Cardinal Burke to visit Sydney and Melbourne in August 2014
Photo: Madeline Russell Design
By Alan Shearer KCHS
Visit by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke – ITINERARY: KEY EVENTS:
| SYDNEY | |
| Tuesday, 26 August | Benediction in the Crypt at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney (5:30 pm) |
| Wednesday, 27 August | Q & A at the University of Sydney (12 noon) |
| Wednesday, 27 August | Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney (7:00 pm) |
| MELBOURNE | |
| Saturday, 30 August | Address at the World Congress of Families on Natural Law and Conscience: Key to Freedom and to the Integrity of Marriage and the Family (11:30 am) |
| Sunday, 31 August | Pontifical Mass & Confirmation in the Extraordinary Form at Bl. John Henry Newman Parish, St Aloysius Church, North Caulfield (10:30 am) |
Oriens is delighted to report that His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke is to visit Australia in August of this year.
Elevated by Pope Benedict XVI to the cardinalate in November 2010, Cardinal Burke is the current Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. In that position, after the Pope, he is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church. Prior to that, Cardinal Burke served as Archbishop of St. Louis (2003–2008) and Bishop of La Crosse (1994–2003).
He is also well known for his love and promotion of the liturgical traditions of the Church, and regularly celebrates the sacraments in the Extraordinary Form.
Cardinal Burke is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Canon law, and is known the world over for his courageous and prominent defence of the faith. He is also well known for his love and promotion of the liturgical traditions of the Church, and regularly celebrates the sacraments in the Extraordinary Form. Cardinal Burke has described as his “greatest joy” to “teach the faith and celebrate the Sacraments for the flock which God has entrusted to my pastoral care.”
This trip to Australia will see Cardinal Burke visit both Sydney and Melbourne, where he will be giving multiple talks to the public, and will be celebrating two public Masses in the Extraordinary Form. Various organisations are involved with and sponsoring this visit, including the Parish of Bl. John Henry Newman in Melbourne, the World Congress of Families, the University of Sydney Catholic Chaplaincy, and Oriens.
This trip follows Cardinal Burke’s previous visit to Sydney in March 2011, with which Oriens was also associated. During his 2011 visit, his Eminence celebrated Mass in the Extraordinary Form twice, and gave various talks to different groups throughout Sydney.
The Strength Found in the Eucharist
In his homily for the Pontifical Mass he celebrated at St Brigid’s Marrickville, His Eminence emphasised the importance of the liturgy, prayed for the widespread receipt of the Extraordinary Reform in the universal Church, and stressed the strength found in the Eucharist. He referred to Pope Saint Gregory the Great “whose heroic pastoral charity toward the universal Church found its highest expression in his discipline of the Sacred Liturgy”, and went on to say:
As His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI reminded us, on the occasion of the promulgation of his Apostolic Letter, given motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, his own discipline and reform of the Sacred Liturgy follows in an unbroken line the reforms of Pope Saint Gregory the Great. I cannot fail to mention also the timeless treasure of sacred music for our worship of God and our growth in holiness of life, which Pope Saint Gregory so much fostered. Recalling the memory of Pope Saint Gregory, let us also ask his intercession that the reform of the Sacred Liturgy, which Pope Benedict XVI has undertaken, will be faithfully received and implemented in the universal Church, so that the action of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacraments, above all, in the Holy Eucharist, may be ever more manifest for the glory of God and the salvation of many souls.
His Eminence further said:
Let us … lift up our hearts, so often doubtful and fearful and sinful, to the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, always open to receive us and to purify and strengthen us with the gift of His immeasurable and unceasing love. In the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus we find the unfailing truth and love to dispel doubt and fear, and to overcome sin in our lives. One in heart with the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the immeasurable “rivers of living water,” which never cease to flow from His Eucharistic Heart, will flow from our hearts for the sake of our brothers and sisters, especially those in most need.
During his forthcoming visit, Cardinal Burke will celebrate Pontifical Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Wednesday, 27 August at 7:00 pm. Cardinal Burke has requested that this be a Votive Mass for the Propagation of the Faith. That theme is of course linked to the new evangelisation, which has been a point of significant emphasis of the present pontificate of Pope Francis.
The Link between the New Evangelisation and the Liturgy
The theme of the new evangelisation has also played an important part in Cardinal Burke’s public teaching. He recently wrote in L’Osservatore Romano in February:
The Pontificate of Pope Francis should therefore be seen as a radical call to redouble our efforts for the new evangelization. Radical in the sense that, in our dialogue with others and with the world, we must start with the beginning, Christ’s call to life in Him. This call of Christ is the good news of God’s love and mercy which our world so badly longs for. At the same time, as Simeon foretold to Our Blessed Mother when Our Lord was presented in the temple, it is also “a sign that will be contradicted” (Lk 2:34), in every age and particularly in our “post-Christian” society. This is because the proclamation of Jesus Christ can never be authentic without the proclamation of his Cross. …
In the face of a galloping de-Christianisation in the West, the new evangelization … , must be clearly grounded in Christ crucified who alone can overcome the world for the sake of its salvation.
Cardinal Burke has spoken at length about the link between the work of the new evangelisation and the liturgy. That link was stressed in his recently published book, Divine Love Made Flesh: The Holy Eucharist as the Sacrament of Charity. There, His Eminence begins by discussing the importance of the new evangelization, writing that “it is through participation in the Holy Eucharist that we best understand what we must do to carry out the new evangelization, namely pour out our lives in union with Christ.”
“Sharing in the thirst of Christ for souls through the Holy Eucharist,” he continues, “the work of the new evangelization … becomes possible for man. The reality of divine love makes it possible.”
In an interview with Zenit, in response to a question as to how important a sound understanding of the liturgy in today’s Church is and how can it help evangelization, Cardinal Burke said in Zenit:
To me, it’s fundamental. It’s the most important area of catechesis: to understand the worship accorded to God. The first three commandments of the Ten Commandments are to do with this right relationship to God, especially with regards to worship. It’s only when we understand our relationship with God in offering worship that we also understand the right order of all the other relationships we have. As Pope Benedict XVI said in his wonderful magisterium on the sacred liturgy, and which he expressed so often, [it consists of] this connection between worship and right conduct, worship and law, worship and discipline.
That link between the liturgy and the new evangelisation will no doubt be realised and emphasised through the selection of the Votive Mass for the Propagation of the Faith.
In Melbourne, his Eminence will celebrate Pontifical Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form and confer the sacrament of Confirmation at Bl. John Henry Newman Parish, St Aloysius Church, North Caulfield, on Sunday, 31 August at 10:30 am.
Other events which Cardinal Burke will conduct in Sydney include the celebration of Benediction in the Crypt at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney (on Tuesday, 26 August at 5:30 pm). His Eminence will also lead a question and answer forum at the University of Sydney hosted by the University of Sydney Catholic Chaplaincy (Wednesday, 27 August at 12:00 noon).
Keynote Address at the World Congress of Families
In Melbourne, the Cardinal will also give the keynote address at the World Congress of Families on the topic Natural Law and Conscience: Key to Freedom and to the Integrity of Marriage and the Family for a regional conference to be held at St. Cecilia’s Hall, in Glen Iris (Saturday, 30 August at 11:30 am).
A Facebook page has been established for the visit and a website is expected to be established soon. Oriens will publish further details as they become available.
