Raymond Leo Burke was born on 30 June 1948 in Richland Center, Wisconsin, the youngest of six children, and was ordained a priest on 29 June 1975 in St. Peter's Basilica by Pope Saint Paul VI, for the Diocese of La Crosse. He earned a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1984 and in 1989 became the first American appointed Defender of the Bond at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
He was named Bishop of La Crosse in 1994 and Archbishop of St. Louis in 2003. In 2008 Benedict XVI appointed him Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura — effectively the head of the Church's highest court — a post he held until 2014. A canon lawyer by formation, he became a leading voice for the traditional liturgy and for doctrinal clarity.
Benedict XVI created him a cardinal at the consistory of 20 November 2010. In 2014 Pope Francis named him Cardinal Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a largely honorary office he held until 2023. Through the Francis pontificate he was widely regarded as the de facto leader of the Church's conservative wing.
Consequential Quotes
The Sacred Liturgy is not a matter of so-called 'Church politics' but the fullest and most perfect encounter with Christ for us in this world.
[The Pope's power] is not 'absolute power' which would include the power to change doctrine or to eradicate a liturgical discipline which has been alive in the Church since the time of Pope Gregory the Great and even earlier.
The best term to describe the current state of the Church is confusion, which has its origin in the lack of respect for the truth.
This is my duty as a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. I was not created a Cardinal in order to receive an honorary position.
No, I am not saying that Pope Francis is in heresy. I have never said that. Neither have I stated that he is close to being in heresy.
Major Works & Initiatives
The dubia on Amoris Laetitia
With Cardinals Brandmüller, Caffarra and Meisner, Burke submitted five questions to Pope Francis on the eighth chapter of Amoris Laetitia — chiefly on Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried — and made them public on 14 November 2016 when no reply came.
Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura
Head of the Church's supreme tribunal under Benedict XVI; a canon lawyer especially associated with the interpretation of Canon 915 on the worthy reception of Holy Communion.
Champion of the Traditional Latin Mass
Established oratories for the older rite as a bishop, regularly ordains for the FSSP and the Institute of Christ the King, opposed the restrictions of Traditionis Custodes, and celebrated a Pontifical Solemn High Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica in October 2025, by permission of Pope Leo XIV.
Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Founded and built the national shrine in La Crosse, Wisconsin; serves as International Director of the Marian Catechist Apostolate, and is known for his pro-life application of canon law.
Controversies
Removal from the Signatura (2014)
In November 2014 Francis transferred Burke from Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura — the Church's highest court — to the largely honorary post of Patron of the Order of Malta, days after Burke had said the Church under Francis was 'like a ship without a rudder.' Critics read it as the demotion of a doctrinal conservative after his resistance at the 2014 Synod on the Family. Francis publicly disputed that reading, saying he had decided on the move before the Synod as routine restructuring. The motive remains genuinely contested.
The dubia and the 'formal correction'
After the 2016 dubia went unanswered, Burke repeatedly raised the prospect of a 'formal correction' of the Pope. He framed both the dubia and a possible correction as legitimate instruments serving the perennial doctrine, and was careful to add, 'I am not saying that Pope Francis is in heresy.' Francis and his defenders held that Amoris Laetitia was itself the answer, and read the public dubia and talk of correction as undue pressure. No formal correction was ever issued; two of the four cardinals died in 2017.
Fiducia Supplicans (2023)
Burke had pre-empted the question as one of five cardinals who submitted dubia to the Doctrine of the Faith in 2023 asking whether the Church could bless same-sex unions — his consistent principle being that one cannot bless what is sinful. When Fiducia Supplicans permitted non-liturgical blessings of couples in irregular situations that December, he joined collective critical statements; unlike Cardinals Müller and Sarah, he did not issue a prominent standalone condemnation of his own. Rome's position is that the blessing falls on the persons who ask God's help, not on the union.
The apartment — and the 'enemy' that wasn't
In late November 2023, news outlets reported that Francis had indicated he would remove Burke's subsidized Vatican apartment and cardinal's stipend, citing him as a source of 'disunity.' No official Vatican decree was ever published, and the press office declined to comment. A vivid line circulated — that Francis had called Burke 'my enemy' — but it came from an anonymous blog source and was explicitly denied: the Pope's biographer called it 'pure fiction,' and Francis was reported to have said he never used the word 'enemy.' What was documented was a letter requiring Burke to pay market rent; he made no substantive public reply. Pope Leo XIV later repealed the underlying housing rescript.
Figurehead of the opposition
Across Catholic and secular media Burke was routinely described as the de facto leader of the Church's conservative wing during the Francis pontificate. To his admirers he is a principled defender of perennial doctrine giving voice to uneasy faithful; to his critics he became the institutional face of organized resistance to a reigning pope. Both characterizations are widely held.