EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Burke - ‘loss of devotional life one of greatest tragedies’ of post-Vatican II era

During an interview with Per Mariam, Cardinal Burke opined on the practice of the Catholic faith, and addressed issues such as the Synod on Synodality and female deacons.

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — In a recent interview with Per Mariam, Raymond Cardinal Burke expanded on the underlying intention behind his 9-month Novena, and renewed his critiques and assessments of various crises in the Church including the Synod on Synodality and restrictions on the Latin Mass.

During the wide-ranging interview, held in Rome – {which will be published in two separate parts on this site} – Cdl. Burke highlighted the loss of the devotional life in recent decades as “one of the greatest tragedies” since Vatican II, and linked his spiritual campaign of the 9-month Novena to Our Lady as a way to foster a renewed practice of the Catholic Faith.

Cardinal Burke. ©MichaelHaynes

After the great success of the recently concluded 9-month Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe – some 190,000 people formally joined and many more did so without registering – His Eminence invited all who joined his Novena to maintain the impetus of the spiritual endeavor, and recite a daily prayer of consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Cardinal Burke leads 9-month Novena Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe

He stated that a faith without active devotion “is very easily reduced to an idea or an ideology, and that doesn’t inspire anyone, and in fact leads people into error. I believe one of the greatest tragedies of the post-conciliar period is the loss of the devotional life – and we need to restore it.”

Noting the “overwhelming response” to the Novena, Cdl. Burke expressed his belief that this would usher in “a resurgence in the devotional life, and that will lead then to a deeper Christian life, and a deeper Christian life will lead to the transformation of society.”

Strengthened by a healthy devotional life, Cdl. Burke commented that Catholics will “have the stamina – the courage and the stamina – to fight for a truly Christian life.”