Cardinal Raymond Burke - Synod report "Lacks Clarity on Indissolubility of Marriage" - the battle lines are being drawn

Cardinal Burke: Final Report Lacks Clarity on Indissolubility of Marriage

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by Edward Pentin 10/26/2015  

Cardinal Raymond Burke, patron of the Knights of Malta and former prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, has shared with the Register his initial reaction to the final report of the Synod on the Family.

He focuses on paragraphs 84-86 on divorce and remarriage, saying this section is of "immediate concern because of its lack of clarity in a fundamental matter of the faith: the indissolubility of the marriage bond which both reason and faith teach all men." He also says the way the quotation from Familaris Consortio is used is "misleading."

Here below is the cardinal's comment, followed by an English translation of paragraphs 84-86.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-burke-final-report-lacks-clarity-on-indissolubility-of-marriage/#ixzz3pgYiKLoy

Raymond Cardinal Burke speaks to LifeSiteNews on Synod

John-Henry Westen of LifeSiteNews interviewed Cardinal Burke on Thursday in Rome. This is how a Cardinal speaks, with truth and clarity and a supernatural faith

The fact that the Pope has not invited this Cardinal to the Synod is a disgrace, a scandal and something that will come back to haunt Francis in whatever time he has left in this papacy and his life.

LSN: What do you make of the idea of “regional diversity” in the Church? Should local bishops have the authority on a pastoral level to deal with questions pertaining to the “social acceptance of homosexuality” and with “divorced and remarried persons?”

Burke: This is simply contrary to Catholic Faith and life.

(...)

In much of the discussion which has taken place, beginning with the infamous presentation of Cardinal Walter Kasper in the Extraordinary Consistory on February 20 and 21 of 2014, centered around this idea that somehow doctrine and pastoral practice are in conflict with one another. 

This is absurd. ... These are just false distinctions — false contrasts — ultimately can lead people into serious error with great harm to their spiritual life and their eternal salvation. 

(...)

We follow our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Master. And we are all held to be obedient to him and to his word, beginning with the Holy Father and with the Bishops.

(...)

I understand that there are very strong disagreements within the Synod. 

The full transcript can be found at:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exclusive-cardinal-burke-discusses-synod-kasper-proposal-video?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a40bd5add6-sm10_15_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0caba610ac-a40bd5add6-326182274

It is diabolical to say that to defend dogma is to go against the Pope!

"To begin to say that each nation can begin to decide fundamental questions about the faith and its practice is simply to deny the Catholicity of the Church and to introduce a Protestant principle which would lead then to national churches and once this principal of division enters in it will all simply multiply itself as it has done in the Protestant churches."

"The penitential way has to be a way to help the individual truly repent and repentance includes necessarily a change in one's life."

Sadly this concentration of the question of those in irregular unions and the possibility of offering them Holy Communion has a wider scope ... to begin to say that other individuals who are living in public sin should also receive the sacraments."

"Those of us who are defending what the Church has always taught and practiced are now called the enemies of the Pope."

Africans will save the Church from Kasper and his fascist henchmen

Austin Ruse, President of the Centre for Family and Human Rights, opines at Crisis Magazine that it will be the Africans who save the Church and that he sees similar situations with African diplomats and the West with his work at the United Nations.

I urge you to read it there and subscribe to Crisis.

Here are a few excepts which reveal from Pentin's research the sheer manipulation (in spite of those who denied it and tried to sue me for it); the sheer evil present at the last Synod. Can you seriously doubt any longer that the fascistic and non-collegiality practices and are the work of the Holy Spirit? Does all of this discord come from God? It is not possible! Bishops calling for homosexual unions, Cardinals who should be in jail for covering up homopervert, sodomite priestly and episocopal abuse of children called by the Pope as delegates to the Synod. This is not the action of the Holy Spirit. It is sheer diabolical. The devil is not only sowing confusion, he is sowing deception and millions are falling for it!

Kasper did not learn well from his childhood in Germany. It is regrettable that he did not learn how not to be corrupted by Nazisim as Joseph Ratzinger did.

Pentin's book makes for a jarring wake-up for those who wish bury their heads in sand.

Don't be amongst them.




http://www.crisismagazine.com/2015/the-africans-will-save-the-synod-the-church-and-the-world

Pentin presents evidence of manipulation in practically everything related to the synod, including the fact that homosexuality was barely a topic of conversation for the synod fathers, yet loomed large in the interim document. 

