Burke may be the face of Catholic conservatism (STL Post Dispatch)

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http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/burke-may-be-the-face-of-catholic-conservatism/article_3332286f-3068-5efc-a661-ae4c53cb9b94.html

"Back when he was archbishop of St. Louis in 2004, for instance, Burke touched off a fierce debate by declaring that Catholic politicians such as John Kerry who support abortion rights should be denied Communion.

Voters who supported them were in grave peril, too, he added. He later said former New York Mayor Rudy Guliani, a Republican, who was running for president and supported abortion rights, should also be denied Communion.

During Burke's stormy four-plus years in St. Louis, he also had public run-ins with singer Sheryl Crow and St. Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus. His ongoing battle with St. Stanislaus Kostka Church and the many resulting excommunications of its board members, partially defined his tenure for St. Louisans.

Burke doubled down on his political views after Pope Benedict XVI appointed him in 2008 to head the Vatican's version of a supreme court, saying that under President Barack Obama, the Democratic Party "risks transforming itself definitively into a 'party of death.'"

In 2009, Burke fueled another controversy when he said that the late Sen. Edward Kennedy should have been denied a church funeral for his support of abortion rights and gay rights."

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