Catholic Cardinal Raymond L. Burke has been hospitalized with Covid and placed on a ventilator, according to a Tweet on his official Twitter account.
The 73-year-old, who has previously spoken out against social distancing and expressed skepticism regarding vaccines, announced on Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with Covid. He said in a Tweet that he was “resting comfortably and receiving excellent medical care.”
However, on Saturday, his communications team said he had been moved to a hospital in Wisconsin, where he previously served as an archbishop, and was on a ventilator.
Cardinal Burke has been admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 and is being assisted by a ventilator. Doctors are encouraged by his progress. H.E. faithfully prayed the Rosary for those suffering from the virus. On this Vigil of the Assumption, let us now pray the Rosary for him.
— Cardinal Burke (@cardinalrlburke) August 15, 2021
It is unknown if Burke has been vaccinated, but he is known for speaking out against restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus. Last year, echoing former President Trump, he referred to it as the “mysterious Wuhan virus” and said that certain forces were using the virus to “advance their evil agenda”.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
In May 2020, speaking at the Rome Life Forum, he spoke out against the idea of mandatory vaccine programs, saying “it must be clear that vaccination itself cannot be imposed, in a totalitarian manner, on citizens.”
In the same speech, Burke made reference to groups who suggest, “a kind of microchip needs to be placed under the skin of every person, so that at any moment he or she can be controlled by the State regarding health and about other matters which we can only imagine.”
He said such a notion “violates the integrity of its citizens.”
Burke has also criticized the church for not doing more to demand that church services continue in-person during the pandemic.
Burke has made headlines for his conservative views and has been a vocal critic of Pope Francis. In 2014, while Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Burke was asked by Life Site News whether parents should allow a gay son to bring his male partner to a family gathering where grandchildren were present.
Burke said same-sex relationships are “intrinsically disordered”, and therefore, children should not be exposed to them.
“If it were another kind of relationship – something that was profoundly disordered and harmful – we wouldn’t expose our children to that relationship, to the direct experience of it,” he argued.
“And neither should we do it in the context of a family member who not only suffers from same-sex attraction, but who has chosen to live out that attraction, to act upon it, committing acts which are always and everywhere wrong, evil.”
Shortly after these comments, Burke was demoted by the Pope and switched to the far less senior post of patron of the sovereign military order of Malta.
Related: U.S. Bishops declare open war on the Pope as too soft on homophobia
Burke has continued to speak out against LGBTQ rights, criticizing Ireland for legalizing same-sex marriage. He has also said he would not give communion to pro-gay lawmakers and earlier this year questioned whether President Biden is a real Catholic.
connorlarkin19
It’s a moral universe after all with reactionary bigots as Burke suffering from what they dismissed.
dario717
Amen!
ted
His gawd is calling him home.
Chrisk
Well, seems to me some good happens from the virus after all. Assuming the POS dies that is.
Cam
Funny how all these science deniers rush into a hospital and fully embrace science when they actually get covid.
Kangol2
I wish ill on no one but Cardinal Burke is a horrible, wretched homophobe and transphobe, and was actively spreading wacko anti-vaccine disinformation (“microchips,” etc.), so I guess karma and fate came looking for him! Oh well…
DCFarmboy
He is a homophobe. But oddly, he accepted a trans woman as a nun when he was bishop of LaCrosse (WI). Go figure.
Ricanthony
I really have no sympathy for these idiots. While I do not wish death on them, they reap what they sow.
Jim
Why do we treat Covid deniers? I mean really! Why? Leave them to their own devices.
Mr. Stadnick
QAnon Catholic Priest science denier what a piece of work. Of course he’ll believe all the crazy microchip theories and hate others.
Fahd
There has to be something inherently disordered about a church that molds and shapes a young man into a reactionary bigot and then continuously elevates him within her ranks until one day he becomes naysayer -in-chief and intolerable to all but the most backward, but he’s still years from mandatory retirement.
Children have to be vaccinated against measles, etc. to attend school. People should really get over it, and get vaccinated. Those “leaders” who are peddling the anti-vax crap are evil, and karma will get them I’m sure. His Eminence here is an example.
Mister P
When someone speaks against measures that slow the spread. He may as well say I am all for increasing the spread of this disease and I am unconcerned if people die.
Another pro birth idiot but no concern for life.