Pentin reports on some things not previously revealed. For instance, he records that the synod secretariat deliberately excluded “conservative” theologians as experts for the meeting. He also reports that Archbishop Bruno Forte was elected to the position of special secretary of the extraordinary “by only a small number of the fifteen-member Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops.” Forte is generally blamed for writing the most controversial paragraphs of the interim document. Indeed he was outed as the author of the gay paragraphs by Napier of South Africa during the raucous first-day press conference.

Pentin also presents voluminous evidence that Kasper, seemingly with the approval of Pope Francis, initiated a global campaign to change Church teaching on marriage, beginning with his two-hour address to a consistory of cardinals wherein he “floats the idea of admitting divorced and ‘remarried’ Catholics to Holy Communion without amendment of life.” 

So it’s odd that Kasper and his allies got so angry when a group of cardinals and other experts published a book upholding Church teaching on marriage, and then tried to get copies to the synod fathers. Their efforts were blocked by the synod secretariat. 

Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church.  

They decided the best way was to send them to the temporary addresses, which turned out to be Casa Santa Marta, the hotel-like residence within the Vatican walls. Organizers of the book did display a bit of skullduggery. They made sure the books were deliberately mailed from a post office away from the Vatican, and that “the books were placed in envelopes of different types and colors…” (they must have anticipated that there would be an attempt to block the distribution of the book, Vox)

Trouble brewed when a synod staff member looked inside of one of the packages after “an envelope came open and the book was identified.” Pentin reports that Cardinal Baldeserri “was ‘furious’ to learn that the book was being sent to synod fathers.”

Pentin says Baldeserri wanted the deliveries blocked, but was told that was illegal. Because most of the books had not been stamped by the Italian post office, he decided to send them back for stamping figuring the delay would mean synod fathers would never get them, which turned out to be true.

The cover-up of what happened with the book is quite remarkable. But there is also the fallout—the score settling. Pentin reports that Baldeserri’s cronies tried to get American Father Robert Dodaro to resign his post as president of the Institum Patristicum Augustinianum in Rome because Dodaro served as editor of the book.

Remarkably, Kasper said the book should have been given to him in advance so that he could “review it.” Vaticanista Marco Tosatti wrote in La Stampa that a group of Italian bishops told the Pope that the five cardinals who wrote the book had the “sole intention of fighting against Kasper,” and that the cardinals had committed a “mortal sin” in publishing it.

So angry was Kasper that he actually shouted at Cardinal Burke on the floor of the synod meeting. It is said the book was the final straw that caused the Pope to fire Burke from head of the Apostolic Signatura.

Cardinal Burke speaks that "A growing confusion and error has entered into the Church" and that if all hell breaks loose, you and I must, "Stay Faithful!"

His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke talk on Sunday, September 13, 2015 at St. Louis, Missouri. The title of this talk is The Truth of Christ in Marriage. 

Rorate Caeli blog has an astounding post of an article which clearly shows the thinking of the Pope in this change to the annulment process.

It is clear from this article -- from which we present significant passages here, in a translation made expressly for Rorate-- that we are facing not a mere procedural reform but a true revolution regarding the "divorced and remarried" and the Church's very understanding of justice and mercy. The reforms are bluntly described as coming from 'Our Lord' and from the 'Holy Spirit', acting through Francis. The "divorced and remarried" are now redefined as forming part of "the poor" for which the Church should have a special solicitude; anyone aware of the heightened place held by "the poor" (e.g . the "preferential option for the poor") in the post-Conciliar Magisterium should be aware of the magnitude of the shift involved here.

On LifeSiteNews, Father Brian W. Harrison, O.S., who was present at the dinner provides this account:

 Tue Sep 15, 2015 - 11:37 am EST

What do we do if the Synod takes a ‘strange turn’? The simple answer just got Cardinal Burke big applause

 Catholic , Raymond Burke , Synod On The Family

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, September 15, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- On Sunday, September 13th I had the honor to be one of the hosts for His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, here at a dinner/lecture in the Clayton Plaza hotel ballroom, sponsored by the St. Louis lay apostolate "Credo of the Catholic Laity," to which I am the spiritual adviser. 

His Eminence was warmly welcomed and introduced by the retired Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis, the Most Rev. Robert Hermann, and then spoke to an audience of over 300 about "The Truth of Christ in Marriage". He discussed spiritual, social, doctrinal and canonical aspects of the current crisis affecting marriage and the family in Western culture, warning that this crisis has led to serious confusion and even rebellion within the Church herself. 

