The following letter was sent to H.E. Raymond Cardinal Burke last year by the founders of the Charlotte (NC) and Columbia (SC) Latin Mass communities. It was sent via email to his official site as well his personal secretary via a mutual contact. To this date no reply has been received.

In a spirit of charity it is assumed that His Eminence never saw those emails. This open letter serves as an opportunity for him to address a matter of great importance, possible error, and unintended confusion. Both myself and the two authors of this letter believe that Cardinal Burke will provide a response in the same spirit in which the letter itself was written.

A Joint Letter to Raymond Cardinal Burke from Leaders of the Charlotte (NC) and Columbia (SC) Latin Mass Communities

November 19, 2022

Your Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke,

Greetings. It is with great affection that we write this letter asking for your assistance with a matter relating to the Traditional Latin Mass.

On May 10, 2021, two months prior to the issuance of the Motu Proprio, Traditionis Custodes, you appeared on a podcast interview with Matt Fradd where Mr. Fradd read a recent statement by Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ, demanding that Pope Francis suppress the Traditional Latin Mass stating that he wants the “unreformed liturgy to disappear”. Fr. Reese went on to outline a series of proposals which were eerily prescient of the soon to be released Motu Proprio.

Mr. Fradd asked Your Eminence if such a suppression was likely to happen and if so, what should faithful Catholics do. Your response to Mr. Fradd was that you could not imagine this suppression happening, however, you stopped short of answering the second question of what faithful Catholics should do if it were to happen. Perhaps you thought, as we all did, that such a suppression was so impossible that the hypothetical was not worthy of speculation. Now that such a pogrom of suppression of worship has been enacted by Pope Francis, we humbly request you to please advise faithful Catholics what they should do now.

Also, during this interview your Eminence made the extemporaneous claim that the Society of Saint Pius X are “not part of the One Roman Catholic Church.”

You may not be aware of this, but this one extemporaneous comment of yours is being
excitedly repeated and publicized with great effect by the loudest and most passionate elements of the Church. Their volume and passion are matched in the inverse by their lack of charity and reason.

The subtle impression they make by repeating this comment is that your extemporaneous comment carries almost the same weight as an official adjudication of the Church considering your previous role as the head of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. The implication that follows is that the 2009 lifting of the SSPX excommunications by then Pope Benedict XVI were somehow not valid. Or further that it is canonically possible for SSPX priests to simultaneously be suspended and somehow also have faculties to administer Sacraments – as they have in part been granted directly by Pope Francis. In their most grotesque portrayal of your words, they gleefully claim that the SSPX is a different religion outside of the Catholic Church—in their minds a degree of penalty exceeding even the prior excommunications.

These passionate voices have been using your extemporaneous comment as a cruel bludgeon against faithful Catholic families who are simply seeking a stable place to worship God, receive the sacraments, and pass the Catholic faith unmolested down to their children. These families are confused when they are told that the SSPX is in an “irregular state”, but somehow the parish in town … [with widespread abuse and immorality] … is “regular”. Many families see a Church in a state of abject crisis where all options are “irregular”. In some dioceses, these families’ decision to attend chapels of the SSPX is made under a shroud of abandonment by chanceries who cancel their worship and Sacraments. They trudge sorrowfully to these chapels as orphans to the orphanage.

We do not believe that it was your intent for your comment to be abused in this way, and in charity we beg Your Eminence to please consider these points and revise and clarify your comments to bring comfort to these families.

We are grateful for your thoughtful consideration of our request, and in charity we ask for a written response.

Ad Iesus Per Mariam.

Signed by:

James Albert, Founder
Columbia Traditional Latin Mass Supporters

Chris Lauer, Founder
Charlotte Latin Mass Community