LindyR, you cant have it both ways. Do you or do you not accept that the reforms of Vatican II were legitimate or not? If not, then you deny the legitimacy of the working of the Holy Spirit through the leaders of the Church. That is not a liberal or conservative position…

Also, I dont think that Ginny was necessarily saying that she was denying the teachings that you list. I think she was merely pointing out that those teachings evolved over time, and that hence we can realistically think of those teachings as changing over time as we grow in our understanding of the message of Christ. if anything, one might even say that the entire history of the Church is one where people continually try to understand the faith…sometimes things are made more clear, sometimes they get it right, and sometimes they get it wrong.

To deny that change is the height of arrogance. And to call people heretics…well, if you deny Vatican II I suppose you are right there with the heretics. Welcome aboard.

I am curious as to how monetary contributions fared in Burke’s diocese. Durking his tenure, did funding increase from parishioners?

PBR, you really need some medical help. You are a sick individual. Calling someone a Nazi isn’t a light-hearted casual reference. Then again, you are one of those right-wing, in-the-bunker, no one-know-who-I-am survivalists. How does that fit you?

Ding-Dong the Bishop gone. The wicked Bishop gone.

I would be sorry to see that this move is a step to the papacy. We do not need lawyer popes. That happened with Innocent III, and look at that part of Church History! I agree he belongs in a court, not a pastorate.

I am saddened to read the fighting between Catholics over a bishop who, in his own words, has had to make some difficult decisions for the good order of the family. When Archbishop Burke came to St. Louis in 2004, St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish ran an add in the St. Louis Review welcoming him. It ironically read, “Let us follow the bishop as we follow Christ.” When God gives a bishop to His flock, He is making His Son present among us. Even when we struggle to understand our bishop’s decisions and actions, our faith should lead us to trust that he is acting for our good.

Archbishop Burke deserves our respect. He has given us 4+ years of his life in dedicated service. I dare say there is no person in St. Louis who gives himself as fully as Archbishop Burke has to the service of God’s people. He commented in his press conference the other day that he has witnessed much personal spiritual growth in himself in his years here. I have no doubt that the suffering and persecution he has endured have led to that growth. I also know that he prays every day for his persecutors, for their conversion of heart.

Thank God for this dedicated shepherd. May he give us now a new shepherd, after His own Heart.

I think that Burke knew all along that St. Louis was meant to be a ’stepping stone’ for him to some higher post in Rome. Too bad he didn’t see fit to clue the people of St. Louis in on his aspirations. As other commentators have said, it would have been better if he had never set foot in St. Louis!

I’m glad to see him leaving but fear he’ll be replaced with someone just as bad or worse. As it’s been said before, same circus, different clown.

Here are just a couple of things that ticks me off about him and those like him:

He won’t affiliate with any person or group that has anything to do with abortion, yet he’ll allow the church to accept money from the United Way. The United Way supports abortion clinics (Planned Parenthood for one).

He says to vote pro-life, yet it’s only when it comes to abortion. How can anyone be pro-life yet vote for, or support someone that is for the death penalty, war, etc.

Many of you say he’s upholding the view of the church. If that is true, then the church is wrong too. You have to change with the times. If you don’t, you’ll end up just the way you’re heading now. Split apart and fighting between the members.

I became a new Catholic around 2000 or so, and ever since then it’s headed downhill fast. It won’t be long until I can be proud that I’m no longer affiliated with the church. Get it together or perish.

I have great respect for the ArchBishop, but since I am not Catholic, I shall not comment on his tenure in St. Louis.

Archbishop Burke was a very “conservative” leader in already potentially divisive matters of Catholic doctrine (particularly social and bioethical doctrinal policy), or rather, an ultraorthodox guardian of what the hierarchical magisterium (bishops and the Pope) call the “deposit of faith”. What will make him very suited to his new post as Cardinal Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura is his widely known ability to apply this complex knowledge to legal contexts in appeals from other ecclesiastical courts. When faced with such concerns in the pastoral area of governance, situations covering heated issues with canonical implications requires
sensitivity, which is a very delicate balance not all Catholic bishops
are capable or willing to give- whether they should or not.