Cardinal Burke, at synod, rues anti-law culture in society and Church

October 25, 2012

In a written submission to the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, criticized the “antinomianism embedded in civil society,” which “has unfortunately infected post-Council ecclesial life.”

“Among the most serious wounds of society today is the separation of legal culture from its metaphysical objective, which is moral law,” he wrote in his Italian-language intervention. “In recent times this separation has been much accentuated, manifesting itself as a real antinomianism, which claims to render actions which are intrinsically evil as legal, for example, abortion on demand, artificial conception of human life with the aim of carrying out experimentation on the life of a human embryo, the so-called euthanasia of those who have the right to our preferential assistance, legal recognition of same-sex unions as marriage, and the negation of the fundamental right to conscience and religious liberty.”

“This antinomianism embedded in civil society has unfortunately infected post-Council ecclesial life, associating itself, regrettably, with so-called cultural novelties,” he continued. “Excitement following the Council, linked to the establishment of a new Church which teaches freedom and love, has strongly encouraged an attitude of indifference towards Church discipline, if not even hostility. The reforms of ecclesial life which were hoped for by the Council Fathers were therefore, in a certain sense, hindered, if not betrayed.”

Cardinal Burke added:

Devoted to present-day new evangelization, we have the task of laying the foundation for awareness of the disciplinary tradition of the Church and respect of the law in the Church. An interest in the discipline of the Church is not to be equated with an idea contrary to the mission of the Church in the world, but to a correct attention to cohesively witnessing to faith in the world. This service, certainly humble, of Church Canon Law is also absolutely necessary. How indeed will we be able to witness our faith in the world if we ignore or neglect the demands of justice within the Church? Salvation of the soul, the primary goal of a new evangelization, must also always be in the Church “the supreme law” (can. 1752).

 

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Further information:

• Bulletin of the Synod of Bishops No. 28