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Thursday, February 12, 2015

Cardinal Burke, Conscience, and Women Priests/ Response by Bridget Mary Meehan and John Quinn

Bridget Mary's Response;
Never in my wildest imagination did I ever dream, I would write this headline: "Cardinal Burke, Conscience, and Women Priests! Who would ever think that Cardinal Burke would under any circumstance oppose papal authority? For some conservative Catholics, obedience to the magisterium is the holy grail of our faith.  What they forget is that the magisterium's teaching is supposed to reflect the sense of the faithful, the belief of the entire church which includes a reflection on a specific moral issue or belief by ordinary Catholics, the input of scholars /theologians and then after weighing all of this input, the bishops in union with the pope declare an official position. Even after all than, Catholics can dissent from official teaching according to the consciences. Women priests and our supporters are one example. Now Cardinal Burke is ready to dissent from teaching by Pope Francis if it violates his conscience. 
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com

John Quinn's Response:

"I am presuming, always fraught with danger, that Cardinal Burke is referring to conscience when he says:

“I simply affirmed that it is always my sacred duty to defend the truth of the Church's teaching ....No authority can absolve me from that responsibility..."

If that is the case I hope Cardinal Burke recognizes that the women who have responded to their vocation and become Roman Catholic Women Priests and Roy Bourgeois and others who support them are also responding to their church formed consciences and that "No authority can absolve them from that responsibility..."

Church teaching and discipline regarding marriage has developed and will develop and perhaps the cardinal is arriving just a little late and out of breath regarding marriage and along with many other hierarchs is in a similar position regarding the ordination of women. "

Ecclesia SEMPER reformanda.
John Quinn
johnquinn@cogeco.ca
905-934-9115




FYI http://www.globalpulsemagazine.com/news/cardinal-burke-clarifies-comments-on-resisting-pope-francis/774


"U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke clarified comments to a French TV station that he would “resist” Pope Francis if the pope deviated from Church doctrine.

The cardinal, a frequent critic the pope, told Catholic News Agency that he was referring to a hypothetical situation.

“I simply affirmed that it is always my sacred duty to defend the truth of the Church's teaching and discipline regarding marriage.”

“No authority can absolve me from that responsibility, and, therefore, if any authority, even the highest authority, were to deny that truth or act contrary to it, I would be obliged to resist, in fidelity to my responsibility before God,” he said.

In an interview with France 2 on Feb. 8, according to a translation on the Rorate Caeli website, Cardinal Burke said that papal power was “at the service of the doctrine of the faith, and thus the pope does not have the power to change teaching, doctrine.”

He was then asked: "In a somewhat provocative way, can we say that the true guardian of doctrine is you, and not Pope Francis?"

The cardinal replied: “We must, let us leave aside the matter of the pope. In our faith, it is the truth of doctrine that guides us.”

When asked: “If Pope Francis insists on this path, what will you do?”

He said: “I will resist. I cannot do anything else.”

The cardinal, a former archbishop of St. Louis, served from 2008-2014 as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Roman Rota. He also sat on the Congregation for Bishops for several years.

Pope Francis removed him from his curial positions and assigned him as patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a 900-year-old institution focused on the defense of the faith and care for the poor. The order has a presence in more than 120 countries, with 13,000 members and 80,000 volunteers. "




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