Cardinal Burke emphasized that in our increasingly secularized and hostile culture, more weight than ever is now falling on the shoulders of Catholic parents in giving children a formation, by word and example, in what real Christian marriage is. Along with the Church's authentic and perennial teaching, he said, this sound family formation will prove to be the main source of guidance for children and adolescents, as the basic means by which parents pass on Christian truth in word and deed to the next generation.

Cardinal Burke recommended the well-known 2014 "Five Cardinals'" book, Remaining in the Truth of Christ, and again expressed strong disagreement with Cardinal Walter Kasper's proposal of admitting some divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to Holy Communion. His Eminence also noted that certain problems could arise in connection with Pope Francis' new marriage nullity legislation, promulgated on September 8th. He commented respectfully that these revisions to the Code of Canon Law, which among other things eliminate the required confirmation of nullity decrees by a tribunal of second instance, will require "very careful interpretation and application" in the light of the Church's long canonical and doctrinal tradition. Cardinal Burke referred to his own chapter in the aforesaid book, in which he recalls his earlier experience as a Monsignor in the Apostolic Signatura during the period 1971-1983, when the 2nd instance tribunal confirmation of nullity decrees was almost completely suspended in the United States. Cardinal Burke repeated in his lecture what he said in the book: that the American experiment in “streamlining” the nullity process led in practice to a serious laxity which became widely perceived as "Catholic divorce." It seems this was one reason why the 1983 Code restored the obligatory second instance review (which had been introduced by Benedict XIV back in 1740).

After his talk, in answer to a question as to what Catholics should do if the upcoming Synod of Bishops should take a "strange turning," His Eminence gave an immediate two-word answer that drew a big round of applause: "Stay faithful!"  Those two words well summarize the whole thrust of Cardinal Burke's courageous and outspoken witness at this time of division and uncertainty over grave moral issues in today's Church. May God bless, strengthen, and protect him!

Canadian "Parliamentarian" Pierre Dionne Labelle slanders Cardinal Burke in Parliament!

As noted previously, His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke has been in a tour of Ottawa. Last evening, June 5, His Eminence celebrated the Holy Mass at Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica which was followed by a dinner for NET Ministries of Canada.

On Wednesday, June 3, His Eminence was a guest of the Speaker of the House and observed from the Speaker's Gallery the daily Parliamentary Question Period. When introduced by the Speaker of the House, Cardinal Burke received a standing ovation.

Pierre Dionne Labelle, is the Member of Parliament from the riding of Rivière-du-Nord and sits with the New Democrat Party, founded at one time by devout protestant Christian ministers, labourers and farmers which evolved into a formal party of socialists in Canada's Parliament. One cannot be a member of the NDP nor run as a candidate if one opposes the murder of a baby in the womb of its mother. Labelle is a traitor to his Catholic baptism, his heritage and his Québécois history and culture. Québéc is nothing if it is not Catholic and the hatred of the Faith by these modern Québécois since the "Quiet Revolution" (bloodless compared to France but the same in its affects) is in fact, the undermining of this once great French-Canadian culture which they so earnestly seek to promote and protect.

Following Question Period, this Member of Parliament stood up in the House of Commons and stated the following, as recorded in Hansard:

House of Commons Debates

Mr. Pierre Dionne Labelle (Rivière-du-Nord, NDP):  

    Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I feel like my privileges as a parliamentarian have been breached.

    During question period, we were introduced to Cardinal Raymond Burke, who is known for spreading homophobia and for his anti-gay campaigns. I deeply regret that the House was not informed of the situation and that we applauded such a person.

  (1715)  

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Barry Devolin):  

    I am not sure whether that is a point of order. The chair will give it consideration and, if necessary, return before the House with a response.

Do the people the Catholics of Rivière-du-Nord and Canada care about what this Member had to say?

Pierre.DionneLabelle@parl.gc.ca

Perhaps, it is a good time to repost this!

Saturday, 28 March 2015

The example of true humility and mercy by a kind and humble prelate

The sad and vile commentary in some secular media and a Catholic newspaper in the United States today using "Catholic" in their title against the order of two bishops stands in direct contrast to the real Cardinal Burke who is, in fact, a gentle and prayerful and humble pastor. The St. Louis Dispatch picked up on the article. I do not suggest reading it as the commentators are from the pit of Hell and it is not much better at the so-called "Catholic" paper. 

