The Overseer of Justice/ Archbishop Raymond Burke Speaks

By Andrew Rabel, reporting from Rome for Inside the vatican Magazine

Editor's note: Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, recently invited Andrew Rabel, Australian ITV correspondent, to a friendly lunch nearby his offices at the Palazzo della Cancelleria (photo). Never to be outdone, Andrew always carries his dictaphone with him. So the former archbishop of St Louis, with his typical graciousness, consented to an interview, despite the noise in the crowded restaurant. It is the second interview ITV has conducted with His Excellency in less than a year.


We are posting this is a small portion of the entire interview where he is asked about Our Lady of America and his role in its confirmation.


Some devotees of Our Lady of America, are rather critical of the letter you wrote when you were Archbishop of St. Louis, claiming that the devotion had now been approved. They say that because Sister Mary Ephrem Neuzil (the seer who initiated and encouraged this devotion until her death in the year 2000) came from Ohio, it was not within your authority to write the letter?

Burke: I was simply asked to give a canonical opinion as to whether the devotion had ever been properly recognized. It was perfectly proper to ask me to write the letter because I have a certain knowledge of canon law and was provided all of the necessary documentation to reach a conclusion about the question of the approval of the devotion. After studying the documentation, I was able to write the letter. The letter was sent to my brother Bishops in the United States; it was not written to a wide audience. Before sending the letter, I sent a draft of it to the Archbishop of Cincinnati and the Bishop of Toledo, in whose jurisdiction Sister Mary Ephrem lived a good part of her religious life.
So what the letter simply says is that, yes, Archbishop Paul Leibold [a previous archbishop of Cincinnati] knew of this devotion from its beginning, when he was a priest, and eventually approved it.
I am sad there are these divisions in regard to the devotion, because I think it is a very beautiful devotion and especially fitting for our time. Our Lady’s message on the living of the Holy Trinity within us, and its manifestation in the purity of the young is so much needed in our culture, today.
I was not in a position to approve anything. You can criticize me for many things, but what I did in writing the letter was correct.

Well because of the position you have now in Rome, can you expedite Mary’s request to have the statue of Our Lady of America enshrined at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC?

Burke: No, there is nothing I can do here. That decision entirely rests with the competent bishops in the United States.

Our Lady of America

From the online journal of The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Benedict Center, NH


by Brian Kelly

For every authentic apparition of the Mother of God there are a hundred pretended ones. Some of the latter are diabolic, where the devil, “the ape of God,” actually takes on the appearance of the Blessed Virgin in order to deceive by false doctrine or some other aberration. Others are just the delusionary imaginings of those suffering from varying degrees of psychoses. Since there have been so many false apparitions in our own country, especially in the last half of the twentieth century, it would be easy to pass off what was alleged to have happened in the convent of the Precious Blood Sisters at Rome City, Indiana, in the 1950s, as the illusions of a disturbed religious.

That would be easy, were it not for the facts of the case. The sister who was the recipient of these locutions, which later became apparitions, was a well-balanced soul, intelligent, humble, cheerful, and perfectly obedient to her superiors. The messages, which she received from Our Lord, Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. Michael, and St. Gabriel were in total conformity with Catholic doctrine and morals, emphasizing “penance, penance” and spiritual renewal. And - what is also a criterion for the authenticity of Marian apparitions in this day and age - the messages complemented those of Fatima in their prophetic content, chasteness, gravity, maternal solicitude, and conditional hopefulness. The words speak for themselves. There is nothing whatsoever in the messages that is even slightly capricious or unsupportive of other approved Marian apparitions, such as at Medjugorje, for example, where, in mockery of Fatima, the devil shows his hoofs by passing out “secrets” by the dozens to the six “visionaries” and where he spews forth his disdain for the defined doctrine of “No Salvation Outside the Church” by informing them how pleased God is with all the religions of the world. Did you know that Our Lady’s birthday is not that traditionally celebrated by the Catholic Church on September 8? No. It was revealed at Medjugorje that the real date of Mary’s birth was August 5.

The Visionary

Mildred Neutzil was born in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York. When she was only thirteen she joined an active religious community in Ohio, the Sisters of the Precious Blood, taking the name Sister Mary Ephrem. Nine years later, in 1938, she began to have mystical experiences, which, sometime later, she was put under obedience to record in a diary. As a young sister her duties were usually domestic tasks in various houses of the order, and from 1951-1954 she taught kindergarten children at a parish school in Indiana a few miles from Rome City.

During these years, the interior communications, or locutions, went on increasing in frequency and specific detail. Our Lord was pleased to call her His “Little White Dove” and the “Little Secretary of [His] Heart.” “Do you know what I find most lacking in the world today?” she heard Jesus ask, “It is Faith. There are so few souls that believe in Me and My love. . . . Their hearts are cold, for without faith there can be no love.” Just as He did in His mortal life, Jesus speaks of woes and blessings, but in words directed towards parents and children and easily translatable to our time. In 1958, Sister Mary Ephrem received permission to join a newly founded contemplative branch of her order in New Riegel, Ohio. From her cloistered cell here she wrote her diary.

Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin

Soon the messages began to reveal a program of Marian devotion. To begin the process of approval Our Lady directed Sister Mary Ephrem to speak to her ordinary, Bishop Paul F. Liebold, later to be made Archbishop of Cincinnati. Long before he was ordained Bishop of Evansville, Indiana, in 1958 and, soon afterwards, Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati, Father Liebold, had taken an interest in the visionary, personally hearing her confessions and giving her spiritual direction. This pious and well-respected shepherd was convinced early on that the locutions were truly from heaven. In fact, from his first year as a priest, that is from 1940, until his death in 1972, Bishop Liebold was the seer’s spiritual director.

Our Lady first appeared visibly to Sister Mary Ephrem on September 25, 1956 at her convent in Rome City, Indiana. She appeared as she did at Lourdes.
Her message was a promise of “great miracles of the soul” for her children in the United States if they would heed her call to repentance. In particular she expressed her pleasure for the honor the Church in America had given her by dedicating the national shrine in Washington D.C. to her Immaculate Conception.

It was the next day, after Mass, that the Mother of God came to the “White Dove” in the figure of Our Lady of America, all in white, with a high crown of gold, and a lily in her right hand. Her Immaculate Heart was encircled by red roses and flames shot out from it. She was smiling as she said: “I am Our Lady of America, Immaculate Virgin. I desire that my children honor me, especially by the purity of their lives.” This was the central message of the apparitions: that we, in the Unites States, be children of her Most Pure Heart. If her request is obeyed, she would form an army, especially among the American young, who would be called “Torchbearers of the Queen,” carrying her message of faith and purity to all other nations of the world. If her requests were obeyed she promised to grant peace to the United States and use our faithful to spread the peace of Christ throughout the world. If her message is unheeded America will suffer along with the rest of the world in a chastisement that will be horribly severe. Our Lady chose to deliver this message on the feast of the eight North American martyrs, September 26, 1956.

Time is Short, Eternity Forever

The messages that followed contained many warnings of terrible chastisements to come in this world and everlasting suffering in the next for those who refuse her admonitions and the merciful love of her Son. She instructed her messenger to give this warning to her bishop and have him tell all the bishops that they must give a voice to her pleadings. “Hurry, my son, for the time is short but the punishment will be long, and for many, forever. Tell the bishops of the United States . . . to make known the longings of my Immaculate Heart to establish the reign of my divine Son in the hearts of men and thus save them from the scourge of heaven both now and hereafter.”

A Mother’s Sorrow

If one were to try to capture the heart of these messages as they continued to be delivered, primarily on Marian feast days through the 1950s, it was the agony of a Mother who wishes her children to behold her Immaculate Heart pierced by the indifference and ingratitude of Christians who prefer darkness to light. In fact, she specifically refers to our times as “the darkest.” On the eve of the feast of her apparition at Lourdes, February 10, Our Lady spoke these sorrowful words to her messenger: “Beloved daughter, you wonder at the sword and the deep wound it has made in my Heart. It is the sword of grief plunged therein by my children who refuse to let me teach them the true way. There is only one way to the Father, my child, only one way to eternal union. It is the way of the divine humanity. It is through my Son, the Only-Begotten of the Father, that souls attain perfect union with the Divinity, as perfect as human nature is capable of, aided by grace.”

We Will Come to Him and Make Our Abode With Him (John 14:23)

One of the most sublime of the messages communicated by Our Lady to the seer, was her unique privilege of being the chosen and most perfect Tabernacle of the Indwelling Holy Trinity. ”All the beauty of the king’s daughter is within,” she said as she repeated the scripture verse that was fulfilled in her, then she crossed her arms and bowed her head in adoration of the Three Divine Persons. Our Lady stressed that this life-giving Indwelling of the Trinity is our inheritance if we maintain and grow in the state of grace. Then she expressed her grief that so many of her children reject this divine Indwelling by their attachment to vice; they shut God out, for He will not dwell in unholy tabernacles.

Our Lady’s Basilica and the Enthronment

A beautiful statue has been carved to the exact specifications of Sister Mary Ephrem’s visions. It was Our Lady’s request that the bishops of our country solemnly enthrone this statue in her basilica in the nation’s capital. Since this is one of probably only a few Marian shrines in the world that was not built to honor any particular apparition, but specifically her unique privilege of being the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Mother wishes that she be honored at this holy place as “Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin.”

Postscript

This in no way conflicts with the title, Empress of the Americas, given by Pope Pius XII to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which title includes North, Central, and South America. This title specifically applies to her patronage over her children in the United States.

The contemplative branch of the Sisters of the Precious Blood did not survive as a congregation. They were suppressed in 1979. However, Sister Mary Ephrem continued to live a contemplative life with another sister in Fostoria, Ohio, until her death on January 10, 2000.

The authenticity of the apparitions and messages were approved not only by Archbishop Liebold, who gave the messages and the medal his Imprimatur, but also by Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, and Archbishop Raymond Burke of Saint Louis, among others.

