Cardinal Burke’s Reflections on the Post-Vatican-II Turmoil

By pintswaquinas July 24, 2024

During a recent interview with Cardinal Raymond Burke, we asked what it was like to live in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Here’s his reply.

“[During Vatican II] I was in the seminary. I graduated from high school in 1966 and already the turmoil was starting. The council had ended in 1965, but things really ramped up.

“I did two years of junior college in our diocesan seminary in La Crosse, Wisconsin, then I went to the Catholic University of America to study philosophy. The philosophy program there was outstanding. To this day I’m so grateful for it. But the seminary was in complete turmoil.

“I lived through all of the liturgical abuses. When I read Summorum Pontificum and the letter that [Pope Benedict XVI] wrote to the bishops, he said it was practically more than a person could stand.

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“I had grown up with wonderful catechesis— the Baltimore Catechism. We were instilled with a very deep understanding of our faith— I would say an understanding of our faith which formed us to know that we could always learn more. Those great definitions from the Catechism, they all led you to think more deeply about the reality. To say that a sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace — you can be unpacking that for the rest of your life.

“But I saw that all evaporate in this kind of ridiculous emphasis on experience without any proper instruction. Then, of course, the abuses in the liturgy. Then I saw so many priests who abandoned the active priestly ministry, so many religious sisters who abandoned their consecrated life. It was simply a time of great turmoil.

“Under Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, there’s been great progress made in restoring the sacredness of the sacred liturgy and also great efforts made to improve catechesis. Much more needs to be done, and that’s the way in which we must continue to go.

“I remember when I was in the high school seminary, there was a certain euphoria about the council. It was like it was a whole new age in the Church. I remember for a while being somewhat fascinated with that.

“I came from a good Catholic home….In the Catholic schools we had wonderful sisters and priests in the parish. The minor seminary had led us already into a serious Christian life. I couldn’t abandon that.

“This was a great grace: [In the seminary] there were always some very good priests, but also there were fellow seminarians who were good men. They called forth the best in a person. They were good friends in the sense that they led you to become the best person you could be.

“I was a young man, I didn’t see [things] as clearly as I think I see them today, but on the other hand, I couldn’t buy into [the abuses following the council].”

 

Image: https://flic.kr/p/rbfm3w

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