The criticisms are based on the an interview published in LifeSiteNews a few days ago. The Cardinal is correct. Someone who commits murder cannot be absolved of it by giving to a food bank or being nice. It is mortal sin. Sodomy and adultery are also mortal sin. Neither can they be absolved by being nice to puppies.

Let us pray for Cardinal Burke. He is a giant of a man and yet as gentle as a dove. He is the true example of masculinity in the priesthood and humility amongst prelates. Others in Rome should learn from him. Thank you Cardinal Burke for your steadfastness in the faith.

When the news of the rumours of the removal of Raymond Cardinal Burke from the Apostolic Signature broke a few months ago, I wrote the recollection of a story in The Lion of Rome. Published in Celebrate Life Magazine, it was originally titled "Coming Out of Sodom" and was written in 2011 based on the author's actual conversion in 1998 in La Crosse. 

Here is the story now since removed from the magazine; I have not published the man's name.

***

For 12 years, my life was centered on same-sex relations. I lived it: the nightlife, the drugs and the impurities. Now, because of my good bishop, I am Catholic and happy. As best as I can determine, my same-sex attraction began in reaction to my father, who was a violent alcoholic. He often drank, came home to throw things around the house and abuse my mother in addition to threatening me and my brother. I thought he hated us. Consequently, I didn't want to be anything like him.

In my sorrow, I started looking for the love of my father in the arms of other men. At age 17, a predator took advantage of me under the teacher/pupil dynamic and I became completely mixed up about human sexuality. Over the years, one thing led to another until I moved in with a man more than 20 years my senior.

Before we go any further, it is important to realize a major cause of same-sex attraction disorder. As a former insider of the community, I can tell you that the so-called gay rights/abortion rights coalition is a proximate result of the contraceptive mentality which was predicted 40 years ago by Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae. People abusing one another as sexual objects brought about a mainstream culture of death that tolerates and advocates all kinds of adultery and child abuse, including abortion. This selfish mentality also led to human embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia.

Return to my Father

From 1990 to 1994, I went to Mass off and on. In 1995, I told my "partner" that I couldn't go anymore because I was very angry with the Church. I boxed up all my crucifixes and Bibles and dropped them off at the office of the bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin with a letter renouncing the Catholic faith.

To my surprise, Bishop Raymond Burke replied with a kind letter expressing his sadness. He wrote that he would respect my decision and notify the parish where I had been baptized. Ever so gently, Bishop Burke said that he would pray for me and look forward to the time when I would reconcile with the Church.

As one of Wisconsin's most outspoken "gay" activists, I thought, "What arrogance!" Then I replied to Bishop Burke with a letter accusing him of harassment. I told him that his letters were unwelcome and I asked how he could dare to write to me.

My efforts failed to put him off. Bishop Burke sent one more letter assuring me that he wouldn't write again — but if I should want to reconcile with the Church, he would welcome me back with open arms.

Indeed, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit never gave up on me. Within a few years, I spoke to a good priest, who intensely added to Bishop Burke's prayers every day in August 1998.

On August 14, the feast of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe and the vigil of our Blessed Mother's Assumption, divine mercy penetrated my soul at a Chinese restaurant — of all places. Little did I know as I entered that restaurant with my "companion" of over eight years that the Lord would seize me that very afternoon and bring me to another place outside of Sodom, to the very judgment seat of His healing mercy, the holy Sacrament of Penance.

The priest I had consulted was there. As I gazed across the room at him, an inner voice spoke to my heart. It was gentle, radiant and clear inside my soul. The voice told me, "This priest is an image of what you can still become, if you will only return to Me."

On the way home, I solemnly told my companion, "I need to return to the Catholic Church." Although he was tearful, he lovingly responded, "Eric, I've known that for a long time. Do what you need to do in order to be happy. I knew all along that this day would come."

Next, I called Bishop Burke's office. His secretary knew me well by then, so I told her that I wanted Bishop Burke to be the first to know that I was returning to the Church — that I was preparing for the Sacrament of Penance. She asked me to hold. When she returned, she announced that Bishop Burke wanted to schedule a meeting.

Afterwards, I confessed my sins to a local, humble, devout Catholic pastor of souls and received absolution.

As an essential part of my recovery, a good Catholic family gave me shelter until I could find my own home.

A month after my reconciliation to God and the Church, I went to Bishop Burke's office, where he embraced me. He asked if I remembered the belongings I had turned over to him with my letter of renunciation. Of course I remembered and Bishop Burke had saved them in the diocesan archives because he believed that I would return.

