Raymond Burke: The hope for a church that rejects wokism and the 2030 Agenda

By Facundo Torres | Pope Francis died yesterday at 88 years old. At this moment, the process of Sede Vacante prevails in the Vatican while the Camerlengo Cardinal, Kevin Farrell, prepares to face the coming days and will be in charge of the Holy See while a new Supreme Pontiff is elected.

To this end, the College of Cardinals convened by its Dean, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, must meet as soon as possible to hold the highly secretive election ceremony of a new Pope: the conclave.

As expected, the world press speculates on the possible successors of Saint Peter and calls "papabili" a myriad of cardinals who for one reason or another might have the possibility of becoming the next Vicar of Christ. So much so, that a figure emerges from the depths of the so-called "conservative wing" of the Catholic Church, the American prelate Raymond Leo Burke.

Born in the State of Wisconsin on June 30, 1948, Burke (76) has become the natural reference for the most traditional positions of the Catholic Church after long public disputes against Pope Francis.

Precisely, Burke questioned the late Pope about the woke political influence in the dogmatic positions of his pontificate to the point of presenting a series of "dubia" (formal and explicit questions) regarding the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, in which Francis proposed a paradigm shift regarding the traditional family and marriage, both historic pillars of the West.

The tradition of the Catholic Church collected by the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of the year 381 and received millennia later by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) determines the founding aspects of the institution: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman.

This last one, directly associated with the Roman Empire both of the West and the East. After the successive Schisms, the Catholic Church began to recognize certain rites, the main one being the Latin (or Western) rite, professed in the homonymous hemisphere. Therefore, it is fair to say that the Church as an institution has shaped the Western way of life tradition and its profound framework of values, constituting itself as a sort of natural heir of the Roman Empire.

Now, if the institution in charge of safeguarding the values that made the West prosperous is headed by a person who constantly questions them even beyond what is reflected in the Holy Scriptures, that framework of values creaks and loses strength in the face of the modern vicissitudes of international wokism and Islamic essentialism often turned into terrorism, which are nothing but evolved forms of a single and traditional greater evil: socialism and the curtailment of freedoms.

This is why a figure like Cardinal Raymond Burke is the right one to steer the Ship of Peter, the Church commanded to be built by Jesus Christ himself when he said, "[...]You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of the realm of death will not prevail against it" (Mt. 16:18).

A central idea that reflects Burke's thinking for the Church is the so-called Hermeneutic of Continuity, which proposes that the Church's reforms must be understood in continuity with the ancient tradition, and not against it.

This concept was coined by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Benedict XVI), although not strongly exercised during his pontificate despite having strong allies like Burke himself or the Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, whose disadvantage compared to the American when looking at the papacy is none other than age: Sarah is 79 years old, a factor that by a few months did not leave him out of the conclave and its age limit of 80; not to mention that in those age ranges, just a few years can make a difference regarding physical and health issues.

Regarding the liturgy, Cardinal Burke advocates for the re-introduction of the Mass as it was conceived millennia ago: in Latin. Today called "Tridentine Mass," it was for almost the entire history of the Church the usual way of celebrating the Eucharist and was imparted in Latin for two particularities:

1. The official language of the Catholic Church as the heir of the Roman Empire is Latin.
2. The idea of Latin as a lingua franca unites the peoples of the world since it implies the need for all Catholics to know it, regardless of their nationality or social condition.

Additionally, Burke believes that the reintroduction of high traditional pontifical symbolism is necessary, such as the papal coronation or the use of the sedia gestatoria instead of the popemobile within Vatican City.

All these elements, as well as the traditional papal and cardinal vestments, have fallen into disuse since the Second Vatican Council, which far from reforming the Church in continuity with its tradition did so against it.

In the social matrix, he condemns abortion, advocates for the traditional family, and embraces the ideas of individual freedom as long as they do not contradict the biblical text, ensuring a framework of sacredness regarding the traditional teachings of Catholicism. So much so, that he has even agreed with President Donald Trump on several social viewpoints and even on the manipulation that China's dictatorship carried out over COVID.

In order to rewrite the history of glory of the Mother Church, a Pope is needed who is firm when it comes to condemning the advance of Islam through political correctness; Burke is no exception, as he has criticized those who, with the good intention of being tolerant, tend to think that Islam is a religion like the Catholic faith or the Jewish faith, without understanding that Islam is essentially a form of government.

In his book Hope for the World, the prelate has stated that "Islam is a religion that, according to its own interpretation, must also become the State. When they become a majority in any country, then they have the religious obligation to govern that country".

These are just some of the visions that Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke foresees for the Church. The truth is that it will be the College of Cardinals that -God willing- will rise to the challenges facing the Petrine Chair or leave the billions of Catholics who inhabit the Earth at the mercy of the political winds of globalization.

May the Holy Spirit nest in the hearts of those entrusted with the responsibility of guiding Christ's flock away from the jaws of the beast.