| TIME's Amy Sullivan on Archbishop Burke and Cardinal O'Malley |
| by Deal W. Hudson |
| 11/06/09 |
 Once again, TIME's Amy Sullivan delivers the message of the Catholic Left. You may recall the last time she declared that abortion funding in the health care bill was a "myth." That "myth" is causing a real ruckus at the present moment. This time around Sullivan uses the speech delivered by Archbishop Burke at the September InsideCatholic.com dinner to spin a real myth, "A Tale of Two Priests." Archbishop Burke did, in fact, use the occasion of our dinner to make a speech on various aspects of the Holy Father's "Caritas in veritate" and its implication for a culture of life. He included some rather pointed comments about the then recent funeral Mass for Sen. Ted Kennedy, which became something of a celebration of Kennedy's Catholic contribution to politics in spite of his dissent on pro-life issues. Sullivan insists that "Burke's broadside" at Cardinal O'Malley "has set the Catholic world abuzz." She also reports that "friends" of Cardinal O'Malley say he was "stunned" by Burke's comments, particularly his reference to the "Father of Lies." If that is the case, there was much that must have stunned Cardinal O'Malley in the days following the funeral because the criticism was very widespread among Catholics, both lay and religious. Archbishop Burke's comments were not pointed at O'Malley, but they were, no doubt, relevant to the funeral and the participation of Cardinals O'Malley and McCarrick. Amy Sullivan, surprisingly, does not mention McCarrick who received the bulk of the subsequent criticism for his eulogizing of Kennedy and his egregious misrepresentation of a Vatican comment about the funeral. Here is what Burke actually said in context:
Regardless of the persons this might touch, who can really disagree with it? Amy Sullivan thinks some very powerful people in the Church were outraged to the extent that Burke may face serious consequences: "The question now is whether the Vatican will move again to muzzle Burke." The "again," by the way, is based upon the questionable assumption that Burke was moved out of St. Louis in retaliation for his outspokenness in the 2004 election. If Burke were being punished by the move to Rome, being made the Catholic equivalent of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is a strange way of doing it, which is precisely the kind of authority he wields as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Another fact Amy Sullivan fails to mention is that Burke was appointed to the influential Congregation of Bishops on October 23, a month after his speech at the InsideCatholic.com dinner. That appointment, as well as the broad respect Archbishop Burke still commands among the U. S. bishops, suggests quite the opposite of Sullivan's narrative.
Readers have left 7 comments. Wasn't that obvious? That's why he issued an explanation after, and not before, the fact. Written by Daniel Molinaro The Protestantizers in the Church are seeing their agenda thwarted at every turn....their day is over, and they know it...they attack the Vatican consistently, because they know that not only is this Pope not of their stripe, but John Paul II and Benedict XVI have ensured through their appointments that their agenda will continue to be sabotaged. NCR is a sad window into their thinking. They attack the Institutional Church because they have nothing left. Written by D.B. D.B. - the Protestant wing of the Catholic Church has seen its best day. My only hope is that I live long enough to attend the Requiem. Written by Deacon Ed Deal Hudson is as much a PR man for the right as Amy Sullivan is a hack for the left... Archbishop Burke was removed from the American Catholic landscape to do a job any of 500 canon lawyer-bishops could do; and now when he speaks out he sounds like Randall Terry shouting through a bullhorn on a sidewalk... very easily dismissed. And just to make sure the Church in the U.S. plays nice the Holy Father has accepted the retirement of 63 year old Bishop Martino because of "health" reasons that by the Bishop's own statement have no particular symptoms. I think it is evident, even to the most casual observer like Amy Sullivan that our Holy Father is not happy with the public debate by our bishops and he has taken steps to silence it...quickly. Pax tecum y'all! Written by Doug Pearson Pax tecum y'all! Written by Doug Pearson I think what is really needed here is not more opinions about opinions, which clearly reflect biasness of this author, but a realistic understanding of the Church which we contribute to, and not try to remake in our image. Written by Bruno Hey, Hudson, I think you missed something. The most important thing in the article was not Burke, although you did a fine job in debunking that. It was the fact that Sullivan was trying to use him as an example of the "pro-life-only" Catholics and the "holistic" Catholics that she divides her world into. Apparently to her, pro-life Catholics aren't Catholic enough. Indeed, she mentions the world "holistic" in a positive way in the first few paragraphs, and then she mentions Bernardin as an example of the infighting of "holistic" guys (who are actually heterodox, unlike Bernardin who was actually a truly holisitic Catholic) and the "pro-life-only" Catholics! Come on -- there was more distortion than this! Oh, and by the way, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ylfzlnh ">"tag"</a>  Written by Jean-Therese I am a veteran priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, but i think for obvious reasons i write anonymously. I was disgusted by Cardinal Sean's decision to preside at Senator Kennedy's funeral. First of all of course the Senator should have a Catholic funeral. But the Kennedy was in no way domiciled in the Archdiocese; he lived in Virginia, and summered on Cape Cod, which is in the Fall River diocese, so the Cardinal should have asked the Bishop of Fall River to preside. This would have sent the requisite message. Supposedly, the Cardinal was trying to give the 'soft sell' to the gathered pols, but the only message they got was 'the Church's bark is worse than its bite' on abortion. I will never give to our Archdiocesan appeal agan, only to our shockingly underfuned Clergy fund. Supposedly the Cardinal was talked into attending by PR people, because of 'how it would look' if he skipped. And i write all this while liking the Cardinal in person. Written by presbyter bostoniensis |
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