For two years, I wondered if the mystical message meant that I was supposed to become a priest. Finally, I realized that I was not called to the priesthood. After all, the Vatican rules that men who have a well-established inclination to homosexuality may not be admitted to Holy Orders or monastic communities. Rather, the priest I saw at the restaurant was an image of what I could become — faithful and holy through the sacraments. Like all persons — single, married and religious — I am called to chastity. It is enough for me to try and get to heaven. Therefore, I strive to faithfully live the single vocation.

Ever since my mystical experience, I rejoice because of Raymond Burke, now the prelate of Saint Louis, Missouri. While some malign Archbishop Burke for his fidelity to God, Church and all souls, I say that he is a true shepherd of the faithful and a present-day Athanasius. I tell you that he remains a mentor and an inspiration to me. Although my own biological father rejected me, Archbishop Burke became my spiritual father by lovingly representing our Father in heaven. Like the Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity, Archbishop Burke was and is absolutely faithful to me.

The key to happiness

Despite the blessing of Archbishop Burke and priests like him, I want to stress that there are others who lead souls away from eternal life and happiness.

For example, when I recently went to confession, a priest told me something that is both a contradistinction from and a contradiction of the truth that Archbishop Burke taught me.

The apostate priest told me:

You're gay and the Church calls us to accept our sexuality. I am an ethicist — a scholar. And the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is very close to this position — and this is the position — am I going too fast for you? If you are attracted to members of the same sex, that is natural for you. And for you to deny that and resist that is to go against natural law. I believe, as an ethicist, that you can have a male roommate and be intimate — of course without genital expression. But if you do slip in that regard, it would not be a mortal sin.

This is the type of advice that convinced me to leave the Church. I heard it all too often from Protestants and various Catholic priests during the 1980s. I heard every heresy about sexuality and our Lord. Today, since I am separated from the "gay community," I only hear such heresies from older priests in their fifties and sixties, but not priests in their forties or younger. Bad bishops and bad priests have led so many people astray about same-sex attraction alone. Yet there is no new gospel or scholarship and this spiritual malpractice must end.

As someone who suffered in the state of mortal sin for many years, I assure you that there is no happiness outside of the moral order. The only authentic response to the challenge of same-sex attraction and sin is the truth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

In addition to God's teachings and grace, there is visible help on earth. For those who suffer from same-sex attraction, Father John Harvey established the Courage Apostolate and Encourage, which ministers to their families and friends. It is endorsed by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family. Through Courage, strugglers find the support and healthy friendships necessary to holiness and happiness, a way fully consonant with the culture of life. See more about Courage retreats, conferences and resources atwww.couragerc.net or call its New York City office at the Church of Saint John the Baptist, 212-268-1010.

Openly Homosexual Catholic Priest in Ottawa harshly and rudely slanders Cardinal Burke!

Raymond Cardinal Burke was given a standing ovation yesterday in Canada's House of Commons following the daily Question Period at Ottawa. Cardinal Burke is in Ottawa for an address this evening.  

On the eve of his attendance, Ottawa Catholic priest and professor at the University of Ottawa has roundly and severely come out against the very presence of the Cardinal in Canada's capital city.

Andre Samson,

As reported at the Catholic Intelligence Agency blog, Andre Samson, the former Pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish, said in an Email read out on CBC Radio Canada that “As a gay [man] and as a priest of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, I am upset at the visit of this person. I particularly blame those who invited him, the CCO Movement, Catholic Christian Outreach —who seek to provoke and to distance themselves from the current pope. The resistance towards Pope Francis has regrouped itself around this operetta Cardinal who likes to disguise himself as a drag queen. I know well today’s youth because I’ve taught at the University of Ottawa for the last sixteen years. I can affirm that Burke will have more success at Mado [CIA Note: a drag queen bar] than with the university students that CCO looks to convert.”

In August 2014 in the Ottawa Citizen, Samson said “I would like to see the Catholic church recognize that many of its priests are gay and many of its bishops are gay — and that’s OK." Samson who went on to describe his "life lived in secrecy."

Nowhere on his Twitter page does Fr. Samson refer to himself as a Catholic priest.

According to CIA Blog, Samson was also a speaker at the Annual Ontario Gay Men's Sexual Health Summit where BDSM was discussed in 2010 in Toronto. As Catholics one can ask if this priest spoke about chastity as being part of a single man's overall sexual health.

