Cardinal Burke: synod interview comments were misreported

October 30, 2014

Cardinal Raymond Burke said that the online news site BuzzFeed misreported remarks he made in an interview that took place during the recent Synod of Bishops.

BuzzFeed published both the full transcript of the interview and a summary.

In the interview, Cardinal Burke said that “I can’t speak for the Pope, and I can’t say what his position is on this, but the lack of clarity about the matter has certainly done a lot of harm.”

BuzzFeed reported that Cardinal Burke said “the pope had ‘done a lot of harm’ by not stating ‘openly what his position is.’”

In a statement posted by the Dignitas Humanae Institute on October 27, Cardinal Burke said:

As a priest, bishop and finally a cardinal, I have only ever sought to serve Our Lord’s Church in humble obedience to the Magisterium and to the Holy Father. Needless confusion regarding my motives does not help me in this service, especially when substantial questions of principle are at stake. I very strongly believe that one also serves loyally by expressing a contrary judgment, in accord with the pursuit of the truth, and that one only serves faithfully when one has dutifully and clearly spoken, in obedience to one’s conscience.

I did not state that Pope Francis has harmed the Church. Rather, as the now published verbatim interview reveals, I was perfectly clear that it was a lack of clarity about where the Holy Father stands on issues related to marriage and Holy Communion that had caused the harm. It is precisely for this reason that I subsequently said that only a statement from the Holy Father himself could now remove this lack of clarity.

Sadly, confusion, such as that generated by this particular interview, has been used to portray those opposed to Cardinal Kasper’s thesis as motivated by a personal animus against the Holy Father. This is just not the case, though it no doubt helps the cause of those with certain ideological axes to grind to make this appear so.

 

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Further information:

• Cardinal Burke Sets Record Straight Regarding Major Misrepresentation In Earlier Interview (Dignitas Humanae Institute)
• Cardinal Burke confirms reports of transfer from position (CWN, 10/20)