Lurker in the Dark

Burke is a Jurke
Now, let me get this straight...

Archbishop Raymond Burke is annoyed at Rabbi Susan Talve because her congregation hosted the ordination of two women who claim to be Catholics, even though Burke says they are not. This leads him to instruct his subordinate Priest not to permit Rabbi Talve to participate in an interfaith prayer service at the St. Cronan's Catholic Church, even though she has participated in such events at Advent for many years.

Reverend Gerald Kleba's parishoners had made it plain that they did not want to exclude "their friend and sister, Rabbi Talve" from their worship. So he found a way to give them what they wanted while "technically" obeying the Archbishop's order: he moved the service out of the church, into a nearby tent, and let them hold their prayer service without him.

It seems as if every time I turn around, Archbishop Burke is throwing his weight around, acting as if He, and He Alone, could speak for the Almighty in St Louis. And every time he puts on his 900-pound gorilla suit, people just go on worshipping God without him.

I hope that The Vatican is paying attention. Burke is 100% foursquare behind the Authority of the Vicar of Christ on Earth. But he's also showing the Catholic Church's true colors: exclusionary, spiteful, retaliatory, and greedy. Now he's not just grasping at other people's property, or interfering with other people's worship. He's throwing his own people out into the rain.

Applause to Reverend Kleba, who is a good man and a good Priest. I hope that it doesn't cost him his job.

Current Mood: sympathetic

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