Ironically, a man who seems to care so much for victims of abuse feels quite justified in heaping abuse on Cardinal Burke who only speaks of the truth of Christ with love and mercy. 

The Archbishop of Ottawa is Terence Prendergast, S.J. He has done much and continues to do much to turn around on the right path, the Church in Ottawa. His two predecessors did much damage over nearly fifty years. I saw some of this when I lived in Ottawa and witnessed the treatment of the fledgling Ottawa Oratory at St. Brigid's at the hands of Joseph Aurele Plourde and the cabal at St. Joseph's Church. Pray for Archbishop Prendergast's perseverance. He is a friend of the people that would read this blog and has been a strong supporter of the Fraternity of St. Peter.  If you wish to write him, respectfully, and as a commenter noted, "with the greatest charity and kindness," his email is arch@archottawa.ca (corrected).

We will continue to follow this scandal.

Italian Interview with Cardinal Burke - Has Crux given you the full story?

Rarely, and only if necessary, do I read Crux. This is one of those times. I consider it in the same category as the National Catholic Reporter and now even the National Catholic Register owned by EWTN and having sacked blogger Pat Archbold.  Crux and the mainstream Catholic media are very good at manipulating the story for their advantage and that of those who prop them up. They and many clerics are also very good at bullying those who stand up for the truth and bloggers are easy targets. I should know.

Ines St. Martin wrote yesterday about Cardinal Burke wherein she quotes an interview His Eminence gave to the Italian online journal, La Nuova Bussola Quotidian. It is unfortunate that she did not print more of the actual interview and instead chose selectively to continue what is a scandalous attempt to discredit Cardinal Burke as evident in the combox there. The Cardinals answers are detailed and clear and easy to understand. The readers at Crux would have benefited from the full interview, but when you have an agenda, what does truth matter?

This is not new. 

Salt+ Light Television, Alicia Ambrosio undertook the same smearing and scandalous attempt to discredit the Cardinal stating that he lived in an "Ivory Tower" - the evidence is out there (so come and sue me, if you dare). We can put Crux, the National Catholic Reporter in this same category with the absolute distortion of the recent interview at LifeSiteNews where Cardinal Burke was alleged to have said that adulterers and gays were no better than murderers. Headlines can say many things to the non-thinking, non-reading masses and can do much damage to the truth to Catholics and non-Catholic alike. That is not what the Cardinal said as the interview makes clear. However, mortal sin is mortal sin. Some are worse than others. No good work by a murderer, an adulterer or a sodomite will make up for it, only repentance through the Sacrament of Penance and amendment of life will.

I have taken the interview in La Nuova Bussola Quotidian and translated it using Google Translate and have tidied it up a little. It is well worth reading in its entirety. Once again, Cardinal Burke speaks with clarity and truth and remains an inspiration to Catholics everywhere.

In recent months Raymond Cardinal Burke has been portrayed as a fanatic, an ultra- conservative, an anti-conciliarist and a conspirator against Pope Francis, even ready to a schism if the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family opens unwelcome changes to Church teaching. The campaign against the Cardinal is so strong that even in Italy several bishops have refused to accommodate his lectures in their dioceses. And when somewhere he is allowed to hold a meeting - as recently in some cities of northern Italy - invariably some of the priests have contested it, accusing him of spreading propaganda against the Pope. 

"They are all nonsense, I just do not understand this attitude. I never said a word against the Pope, I strive only to serve the truth, a task that we all have. I've always seen my work, my activities as a support to the Petrine ministry. People who know me can testify that I'm not a Pope. On the contrary I have always been very loyal and I've always wanted to serve the Holy Father, which I do even now. "

In fact, meeting him in his apartment around the corner from St. Peter's Square, he is affable and very spontaneous and appears as a thousand miles away from the image of dour defender of "cold doctrine", as described by the mainstream press.

In the debate that preceded and followed the first Synod on the family some of Cardinal Burke’s statements are actually played as a criticism of Pope Francis, or so they have been interpreted. For example, recently there was made by the media lot of noise that his "I will resist, resist" as a possible response to the Pope's decision to grant communion to divorced and remarried.

“But it was a sentence misrepresented, there was no reference to Pope Francis. I believe, that because I have always spoken very clearly on the issue of marriage and the family, some want to portray and neutralize me as an enemy of the Pope, or even ready to schism, just using that answer I gave in an interview with a French television station.”

