014 in this essay would be hallucinating.

Cardinal Burke says the key to interpreting Amoris Laetitia is the constant teaching of the Church. Well, how, in this light, do you interpret the now infamous footnote 351?:

“In certain cases [for those who remain in the objective state of the grave sin of an invalid marriage] , this can include the help of the sacraments. Hence, “I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium  [24 November 2013], 44: AAS 105 [2013],  1038). I would also point out that the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak” (ibid., 47: 1039)”

In stating how the document should be received, he says:

“First of all, it should be received with the profound respect owed to the Roman pontiff as the Vicar of Christ, in the words of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council: “the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of both the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful” (Lumen Gentium, 23).”

Yes, profound respect is owed to the Roman Pontiff, due to the office he holds as the Vicar of Christ. But yet, by the same token, the Roman Pontiff has the obligation to not carelessly cause scandal with misleading, confusing, and incoherent statements. But sadly, such has been the hall mark of this pontificate. And the same respect for the office and the person make necessary for his clerical subordinates, especially high ranking subordinates like Cardinals, to step in and warn the faithful when such conduct on the part of the pope ensues. If Cardinal Burke saw fit to comment publicly, why didn’t he point out what are clearly serious problems with the Exhortation like footnote 351? Any discussion of footnote 351 is conspicuously absent from the Cardinal’s essay.

In the essay, Cardinal Burke tells the following story:

During the past two years, in which the Church has engaged in an intense discussion of marriage and the family, I have frequently recalled an experience from my childhood. I was raised on a family dairy farm in rural Wisconsin, the youngest of six children of good Catholic parents. Ten o’clock Sunday Mass at our parish church in the nearby town was clearly at the heart of our life of faith. At a certain point, I became aware of a couple, friends of my parents from a neighboring farm, who were always at holy Mass but never received holy Communion. When I asked my father why they never received holy Communion, he explained to me that the husband was married to another woman and, therefore, could not receive the sacraments.

I recall vividly that my father explained to me the Church’s practice, in fidelity to her teaching, in a serene manner. The discipline obviously made sense to him, and it made sense to me. In fact, his explanation was a primary occasion for me to reflect on the nature of marriage as an indissoluble bond between husband and wife. At the same time, I must say that the parish priest always treated the couple involved with the greatest respect, even as they took part in parish life in a manner appropriate to the irregular state of their union. For my part, I always had the impression that, even though it must have been very difficult to be unable to receive the sacraments, they were at peace in living according to the truth about their marital state.

As is his habit, Pope Francis often belittles those of us who take Catholic doctrine seriously as being legalistic or rigorist. But in doing so he is also belittling those Catholics in adulterous relationships who respect the sacraments enough to not receive them sacrilegiously.
The blog Vox Cantoris makes  the valid observation that “reading between the lines”, Cardinal Burke is probably disgusted with the Exhortation. If I were reading between the lines, I might make the same observation. But why should Catholics have to read between the lines to understand what their shepherds are saying about matters as serious as this?

In Matthew 5:13, Our Lord tells us: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men.”

What will happen when the Church’s shepherds lose the courage to tell a fallen world to get back up?

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Penguin Fan
Penguin Fan
Monday, April 18, AD 2016 5:39pm

I read a few Catholic blogs today before my son’s baseball game. Mr. Skojec wrote a column printed in a Bermuda paper and he has nothing kind to say about the current Pontiff.
It must be pointed out that Latin American politics has often been blood sport. My wife told men things about Colombian politics that made my skin crawl. The current Pontiff is a caudillo, rewarding his pals and punishing his adversaries. It is the Chicago political machine writ large.
The current Pontiff is, it must be pointed out, a hypocrite. He has spoken forcefully in advocacy of the poor, yet he is in alliance with the fat cat German hieraechy, who never misses a meal nor drives a Focus.
So, now, countless bishops and priests will use this garbage document to give Communion to ANYONE. Nothing new here….Cardinal Wuerl has no problem giving Communion to abortionists and open homosexuals.
Pray and tough it out. There is nothing else to do. There is one positive thing this Pontificate has done. It has destroyed for a generation or more the phenomenon of Papal celebrity.

