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Catholic Identity in Danger from Secularized Culture: Archbishop Raymond Burke

Warns against “a kind of relativism", "hedonism, materialism" - "we have to resist them”

By Hilary White
 
ST. LOUIS, Missouri, November 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic identity is in danger of being lost in the current “completely secularized” culture says Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis Missouri. Burke is known as one of the most faithful defenders of the unborn among the US Catholic hierarchy. He told a Fox news reporter that although “some people don't accept everything the church teaches,” he has to keep teaching the truths of the faith.
 
He urged faithful Catholics to keep teaching because their Catholic identity is in danger of being lost.
 
“Why? Because we live in a culture that's completely secularized.” He reiterated the warnings made by Pope Benedict XVI against relativism, the belief that all religious faiths, all moral codes and all lifestyles are equally valid.
 
Burke warned against “a kind of relativism, a kind of hedonism, materialism and so forth, these kinds of tendencies of our culture, for us we have to resist them.”
 
Archbishop Burke has taken a leading role for Catholics opposed to the sexualized and secularized cultural trends, particularly in his stand against pro-abortion politicians who continue to trade on the name “Catholic.” His humble and warm personal style has endeared him to the faithful who have met him, but he has not hesitated to forthrightly defend the Church.
 
This week, he warned two Catholic women in his diocese that they would be placing themselves outside the Church and incur automatic excommunication if they went ahead with a planned mock “ordination” on Sunday. The two women, who belong to the radical feminist organisation Womenpriests, announced they would be “ordained” this weekend.
 
These mock ordinations have been popular with anti-Catholic organisations in recent years as media stunts to push forward the feminist and leftist movement that has held sway in the Church since the 1960’s. The women have already announced they will ignore the warning and were going ahead with what Burke said would constitute an "act of schism."
 
“My vision for the Archdiocese, I’ve always used the words, the new evangelization to lead the faithful of the Archdiocese to live their Catholic faith with a new enthusiasm and a new energy that will make a difference in our world," said Burke.
 
The Archbishop can now be heard on a weekly radio programme on St. Louis stations answering children’s questions about the Catholic faith and related topics.
 
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Faithful Priests Call on All Bishops to Back Archbishop Burke on Denying Communion to Abortion-Supporting Politicians
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07100904.

Nine Women Activists Fantasize they will Ordain Themselves in “International Waters” of the St. Lawrence
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jun/05060911.html

Editorial - Catholic "Women Priests", Media and the Spanish Inquisition
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jul/05072605.html

Women’s Ordination Groups All About Power, Free Sex, Abortion, New Age Religion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/oct/05100708.html

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