So how then should that answer be interpreted?

“It is very simple. The journalist asked me what I would do, if hypothetically, - not referring to Pope Francis - a pontiff was to make decisions against the doctrine and practice of the Church. I said that I should resist, because we are all in the service of truth, starting with the Pope. The Church is not a political body in the sense of power. The power is Jesus Christ and his gospel. To this, I replied that I will resist and would not be the first time that this happens in the Church. There were several moments in history where someone had to stand up to the Pope, beginning with St. Paul against St. Peter, who wanted to impose circumcision to the converted Greek. But in my case I'm not at all undertaking any resistance to Pope Francis, because he has done nothing against the doctrine, nor do I see myself at all in the fight against the Pope, as they want to paint me. I'm not pursuing the interests of a group or a party; I just try to be as Cardinal, a teacher of the faith.”

Another "count of indictment" against him is his alleged passion for "lace," as it is said in a demeaning way and something that the Pope cannot stand.

“The Pope has never made me doubt the way I dress, which however, is still within the norm of the Church. I also celebrate the liturgy in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and there are for this vestments that do not exist for the celebration in the Ordinary Form, but I always wear what the rule is for the ritual that I am celebrating. I do not engage in politics against the way of dressing of the Pope. We have to also say that every Pope has his own style, but that does not then impose this style to all other bishops. I do not understand why this should be a cause for controversy.”

But the newspapers often used a photo in which he has worn a Cardinals galero a headdress definitely out of time.

“Ah, that; but it's amazing. I can explain. It is a picture that has spread after a newspaper had used it to publish an interview with me during the Synod. The interview was done well, but unfortunately they used a photo that was taken out of context, and I'm sorry for it, because by doing this they gave the wrong impression of a person living in the past. What happened, in fact, was that, after being appointed cardinal, I was invited to a diocese in the south of Italy for a conference on the liturgy. For the occasion, the organizers wanted to give me the gift of a former cardinal's hat - they did not know who’s it had been. Obviously it is in my hand and I had no intention of wearing it regularly, but he asked me if I would put it on to be able to do at least one photo with the hat, so I wore it. This was the only time I put that hat on my head, but unfortunately that picture has been all over the world and someone used it to give the impression that I go around like that. But I've never worn it again, not even in a ceremony.”

He was also listed as the inspiration, if not the promoter, of the "Petition to Pope Francis on the family", which was released for collecting signatures on a few sites amongst the world’s traditionalists.

“I signed that document, but it was not my initiative or my idea. Nor did I write or co-write the text. Those who have said otherwise stated falsely. For all I know it is an initiative of lay people, I was shown the text and I signed it, as have many other cardinals.”

Another of the charges put to him is to be anti-conciliarist, against the Second Vatican Council.

“Labels are easy to apply, but there is no basis in reality. All my theological education in the major seminary was based on the documents of Vatican II, and I am still trying today to study more deeply these documents. I'm not at all opposed to the council, and if one reads my writings will find that many times I quote the documents of Vatican II. One on which however do not agree is the "Spirit of the Council", this realization of the council who is not faithful to the text of the documents but that purports to create something totally new, a new church that has nothing to do with all the so called aberrations of the past. In this, I follow fully the bright presentation that made Benedict XVI in his address to the Roman Curia for Christmas 2005. It is the famous speech in which he explains that the correct interpretation is that of reform in continuity, as opposed to hermeneutics of rupture in the discontinuity that many sectors carry on. The intervention of Benedict XVI is brilliant and explains everything. Many things that happened after the Council and attributed to the council have nothing to do with the council. This is the simple truth.”

But the fact remains that Pope Francis has "punished" him by removing him from the Apostolic Signatura and entrusting the patronage of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

“The Pope gave an interview with Argentine newspaper La Nacion that has already answered this question by explaining the reasons for this choice. This says it all, and not for me to comment. I can only say, without violating any secret, I was never told by the Pope or given the impression that he wanted to punish me for something.”

What is certain is that this "bad image" has to do with what Cardinal Kasper also, in recent days, called the "synodal battle". That seems to grow in intensity as you get closer to the Ordinary Synod next October. Where are we?

“I would say that there is now a much more extensive discussion on the topics covered by the Synod and that's good. There is a greater number of cardinals, bishops and lay people who are intervening and this is very positive. I do not understand why all the noise that was created last year around the book "Remaining in the Truth of Christ," to which I have contributed along with four other cardinals and four specialists on marriage.”

