One of the premier prelates of the neither-here-nor-there school of neo-traditionalism, American Cardinal Raymond Burke, recently sat down for a 54-minute conversation with kosher Catholic Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire.
As Cardinal Burke is known to do, he touched on just enough traditional subjects to maintain his credibility with the Taylor Marshalls and Michael Matts of the world, but once again showed that he either doesn’t understand the magnitude of the crisis (which is unlikely) or that he simply wants to ensure he doesn’t lose his cushy position within the machinery of the synodal sect.
Among other things, Burke discussed Catholic relations with Protestants and Jews, the Filioque, Marian devotion, immigration, war, Vatican property, and the present crisis in the Church. His comments on the Latin Mass, however, again betray his true (erroneous) position.
Asked about the future of the Latin liturgy under Leo XIV, Burke said, “The most important thing is for those who love the Traditional Latin Mass to make known to their bishops and to the Holy Father, most of all, their desire to worship according to this form.”
Without calling into question the validity of the Novus Ordo Mass of Annibale Bugnini, Burke continued with a sentiment that sounds perfectly reasonable on the surface: “If they’re nourished spiritually in this way, and they become more committed to the faith, why should we deny that to them?”
Recalling Benedict XVI, he added: “what is beautiful and good at one time doesn’t suddenly become bad.”
Not opposing the Modernist revolution
While the usual camp of pseudo-traditionalists was quick to pour sycophantic praise upon him on social media, Burke’s statements leave much to be desired.
To start, Burke does deserve some credit for recognizing that the traditional Mass is not merely an aesthetic preference, and that it is actually something by which Catholics are “nourished spiritually.” He is therefore right to note that it leads to a greater commitment to living out Catholic morality. But again, he neglects to explain how the Church he identifies as being the Catholic Church can also force a spiritually harmful liturgy — the Novus Ordo Missae — onto its members.
What’s more, there is a serious problem with the framework that His Eminence places his defense of those who are “attached” to the Latin Mass in. During the interview, he insists that traditional Catholics should make clear that they are “not calling into question the validity of the Second Vatican Council,” while failing to mention its departure from Tradition on topics such as religious liberty, ecumenism, and collegiality..
This statement negates all credibility that any of Burke’s comments about the TLM might have had, as it once again demonstrates that he still does not — or simply doesn’t want to — admit that the Second Vatican Council is the poisonous root of the modernist cancer ravaging the institutional Church.
The Dispatch
Burke’s position is also untenable given that it forces Catholics to put themselves into a position where, as a prerequisite for having what is rightly theirs (the Latin Mass), they must first swear fealty to the anti-Catholic Council of Vatican II that spawned a new religion.
This alone should erase any doubt that a Catholic might have had about whether Burke is a true friend of the perennial Catholic faith or not.
Burke proceeded to state that the Church possesses “the fullness of the revelation of God in Christ his Son” and that “the truth didn’t change.” He also said there can be “fuller expressions” of truth.
In claiming this, Burke fails to recognize the fact that this is exactly the problem: the religion of the postconciliar Church is not the “full expression” of the truth, but a totally different creed altogether.
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Burke continued by passionately praising young Catholics who are returning to the Traditional Mass. He also noted that Latin liturgical communities are receiving vocations and families are being spiritually nourished by the older rite.
But these words are emptied out of their significance when Burke tells viewers to live under the conciliar usurpers in Rome and to accept the crumbs they might give them, instead of demanding they reject the modernist errors of the Council and adhere to the faith of our fathers.
Co-existence is not an option
Any Catholic who understands the battle lines that have been drawn between the preconciliar Catholic faith and the postconciliar modernist/synodal religion should reject Burke’s inadequate suggestions.
A Catholic’s first loyalty is not to a council that gave birth to decades of spiritual poison and rotten fruits, nor to the policies of a “hierarchy” that continues to promote that council’s reforms, but rather to the faith handed down through the ages.
Cardinal Burke wants to be a champion of the Traditional Latin Mass. But this is not enough, as you cannot defend the traditional liturgy apart from the doctrines and faith it represents. And as every counter-revolutionary, integrally Catholic knows: the conciliar church rejected that faith when Vatican II came to a close in 1965.
