Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, a top Vatican official, and Archbishop
Donald W. Wuerl of Washington issued statements of gratitude today after
Pope Benedict XVI designated them – along with two dozen new cardinals
– to be installed in a special consistory to be held at the Vatican,
Nov. 20.
The Pope made his announcement Oct. 20 at the conclusion of his
weekly Wednesday general audience.
“The universality of the church is
reflected in the list of new cardinals,” he said. More than a dozen
countries are represented by the new cardinals, including four from
African countries, two from Latin America, two from North America, and
one representing Asia.
In a statement on the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. on Oct. 20, Cardinal-designate Donald Wuerl made the following comments:
“The gracious act of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in elevating
me to the College of Cardinals is a recognition of the importance the
Holy See places on the Archdiocese of Washington, the Church in the
nation’s capital. I am humbled and grateful to our Holy Father for his
trust in me as shepherd of this flock and I renew my pledge of fidelity,
affection and loyalty to him.”
“Yesterday I learned of this announcement, the day the Church
celebrates North American martyrs. In the Church’s liturgy in memory of
these missionaries, only two are recognized by name. The rest are simply
listed as companions. That struck me as applicable to this honor today.
In this wonderful Church, clergy, religious and lay faithful all work
so hard on behalf of the Gospel, but since you cannot name everyone, the
Church names the bishop.”
“My thoughts immediately turned to the Holy Father’s visit to
Washington just over two years ago and the great privilege I had in
welcoming him, the Chief Shepherd and Vicar of Christ, who came among us
to strengthen us in our faith.”
“I had the joy of telling our Holy Father that not all that far from
here in 1634 the first Catholics arrived in the colonies that later
formed the United States. From those modest beginnings has come forth a
Church truly representative of the Gospel’s message of hope. Today in
his kindness to the Church of Washington, the Holy Father has renewed
his support and love, and we in turn express again our bonds of faith
and affection for him, the Vicar of Christ.”
“In accepting this honor, I renew my pledge, in the words of Pope
Benedict, to ‘repropose the perennial truth of Christ’s Gospel’as this
local Church carries out the New Evangelization in announcing the good
news of Jesus Christ. Today as the Holy Spirit is urging the Church to
rekindle in people’s daily lives a new awareness of and familiarity with
Jesus, the Spirit is also charging me to deepen my commitment in my
service as shepherd of this archdiocese.”
Cardinal-designate Archbishop Raymond Burke also responded to his appointment on Wednesday, saying:
“I am deeply humbled and honored by the announcement that His
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI intends to name me to the College of
Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church at the Consistory which he has
convoked for this coming November 20th. Having received the news of the
Holy Father’s intention, I express my deepest gratitude to His Holiness
for the great confidence which he has placed in me, and I renew my
commitment to serve Him, as Shepherd of the universal Church, in total
fidelity and with all my being.”
“Considering the weighty responsibilities of the members of the
College of Cardinals in assisting the Holy Father as his closest
co-workers, even “to the shedding of blood,” I am more than ever
conscious of my own weakness and of my total dependence upon the help of
divine grace, in order that I may fulfill worthily and generously the
responsibilities which will be mine, God willing, as a Cardinal of the
Church.”
“I count upon the continued intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and the Communion of Saints, and the prayers of the many faithful whom I
have been blessed to serve as priest and Bishop, especially in my home
diocese, the Diocese of La Crosse, and in the Archdiocese of Saint
Louis, and of those with whom I have been, in the past, and am now
privileged to serve in the Roman Curia, especially my co-workers at the
Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Only the knowledge of God’s
immeasurable and unceasing outpouring of mercy and love from the
glorious pierced Heart of Jesus gives me the confidence to accept the
great honor and burden which His Holiness intends to confer upon me.”
“Today’s announcement turns my thoughts with deepest affection and
gratitude to my late parents and all my family, living and deceased; and
to the priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful who have assisted
me to know my vocation to the Holy Priesthood and to respond to it with
an undivided heart over the more than thirty-five years of my priestly
life and ministry. Today, with all my heart, I humbly thank God for the
gifts of life, of the Catholic
faith, and of my vocation.”
“At the same time, my thoughts naturally turn to the many challenges
which the Church faces in our day in carrying out her divine mission for
the salvation of the world. In particular, I am deeply conscious of the
critical importance of the loving witness of the Church to the truth,
revealed to us by God through both faith and reason, which alone is our
salvation. It is a witness which Our Holy Father tirelessly gives with
remarkable wisdom and courage. I pledge myself anew to assist Pope
Benedict XVI in this critical witness and in the many works of his
pastoral charity on behalf of all our brothers and sisters in the Church
and in the world.”
“I ask for prayers that I may be able to assist our Holy Father Pope
Benedict XVI to the best of my ability and with every ounce of my
strength. I, once again, place my whole heart, together with the
Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, into the Most Sacred Heart
of Jesus. In the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, I am confident that I
will find the purification, courage and strength which I will need to
carry out the new responsibilities to be confided into my hands. I
thank, in advance, all who will pray for me, and ask God to bless them
abundantly.”
SIC: CNA/INT'L