The Jewish community and Archbishop Burke
Over the weekend, I have been reflecting on the news of Archbishop Burke’s transfer to Rome. As an active participant in interfaith activities in St. Louis, I have encountered Archbishop Burke in a number of community settings. The first time was at a small dinner of welcome arranged by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and the Jewish Community Relations Council. He carried himself as a warm and somewhat shy person, but comfortable in the midst of the Jewish community. He reflected on his interactions with the Jewish community of La Cross, Wisconsin his former diocese, and looked forward to working with the St. Louis Jewish community on matters of mutual concern.
For the media in St. Louis, Archbishop Burke was a blessing. His denial of communion to supporters of “choice” in the national debate on abortion, made the national news. It was an election year. As a rabbi, I was more focused on his interaction with the local interfaith community. During that first year, he eagerly joined a panel of the Interfaith Partnership discussing the proper role of religion in the public square. This would be a respectful audience for the Archbishop to make his case. In that discussion he forthrightly stated the official Catholic Church positions and then attempted to make a case for those positions being the only logical ones that one could hold, if one understood the concept of the Natural Law. He implied that even Judaism accepted the concept of Natural Law. It was a very revealing insight into how Archbishop Burke would deal with ethical and moral dilemmas. There would be very little room for shades of gray. It also demonstrated a willingness to overlook the reality of Jewish life. There is more than one thoughtful Jewish approach to most ethical and moral problems. Many of these approaches conflict with one another and there is no supreme pontiff to declare which is the official teaching of Judaism. Natural Law arguments were not going to impress many in the interfaith community.
Last December Archbishop Burke suddenly, and without prior warning, removed Father Vincent Heier from his post as the Chief Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer of the St. Louis Archdiocese. Father Heier requested some time off to deal with some personal issues. Burke used the request as an opportunity to replace Father Heier altogether. Heier had become a nationally recognized player in the interfaith arena. He and our own beloved Rabbi Robert P. Jacobs, (may his memory be for a blessing) co-hosted a national interfaith meeting here in St. Louis, during the time of Archbishop John May (may his memory be for a blessing). The Jewish community was stunned at the shabby treatment of our dear friend. The interfaith community could not make any sense of this action, in light of the fact that Father Heier had served with distinction under two previous Archbishops.
In recent weeks, Archbishop Burke’s personal support for the newly created religious community to be headquartered here in St. Louis, known as the Daughters of Mary, Mother of Israel’s Hope, gave me reason to wonder at the Archbishop’s current intentions with regard to the Jewish community. The new religious community was founded by Rosalind Moss, a host on the Eternal Word Television Network. Moss was born and raised in a Jewish home and for a time was an Evangelical Protestant, before her conversion to Catholicism. Her husband brother, David Moss is also a convert to Catholicism from a Jewish home. The new community appears to be a proseltyzing effort directed especially towards Jews. I view this, at best, as a misguided effort at saving the Jews from damnation and at worst, as yet another attempt to water down or disregard altogether the last forty years of dialogue and cooperation between The Catholic Church and the Jews, under the Vatican II document known as Nostra Aetate. Simply put, Jews understand the Church’s need to gain converts, but find programs which target Jews as Jews, to be offensive and contrary to recent Church statements. Now, this will be an item on the agenda for the next Archbishop.
Mark Shook, 62, of Creve Coeur, is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Temple Israel of Creve Coeur. In addition, he teaches Jewish Philosophy/Theology at St. Louis University and offers a once monthly commentary on radio station KWMU. Mark is married and has two children and three grandsons. He plays golf only on days ending in "Y." 
So, because it was founded by two former Jews turned Catholics, it MUST be some sinister group whose only purpose is to gut the Jewish population of St Louis? Innuendo is a dangerous toy to play with rabbi, and you would be better off getting some sort of document that you could quote from to prove your conspiracy theory, like a brochure from Daughters of Mary. I find your deductions lacking in reason and fact.
Burke may have been controversial, but his tough stance on many issues is what he felt needed to be done. As I recall, his first responsibility is to Catholics, not interfaith dialouges. While respect and understanding between the faiths is a positive, it is also a road that can only lead so far before coming to the inevitable dead end. Meanwhile, there were tough issues to be dealt with and, whether or not Catholics liked his decisions, he had the courage to address them and stand up for the Church.
I don’t recall the last time a man of the cloth took the time to criticize a holy man from another faith, but it seems to be a popular pastime among other religions and faiths to comment on the workings of the Catholic Church. Perhaps the good rabbi should tend to his own flock instead of telling other flocks his perceived shortcomings that their Archbishop had.