Raymond Leo Burke

Raymond Leo Burke (born June 30, 1948) is an American Catholic prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 2014 to 2023. He previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008 and Bishop of La Crosse from 1995 to 2004. From 2008 to 2014, he was the prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. He was made a cardinal in 2010.

A canon lawyer,^[1] Burke is a major voice of traditionalism^[2][3] among prelates of the Catholic Church. He established a reputation as a conservative leader while serving in La Crosse and St. Louis. Burke is a major proponent of the Tridentine Mass, having frequently offered it and conferred ordinations on traditionalist priests. He has criticized what he sees as deficiencies in the post-1969 Mass of Paul VI.^[4] He is frequently seen as a de facto leader of the Church's conservative wing by some mainstream media outlets.^[5][6]

Burke publicly clashed with Pope Francis, vigorously opposing attempts by other bishops to relax church attitudes towards LGBTQ people and Catholics who have divorced and remarried outside the Church. Burke opposes euthanasia, and has opined that Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion, including former President Joe Biden, should not receive the Eucharist.^[7][8] While Burke denied allegations of disloyalty to Pope Francis, a number of Burke's statements were interpreted as criticisms, once mentioning the possible need to "formally correct" the pope in relation to Amoris laetitia. This has led to a backlash from some Catholics towards Burke.^{[9][10][11][12]}

In September 2015, the Vatican announced that Burke had been reappointed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, from which he had been removed in December 2013, but not to his more influential positions on the Congregation for Bishops and the Apostolic Signatura. In 2016, he was not reappointed as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship.^[13] In February 2017, Burke was again sidelined when Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu as his special delegate to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, with exclusive responsibility for the duties which would normally be exercised by Burke as its patron.^[14] Albrecht von Boeselager, the order's grand chancellor, announced that this meant Burke was "de facto suspended" from the patronage.^[15] Pope Francis reappointed him as a rank-and-file member of the Apostolic Signatura in September 2017. In November 2023, Pope Francis reportedly evicted Burke from his subsidized Vatican apartment and removed his salary as a retired cardinal.^[16]