Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.
But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:1-11)
Have we put on the “new self” by taking off our “old self?” It’s very hard to transform in this way because it means we must put to death immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed. We also must put away anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of our mouths. And, we must stop lying to one another. Can we?
Author Dan Ariely helps us to answer this question in his 2012 book “The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How we lie to everyone – especially ourselves.” He wrote: “From the social science perspective, religion has evolved in ways that can help society counteract potentially destructive tendencies, including the tendency to be dishonest. Religion and religious rituals remind people of their obligations to be moral in various ways...”
True, but working against this counteraction is Pope Francis-critic Cardinal Burke who recently warned that Synod on Synodality could lead to schism. As reported by Claire Giangravé of Religion News Service (August 22, 2023):
(begin) Cardinal Raymond Burke, a former American archbishop and Vatican official who is considered the de facto leader of Catholic conservatives, has written in the preface to a new book that Pope Francis is risking confusion and even schism in leading the upcoming Synod on Synodality in Rome.
“Synodality and its adjective, synodal, have become slogans behind which a revolution is at work to change radically the Church’s self-understanding, in accord with a contemporary ideology which denies much of what the Church has always taught and practiced,” Burke said in his preface to “The Synodal Process Is a Pandora’s Box: 100 Questions and Answers.”
The book, available online and published by an organization called Tradition Family and Property, was co-written by José Antonio Ureta and Julio Loredo de Izcue, both South American scholars and activists. It is the most recent expression of dissent about the synod, called by Pope Francis three years ago to promote inclusivity, transparency and accountability in the church.
In a statement released Tuesday (Aug. 22), TFP explained the rationale behind the book, saying that “despite its potentially revolutionary impact, the debate around this synod has been limited primarily to ‘insiders,’ and the general public knows little about it.”
After three years of consultations with Catholics around the world on topics ranging from power structures and women’s roles to combating sexual abuse, bishops and lay Catholics will gather in Rome in October under the rubric of “Synodality: Communion, Participation and Mission.” Among the items on the agenda, drawn from the concerns raised by Catholics in diocesan forums, are inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics and female leadership.
Those topics have convinced some Catholics that the synod is a Trojan horse that will lead to changes in Catholic doctrine on questions of morality and sexuality.
The 110-page book, in a question-and-answer format, addresses the “serious situation” brought on by the synod, Burke wrote in the foreword. It should concern all Catholics “who observe the evident and grave harm” that it has brought on the church. The word synodality, the cardinal added, is “a term which has no history in the doctrine of the Church and for which there is no reasonable definition.”
Burke wrote that synodality leads to “confusion and error and their fruit — indeed schism,” citing a movement in Germany known as the Synodal Path, in which church leaders participated in a consultation with lay and religious Catholics in the country between December 2019 and March 2023. The German process also addressed female ordination and the blessing of same-sex couples, among other issues.
“With the imminent Synod on Synodality, it is rightly to be feared that the same confusion and error and division will be visited upon the universal Church. In fact, it has already begun to happen through the preparation of the Synod at the local level,” Burke wrote.
The only way to uncover the “ideology at work” within the Vatican and “undertake true reform,” Burke wrote, was to turn to the “unchanging and unchangeable doctrine and discipline of the church.” He praised the book and its authors and entrusted to the Virgin Mary his prayer that “the grave harm which presently threatens the Church be averted.”
Burke served as archbishop of St. Louis in the early 2000s, making headlines for advocating denying Communion to politicians who support abortion rights, before being tapped to head of the Vatican’s Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, overseeing judicial and disciplinary matters for the Holy See. He was also formerly the patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to the Congregation of Bishops, giving him influence over the selection process for diocesan leaders.
The cardinal has been a vocal opponent of Pope Francis’ vision for the church. When the pope issued his 2016 apostolic exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia,” which opened the door for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist, Burke and three other cardinals questioned the decision in a public letter known as dubia, or doubts. Burke has been an unabashed critic of efforts in the church to promote the welcoming of LGBTQ faithful. (end)
As noted by Dan Ariely, “Religion and religious rituals remind people of their obligations to be moral in various ways...” In my opinion, in extremely important ways, Cardinal Burke has not and continues not to meet his obligation to be moral. He is very unwelcoming!
I admit I’m influenced by his 2022 booklet: “Deny Holy Communion?” I’m influenced by Jesus Christ who said and emphasized: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Cardinal Burke risks being on the left side with the goats. I wish he and other stanch conservatives with anti-Christ leanings would “put to death the parts of them that are earthly: immorality." Some may say I’m liberal or progressive and not conservative enough. That would be a fair account. Nevertheless, I try to let the light of Christ be my guide to keep me out of darkness. I look forward to the Synod and wise decisions. I hope the Church continues to take off the old self and put on a new self.
Deacon David Pierce
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