Cardinal Burke meets with Pope Leo in private audience at the Vatican

Pope Leo XIV received Cardinal Raymond Burke in an audience in Rome Aug. 22, according to the Holy See Press Office. 

The press office did not state what was discussed as it will usually only disclose such information if the Pope’s meeting is with a head of state. Pope Leo received several other clergy in audience the morning of Aug. 22, according to the press office. 

Cardinal Burke had already communicated with Pope Leo on at least one occasion. In June, the cardinal shared that he expressed to Pope Leo his hope that the Pontiff would restore more access to the Traditional Latin Mass.

“It is my hope that he will put an end to the persecution of the faithful in the Church who desire to worship God according to the more ancient usage of the Roman rite,” Cardinal Burke said at the time. 

This summer, the cardinal received a letter from Pope Leo congratulating him on his 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood and thanking him for his contributions in the Church, as CatholicVote previously reported. Pope Leo thanked him “for the prompt service he has zealously carried out and the earnest care he has demonstrated most especially for the law, which has also been of good service to the Dicasteries of the Apostolic See.” 

Pope Leo later added, “He has preached the precepts of the Gospel according to the Heart of Christ and has recounted His treasures, diligently offering his devoted service to the Church universal. While anticipating the very best for him, and under the watchful care of blessed Peter and Paul the Apostles, it is our good pleasure to impart our Apostolic Blessing to him and to those near to him.”

In May, after Pope Leo was elected, Cardinal Burke issued a statement calling for the faithful to pray for Pope Leo through intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to whom the cardinal has a special devotion. Cardinal Burke founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin, when he was bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, a position he held from 1995 to 2003. 

Under Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Burke was appointed prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, which, according to the College of Cardinals Report, is “effectively the Church’s ‘supreme court.’” His term ended in 2014, and Pope Francis did not renew it; instead, he appointed him the largely ceremonial role of patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Pope Francis returned him to the Apostolic Signatura as a court judge in 2017.

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