Fr. James Schall on "The Burke Lecture"

The Burke Lecture | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. | Ignatius Insight | May 11, 2009

"Over the past several months, our nation has chosen a path which more completely denies any legal guarantee of the most fundamental human right, the right to life, to the innocent and defenseless unborn... Those in power now determine who will or will not be accorded the legal protection of the most fundamental right to life." — Archbishop Raymond Burke, Keynote Address at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C., May 8, 2009.

I.

Raymond Burke is a canon lawyer, the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, a technical name for head of the Holy See's legal system. He was formerly the Archbishop of St. Louis. He was invited to address the annual "National Catholic Prayer Breakfast," held on Friday, May 8, 2009, in Washington, D.C.

Archbishop Burke has the unusual quality of being very clear. He minces no words. Some, I suppose, think we should never be clear and always mince words, so that no one know exactly where we stand or what is going on. We are, no doubt, to be "diplomatic," which too often means that we do not say everything that needs to be said, or we say it in such convoluted language that we need it de-codified.

The first thing Burke said in his Washington lecture was that he was a patriot, that what brings "great strength to the country" is to live a faithful Catholic life. We forget that a life faithful to the truth is a strength, not a weakness, to the country. We should pray for the land. Yet, Burke is deeply "concerned for our nation." Many are afraid to say just how concerned they are at the new policies and movements of the present elected government. Too few have thought about what these extraordinary measures of government expansion really imply.

Read the entire essay...

Comments

[Ed Peters]

I can read a fine speech by someone like Burke, and get a lot out of it. Then I can read Schall's analysis of it, and get even more out of the original. Which is cool. Thx, Father.

[Steve Perkins]

This speech cannot be circulated widely enough. It is eloquent and incisive. I offered a few thoughts at http://bedlamorparnassus.blogspot.com/2009/05/faithful-decisions.html, but I would agree with Ed regarding Fr. Schall's piece. Read it in tandem with Archbishop Burke's speech and then go and do likewise.