The Bear
Monday, April 18, AD 2016 6:21pm

I see Cardinal Burke’s article as careful spin. Nothing more, nothing less.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Monday, April 18, AD 2016 6:36pm

What does the Bear think His Eminence is trying to
accomplish with his careful
spin?

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 3:16am

It is something of a mystery why Cardinal Burke choose to speak out as he did as he had to know his statements would confuse and dismay many of his supporters. It would have been better to have said nothing.

Ken
Ken
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 6:39am

I think the Reporter/America crowd are getting much enjoyment out of the traditional crowd taking pot shots at each other. It seems to boil down to you can’t be my friend if your level of disdain for this document isn’t the exact same as mine.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 7:40am

If Cardinal Burke came out with a full throated attack on the Exuberance of Sex by Jorge Bergoglio, then what would Bergoglio’s response be? He cannot take criticism.

.Anzlyne
.Anzlyne
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 11:59am

I don’t find any fault with Cardinal Burke’s essay. It may have not said everything he could have said, but he said nothing wrong.
The true pain for me is the hypocrisy (from Penguin Fan)
He ( the pope) “has spoken forcefully in advocacy of the poor, yet he is in alliance with the fat cat German hierarchy, who never misses a meal nor drives a Focus.”
I agree PF
Yet the pope has that certain positional identity we are called to respect.. though choking on it… I am struggling with anger with both Caesar and Caiphas and trying to trust the promise of Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit,
Frustration about the confusion/misdirection hypocrisy is not just about the pope, but also the priests who are smilingly covering for this whole trend away from Catholicism.

.Anzlyne
.Anzlyne
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 12:11pm

Cardinal Burke tells us that the pope quoting his own teaching from the disputed synod and that he is presenting his own personal beliefs. He says that the non-magisterial nature of the document is evident. “There is no consistent effort to relate the text, in general, or these citations to the magisterium, the Fathers of the Church and other proven authors.”
Cardinal Burke is not one of those dissembling priests smiling and covering for the pope. He is pastoral and concerned for how the people- common laity like me- are able to keep their faith through this dust storm

TomD
TomD
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 12:55pm

“What does the Bear think His Eminence is trying to accomplish with his careful spin?”

It is a salvage operation. Whether it is a salvage of the exhortation or the Church herself is open to debate.

Greg Mockeridge
Greg Mockeridge
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 2:44pm

I don’t see this in terms of not being friends with someone if they view the Exhortation differently from me. It’s a look at the substance of what the Cardinal says. I also do not believe in circling the wagons for those in my own circles. After all, is this not one of the things we criticize those in, say the mainstream media, for doing?

Whether or not the pope can or cannot take criticism is not relevant here. What would his response be? Why should Cardinal Burke fear that? If there is any pre-retirement age Cardinal who has nothing to lose, it’s Burke. The pope cannot do anything worse to him that what he has already done. The patronage of the Knights of Malta for a Cardinal of Burke’s age and abilities id ecclesiastical Siberia.

One of the things wrong with the Cardinal’s essay is, as I point out in the piece, that he says the pope in AL #3 “clearly” says something the pope clearly does not say.

Patricia
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 6:55pm

Could it be that the Cardinal is exercising prudence at this time, waiting for the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Pentecost is just around the corner.

Penguins Fan
Penguins Fan
Tuesday, April 19, AD 2016 8:22pm

This “exhortation” is garbage.

Instead, read the words of a real Catholic leader.

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2016/04/hope-celebration-of-1050th-anniversary.html

Poland recently observed its 1,050th anniversary of its adoption of the Catholic faith and its founding as a nation. No earthly power has ever stopped it since.

Ken
Ken
Wednesday, April 20, AD 2016 6:35am

Penguins Fan, I too want to believe in an all wonderful Poland, but have you looked at its birthrate? Couple the low birthrate with the fact that many young people leave for US/UK and they have a demographic disaster.

James
James
Friday, April 22, AD 2016 4:20pm

Not to worry. In September, the Church will be sede vacante and shopping for a new pope.

.Anzlyne
.Anzlyne
Friday, April 22, AD 2016 5:19pm

Why do you say that ?

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