UNITED STATES
The Pilot
5/10/2014, BY GEORGE P. MATYSEK JR.
BALTIMORE (CNS) — When considering the suppression of parishes or the closing of church buildings, bishops should hew closely to canon law not simply because it’s a legal requirement of the church, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said, but because it helps foster unity.
In a May 7 interview with the Catholic Review, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s highest court, said following proper procedures helps ensure legitimate decisions.
“When we don’t follow the requirements of the law, then people rightly claim that they’ve been aggrieved by this,” said Cardinal Burke, who was a featured speaker at the Eastern Regional Conference of the Canon Law Society of America, held May 6-8 in Baltimore. The cardinal’s presentation was closed to the media, but he granted a brief interview to the Catholic Review.
“(When) we do follow the requirements of the law,” he said, “even if we take a decision that’s unfavorable to people, at least they know that it was taken legitimately with respect to what the church requires for that decision.”
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