The news reports that Pope Benedict has named Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis to the Vatican Supreme court. As a result he will be made a cardinal and move to Italy. I am not surprised that Pope Benedict picked the nation’s most conservative, right wing Catholic Bishop for the position and has decided to make him a cardinal. They think alike.

I have expressed my opinions about Pope Benedict and Archbishop Raymond Burke both of whom have exhibited ultra conservative moral stances. As to Pope Bent I have expressed my views about his moving the Church back to where it was before Vatican II. (July 11, 2007). I have also been critical of about arch conservative Archbishop Raymond Burke of St Louis. (October 16, 2007) My complaint is with his outspoken public announcement that communion should be denied to Senator John Kerry when he was running for president because of Kerry’s stand on abortion. This Bishop is a strong proponent the Mass in Latin (Tridentine Mass) rather than English. He is judgmental and dictatorial enough that earlier this year he told St. Louis University that they should discipline their basketball coach because he had said he was personally pro choice. These are just a few examples of the aggressive conduct of this Bishop in promoting his views on morality. In short, Burke has been totally outspoken about his conservative moral positions and when the great majority of fellow bishops didn’t agree with him, he attacked them. For him, morality is simple – all black and white with no grey at all.

This has caused a rather sharp split among Catholics with the traditionalist Catholics championing both Benedict and Burke as great leaders. From the viewpoint of this group of Catholics, they are the hope for the “salvation” of the Church which this group sees as disintegrating into a Church without rules. On the other hand, a large number of Catholics see these views as being totally out of touch with the real world of this century and their needs as Christians. Their faith is threatened by the attempts to eliminate Vatican II and return to the Church of previous ages. My view is that just as George Bush has been able to pack the courts with conservatives following his viewpoint on issues, this Pope will attempt to do the same. Time will determine which viewpoint in the Church was closest to the views of the founder of Christianity.