Burke blasts Obama, Notre Dame in D.C. speech
President Barack Obama
Archbishop Raymond Burke
Former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke was in Washington Friday morning to give the keynote speech at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. And he didn’t hold back.
Speaking of the University of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama - an abortion rights supporter - at its commencement later this month, Burke said Catholic universities should not give a platform, let alone honor, “those who teach and act publicly against the moral law,” according to the Associated Press.
“The proposed granting of an honorary doctorate at Notre Dame University to our president, who is so aggressively advancing an anti-life and anti-family agenda is rightly the source of the greatest scandal,” Burke said.
The Washington Post’s God in Government blog reported that Burke “did not disappoint” the “1,300 mostly conservative Catholics at the event” who “interrupted his 45-minute address more than a dozen times with applause.” Post religion reporter and blogger Jacqueline L. Salmon called his speech “vintage Burke.”
“What those who were so enthusiastic about the strong message of hope and change delivered during the last election are now discovering is a consistent implementation of policies and programs which confirm and advance the culture of death,” Burke told the crowd at a Washington D.C. hotel, according to God in Government. The archbishop “said that Jesus Christ is on the side of those who oppose abortion and same-sex marriage.”
In June 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named Burke as the first American to head the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s version of a supreme court. St. Louis Archbishop-elect Robert Carlson is scheduled to be installed as the archdiocese’s new leader next month.
According to God in Government, Burke…
…attacked Obama for lifting the ban on embryonic stem-cell research, for reversing the ban that prohibits funding to international family planning groups that provide abortions, and for plans to reverse a Bush policy allowing health-care workers to refuse to provide services based on moral objections and Obama’s verbal support of the Freedom of Choice Act. Burke labeled new HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, as a “source of deepest embarrassment to Catholics.”
Burke told the prayer breakfast crowd that if Catholics are not willing to stand up for the church’s teachings, “we are not worthy of the name Catholic,” according to the AP.
Tim Townsend has been the religion reporter at the Post-Dispatch since June 2004. He previously covered personal finance and consumer news for The Wall Street Journal. He holds master's degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Yale Divinity School. In 2005 he won the Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year Award, given by the Religion Newswriters Association. 
This is the same man who fought revealing the identity of his pedophile priests .. who refused to recognize a duly elected teachers’ union .. Talk about sinner!
Oh come now Ladont, calm down.
It seems to me as chief-justice on the Vatican’s version of a supreme court, archbishop Burke’s opinion regarding the Notre Dame scandal might very well be of some import.
It will indeed be very interesting, to see how all works out for Notre Dame.
“…Burke labeled new HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, as a “source of deepest embarrassment to Catholics.” ”
in the above staement…
you could very easily remove the name…
‘HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’
and instead, insert the name…
‘Former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke’…
Stop your whining you cafeteria Catholics if your not for protecting the dignity of human life why bother calling yourself Catholics and that goes for you Catholic priests that voted for Obama. Hard to contribute to the archdiocesan appeal when my own priests vote for Obama. You go Burke
Archbishop Burke, you are the man! We need someone like YOU to run for president. The church can spare you. The secular world needs you even more. Burke for president 2012!!(Well, if he insists on staying in the church, at least he will be able to continue his work in halting the leftward drift of the flagship of the Christian faith.)
Doesn’t matter who said it…the bottom line is that the Catholics are pro-life. Personally I don’t care if he talks there, but the honorary degree is over the top. After 100 days, we must listen to every word this man speaks because we are all being “dazzled with the footwork”
Gee whiz, is this guy pressing to be the next pope or what? I hope old Burke does get to be pope. Then he can be about the business of alienating the rest of the reasonable people in the church and finally have the church he wants. The rest of us will get along just fine, thanks. When the goats are going left and the sheep are moving right, the final judge will not be asking if we were Catholic or not.
This N.D. grad and Catholic is pleased to have Obama speak. Why is it that thoughtful debate and discourse within the Catholic community has to come from outside dioceses and their so-called shepherds?
Glad to see Ray is continuing his campaign of hypocrisy SOMEWHERE ELSE. Honestly these bishops are completely out of touch with the world, not to mention most Catholics.
Why doesn’t the church speak out against the death penalty, war, genocide, poverty and disease? These things which we and our governments perpetrate on our own people and others kill actual, living people. The concern for the unborn is nice, but basically cowardly.
BTW, don’t tell anyone that some Catholic universities, including N.D., teach classes called “World Religions.”