Archbishop Burke appointed to head Vatican ‘Supreme Court’
St. Louis, Jun 27, 2008 / 10:50 am (CNA).- Today the Holy Father appointed Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. The archbishop, one of the leading experts of Canon law in the United States will leave the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri to take up his new post in Rome near the end of August.
The appointment came on the same day that Pope Benedict named Cardinal Agostino Vallini, current prefect of the Supreme Tribunal, as the vicar general for the Diocese of Rome - the highest diocesan administrator. The position was previously held by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, whose resignation was accepted by Benedict XVI upon reaching the age of 75.
In a statement to the archdiocese, the archbishop admitted that he was deeply humbled at the new opportunity to serve the Church. “Although you will no longer pray for me as your archbishop, especially during the celebration of the Holy Mass, I ask your prayers for me, that I may faithfully and generously cooperate with God's grace in fulfilling my new responsibilities.”
“Leaving the service of the Church in the Archdiocese of St. Louis is most sad for me. It has been an honor and gift for me to serve the archdiocese over the past four years and five months. It had been my hope to serve here for a long time, but, as the bishop who called me to priestly ordination often remarked, ‘Man proposes, but God disposes.’ I trust that doing what our Holy Father has asked me to do will bring blessings to the Archdiocese of St. Louis and to me. St. Louis is a great archdiocese which will always have a treasured place in my heart.”