St. Louis Archbishop gets post at Vatican
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Archbishop Raymond Burke, in a move likely to elevate him to cardinal, was named today to a high Vatican post after nearly five years at the helm of the St. Louis archdiocese.
Burke, a church law expert, was named to head the Vatican’s supreme court. Burke has served on the Vatican’s Supreme Court for two years. He is viewed as the most outspoken of conservative bishops in the United States. Nearly all the Vatican supreme court members are cardinals, which signaled the likelihood Burke would be elevated to that position as well.
He was known, among other things, for his tough stance that politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Holy Communion.
During his time in St. Louis, he excommunicated the board and priest of St. Stanislaus Kostka church and three women for participating in a women’s ordination that is forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church.
Burke becomes the first American bishop to hold the position as head of the Vatican supreme court. His appointment illustrates that Pope Benedict XVI has a great amount of respect for bishops in the United States, said Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.
The naming of Burke, as well as that of William Joseph Cardinal Levada as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of Benedict’s first major appointments, shows the pope "is willing to use Americans to help him run the church," Reese said. "Among a lot of European clergy, there’s an anti-American bias. Benedict doesn’t seem to have this.
"This is more power than Americans have ever had in Rome."
Source: http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Jun/20080627News014.asp
P.S. Bolds and Highlights added for emphasis. Blogman.