Sunday, March 10, 2013

Cardinal Burke's Chances

Haskovec recently sent me a article about the Ten Reasons Why Cardinal Burke Will Be The Next Pope. The author recently did a follow-up to answer the two most common objections to His Eminence's prospects, namely that he doesn't speak Spanish (which he apparently does) and that he's American (of which he's an atypical sort).

You can read the details at the link, but the ten reasons are:

1. Burke is an open advocate for using canon law in defense of the sacraments and God's honor.
2. Burke thinks seriously. 
3. His Eminence celebrates and promotes the Latin Mass and a reverent Novus Ordo. 
4. ...which leads to the SSPX [reconciliation]. 
5. Speaking of the Latin Mass, Cardinal Burke has traditional liturgical flare (for example, he wears the cappa magna without blinking an eye). 
6. Burke will help the cardinals and bishops do what they know they need to do: discipline dissenting Catholic politicians. 
7. Cardinal Burke speaks the minimum languages necessary for a Supreme Pontiff: English, French, Latin and Italian. 
8. Cardinal Burke is the perfect age: 64. 
9. He is the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. 
10. Most importantly, Cardinal Burke is extremely Marian. Let me add one more - an eleventh reason: nobody suspects Cardinal Burke to be elected.

The unofficial "11th reason" given by the author is that nobody is expecting +Burke as a serious candidate.

I can't help but read this and think to myself that these are all reasons (save for the 11th) that he will not be elected. Cardinal Burke would be a fantastic selection, in my opinion. However, I don't think that 2/3 of the College of Cardinals are looking for someone who is a "hardliner," even if they acknowledge that this is precisely the type of guy needed to fill the Shoes of the Fisherman.

I hope I'm wrong.

2 comments:

spraffmeister said...

I agree. This is more like a list of why His Eminence would be a good choice, not why he will be chosen. I just hope the Cardinals take seriously the knowledge that Christ will judge them for their choice.

Marco da Vinha said...

While I would love that His Eminence be elected, I find it very doubtful, especially because of all the reasons listed here. He is just "too traditional".