That book is where was born the theory of a plot against the Pope, a view echoed recently by Alberto Melloni in the Corriere della Sera, and that cost him a lawsuit by the publisher Italian Cantagalli.

“It is simply absurd. How you can be accused of conspiracy against the Pope with what the Church has always taught and practiced on marriage and communion? It is certain that the book was written as an aid for the Synod to answer the thesis of Cardinal Kasper. But it is not controversial, is a presentation faithful to the tradition, and is also the highest scientific quality possible. I am totally available to receive criticism about the content, but to say that we have taken part in a plot against the Pope is unacceptable.”

But who is fomenting this witch hunt?

“I do not have any direct information but surely there is a group that wants to impose on the Church not only this thesis of Cardinal Kasper on communion for divorced and remarried, or for people in irregular situations, but also other positions on issues related to the themes of the Synod. I refer to the idea of ​​finding the positive elements in sexual relations outside of marriage or homosexuality. It is evident that there are forces pushing in this direction, and for that they want to discredit us who are trying to defend the Church's teaching. I have nothing personal against Cardinal Kasper, but for me, the question is only to present the Church's teaching, which in this case is related to words spoken by the Lord.”

Looking at some of the themes that emerged strongly in the Synod, the about a gay lobby is common.

“Without being able to pinpoint, I do see more and more that there is a force that goes in this direction. I see people who, consciously or unconsciously, are carrying out a homosexual agenda. How this is organized I do not know, but it is evident that there is a force of this kind. At the Synod we have said that talking about homosexuality had nothing to do with the family, rather it would have been better to convene a special Synod if you wanted to talk about this issue. But we found in the Relatio post disceptationem this issue that had not been discussed by the fathers.”

One of the theological justifications in support of Cardinal Kasper that today is very often repeated is that of the "development of doctrine;" -- not a change, but a depth which can lead to a new practice.

“Here, there is a big misunderstanding. The development of the doctrine, as it has for example presented by Blessed Cardinal Newman or other good theologians, means a deepening in appreciation, knowledge of a doctrine, not the change of doctrine. The development in any case leads to change. One example is that of the Post-Synodal written by Pope Benedict XVI on the Eucharist, is "Sacramentum Caritatis;" - in it is presented the development of the knowledge of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, also expressed in Eucharistic adoration. There were some in fact contrary and opposed to Eucharistic adoration, because the Eucharist is to be received within. But Benedict XVI explained - also citing St. Augustine - that if it is true that the Lord gives us himself in the Eucharist to be consumed, it is also true that you cannot recognize this reality of Jesus' presence under the Eucharistic species without worshiping these species. This is an example of the development of doctrine, but it is not that the doctrine on the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist has changed.”

One reason for the controversy on the Synod is the alleged opposition between doctrine and practice, doctrine and mercy. Even the pope insists that the often self-righteous attitude of those who use the doctrine create a distance and prevent love.

“I think you have to distinguish between what the Pope said on a few occasions and those who claim a contrast between doctrine and practice. You can never admit in the Church a contrast between doctrine and practice because we live the truth that Christ tells us in his holy Church and the truth is never a cool thing. It is the truth that opens to us the space for love, to really love you must respect the truth of the person, and the person in the particular situations in which he or she finds themselves. So to establish a kind of contrast between doctrine and practice does not reflect the reality of our faith. Whoever supports the thesis of Cardinal Kasper - change of discipline that does not touch the doctrine - should explain how it is possible. If the Church admits to communion a person who is related in a marriage but is living with another person in another marriage relationship, that is in a state of adultery how can one believe at the same time that marriage is indissoluble? The relationship between doctrine and practice is a false contrast that we must reject.”

But it is true that you can use the doctrine without love.

“Sure, and that's what the pope is denouncing, use of the law or doctrine to advance a personal agenda, to dominate people. But that does not mean there is a problem with the doctrine and discipline; only there are people of ill will commit abuses that may for example by interpreting the law in a way that harms people. Or applying the law without love, insisting on the truth of the situation of the person but without love. Even when a person is in serious sin we must love the person and help as the Lord has made example to us with the adulteress and the Samaritan woman. He was very clear in announcing the state of sin in which they were, but at the same time showed a great love by inviting them to come out of this situation. What did not the Pharisees, which instead showed a cruel legalism: denouncing the violation of the law, but without giving any help to the person to exit from sin, so as to find peace in his life.”