[email protected]
Ever since Pious XII,Hitler’s Pope,the Traditionalists have had blood on their hands,the pedophile mess is another traditionalist problem,cannot discuss sex,the bleachers in ireland prove that,and as for Burke,like McCarrick,He’s a shithouse Irishman with a nasty mouth who has been bought and sold many times over for his lavish life style,then,John XXIII convenes v2 ,Paul VI,finishes his work,no heresy,then JpI and JP2, and the senior trade in curio lose their authority,as JP2 defeats Communism and dies in office,trade passed,opus die and Jesuits at war.Benedict,what a joke,the fact that Europe’s stranglehold on papacy and power was broken,did not sit well,especially with white upper class republican Catholics,they forgot where they came from in their desire to be part of the power structure,and in Senate,House Supreme Crt,they made a mark,but they have abandoned their Catholic principles,the Beatitudes,the 10 commandments,prohibition on forced religious conversion and rampant materialism,and returned to the Fascism of Pius XIl Francis is right to crackdown on the tradionalists,I do not ever want priests,bishops,cardinals and a pope who were complicent in the show,and then quietly forgot,GOD does not forget.
quantum
Reminds me of the priest who right before I gave my grandfather’s eulogy decided it was a good time to lecture me on my sins of atheism and homosexuality. And then promptly got arrested for raping children.
Chrisk
Many get into the Priesthood as a way to run away from the skeletons in their own closet. No coincidence that a profession that demands abstinence is their choses path.
Hussain-TheCanadian
I don’t know how the Catholic Church chooses its Archbishops but there has to be a way in choosing an educated, eloquent, thoughtful, well read and compassionate person to fill these seats.
People like Burke are a parody, they’re a mockery and a joke. I know corruption is rife everywhere and many people get into positions of power undeserving of it.
However Catholics should demand accountability of those who manage their church; I for one want to know how did Mr. Burke become an Archbishop to begin with.
AxelDC
Remember that Ratzinger (Benedict) was in charge of the Church for much of JP II’s reign. He appointed Burke as Archbishop in 2003.
Hussain-TheCanadian
That explains a lot……….allow me a moment to reach for my vomit bucket
cubcmh
I guess the Pet Shop Boys were right: god *does* have a sense of humor.
AxelDC
More like: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
BoomerMyles
You mean Depeche Mode and Blasphemous Rumors.
AxelDC
Bless his heart
barryaksarben
That microchip quote proves what a fkin dumbass he is and he wont be missed as he is just holding actual civilazation back
toddlicious
Awww…thoughts and prayers… apparently god had a lesson to teach him lol
JTinToronto
As he lays there hooked up to a ventilator because of a virus he denies exists I have only one question:
Where’s your messiah now?
blackhook
Jesus & The Virgin Mary will save him HALLELUJAH!!! LMFAO!
stafcoyote
As a Conformist to the Church that is in England by law established, that as, as an Episcopalian, I have little patience for men like Cardinal Burke. He is guilty of the common law crime of Præmunire, the assertion of Vatican jurisdiction in England, and by extension the United States and each of them. The Roman Pontiff was right to demote Burke.
Essie
I wonder how many sick people who have no position or money were pushed aside so this POS could get treatment for something he denies exists?
Cam
This, right here.
blackhook
Is there anything more strange than the Catholic Criminal Empire? Good riddance to bad Catholic trash, may this freak have his date with Six Feet Under, pronto!
Joshooeerr
Yes, the one thing more strange is that society and, in particular, governments continue to tolerate the church. If any other organisation had committed the same crimes (centuries of sexual and physical assaults on children, unlawful detention of minors, etc) or perpetuated the kind of scams and corruption that has been the backbone of Church operations then that organisation would have been legally shut down.
missvamp
covid deniers shouldn’t receive healthcare. they shouldn’t be allowed a vent. give them to those who actually deserve to live. f this old fart who spread lies & encouraged people to be sick.
DCFarmboy
Well, one of the leading critics of Pope Francis is sick and in the hospital.
BoomerMyles
It must be God’s will but I hope he doesn’t take a ventilator away from a child or someone else that needs it.
Consider This
Conservatively speaking, sounds like he is finding out first-hand how serious COVID can be.
IF he survives, perhaps he will become a believer – you might say.
Banshit
They should dump the POS outside in the gutter, let his God fix him.
lacciani
Take him off the ventilator! Let Jesus save him. By the way call the fashion police. His outfit is so 1490’s.
Invader7
Karma is hell !!!