Our Lady of America Request to be Enthroned in National Shrine

The Blessed Virgin Mary wishes to be honored in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at Washington D.C. as Our Lady of America. Our Lady says that if this is done, the United States of America would turn back toward morality and the shrine would become a place of "wonders."

"I am Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin" said The Blessed Virgin. "I desire that my children honor me, especially by the purity of their lives."

"Tell the bishops of the United States, my loyal sons, of my desires and how I wish them to be carried out," The Blessed Virgin Mary told Sister Mary Ephrem, who saw Her with a white veil reaching almost to Her waist and a mantle and robe of pure white with no decoration. An oblong brooch or clasp held the ends of the mantle together at the top. It was all gold, as was the high and brilliant crown she wore. Her hair and eyes seemed medium brown. Her feet were bare, but not always visible, sometimes covered by the moving clouds on which she stood. Often she smiled and revealed a heart encircled by roses that sent forth flames of fire.

This special devotion to Our Lady under this specific title of Our Lady of America, was first approved by Archbishop Paul Leibold and has since been reconfirmed as being Canonically-approved by Archbishop Raymond Burke. We are awaiting the USCCB's approval for enthronement in the National Shrine as Our Lady requests.

Vatican Official: Bishops Have no Choice But to Refuse Communion to Pro-Abort Politicians

By Hilary White
ROME, January 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)

Archbishop Raymond Burke, in an exclusive interview last week, told LifeSiteNews.com that the issue of pro-abortion politicians continuing to receive Holy Communion is still one of major concern and that it is the duty of bishops to ensure that they are refused.
He told LifeSiteNews.com, "I don't understand the continual debate that goes on about it. There's not a question that a Catholic who publicly, and after admonition, supports pro-abortion legislation is not to receive Holy Communion and is not to be given Holy Communion."
"The Church's law is very clear," said Archbishop Burke, who was appointed last year by Pope Benedict XVI as the head of the Church's highest court, the Apostolic Signatura. "The person who persists publicly in grave sin is to be denied Holy Communion, and it [Canon Law] doesn't say that the bishop shall decide this. It's an absolute."
Among the US bishops directly to address the issue, Archbishop Burke was one of around a dozen who vigorously supported a directive of the Vatican that said pro-abortion Catholic politicians "must be refused" Holy Communion if they attempt to receive at Mass. Others have refused to abide by the Vatican instruction and the Church's own Code of Canon Law, saying they would rather focus on "education" of such politicians.
Archbishop Burke called "nonsense" the accusation, regularly made by some bishops, that refusing Holy Communion "makes the Communion rail a [political] battle ground". In fact, he said, the precise opposite is true. The politician who insists on being seen receiving Holy Communion, despite his opposition to the Church's central teachings, is using that reception for political leverage.
In 2004, when self-proclaimed Catholic and candidate for the Democrat party, Sen. John Kerry, was frequently photographed receiving Holy Communion despite his vigorous support of abortion, the US Bishops Conference issued a document which said only that it is up to individual bishops whether to implement the Church's code of Canon Law and refuse Communion. The issue has remained prominent with the appointment of Joe Biden, another pro-abortion Catholic politician, as Vice President of the United States of America.
Archbishop Burke recalled previous experiences with Kerry, pointing to the several occasions when the senator was pictured in Time magazine receiving Communion from Papal representatives at various public events. Burke said that it is clear that Kerry was using his reception of Holy Communion to send a message.
"He wants to not only receive Holy Communion from a bishop but from the papal representative. I think that's what his point was. Get it in Time magazine, so people read it and say to themselves, 'He must be in good standing'."
"What are they doing? They're using the Eucharist as a political tool."
In refusing, far from politicising the Eucharist, the Church is returning the matter to its religious reality. The most important reasons to refuse, he said, are pastoral and religious in nature.
"The Holy Eucharist, the most sacred reality of our life in the Church, has to be protected against sacrilege. At the same time, individuals have to be protected for the sake of their own salvation from committing one of the gravest sins, namely to receive Holy Communion unworthily."
Archbishop Burke also dismissed the commonly proffered excuse that such politicians need more "education". Speaking from his own direct experience, he said that Catholic politicians who are informed by their pastors or bishops that their positions in support of pro-abortion legislation makes it impossible for them to receive Holy Communion, "I've always found that they don't come forward."
"When you talk to these people, they know," he said. "They know what they're doing is very wrong. They have to answer to God for that, but why through our pastoral negligence add on to that, that they have to answer to God for who knows how many unworthy receptions of Holy Communion?"
Archbishop Burke said that the issue had been debated enough. He rejected the idea that the matter should be left to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, saying the Conference has no authority in the matter. "This is a law of the universal Church and it should be applied."
"I think this argument too is being used by people who don't want to confront the issue, this whole 'wait 'til the Conference decides'...well the Conference has been discussing this since at least 2004. And nothing happens."
When asked what the solution was, he responded, "Individual bishops and priests simply have to do their duty. They have to confront politicians, Catholic politicians, who are sinning gravely and publicly in this regard. And that's their duty.
"And if they carry it out, not only can they not be reproached for that, but they should be praised for confronting this situation."