Cdl. Burke: Poor Catechesis Caused Crisis of Faith

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Cardinal Raymond Burke is continually warning Catholics that the Church is currently experiencing Her greatest crisis and is saying that the solution is sound catechesis.

During a talk sponsored by Voice of the Family in Rome the former prefect of the Apostolic Signature in May of 2016 warned faithful Catholics: "Catholicism is in the throes of the worst crisis in its entire history." The cardinal added that to solve this crisis Catholics would need to learn their faith in order to heroically put it into practice:

Father Hardon knew that the necessary strong Catholic witness depends essentially upon the right understanding of the Faith and its demands provided by sound catechesis. He saw how decades of a thin and even false catechesis had created a situation in which many Catholics ... were left in confusion and error regarding the most fundamental tenets of the Catholic faith and of the moral law.

Speaking about the laity helping to overcome the current confusion in the Church Cdl. Burke continued, "I urge them to deepen their understanding of the constant teaching and discipline of the Church and to make their voices heard, so that the shepherds of the flock may understand the urgent need to announce again with clarity and courage the truths of the Faith."

In May of this year at a Rome Life Forum, Cdl. Burke spoke in similar terms concerning the crisis of faith and its solution. Speaking of clerics entrusted with teaching the faith to laity the cardinal again pinpointed the cause of the current crisis in the Church:

Their failure to teach the Faith, in fidelity to the Church's constant teaching and practice, whether through a superficial, confused or even worldly approach and their silence endangers mortally, in the deepest spiritual sense, the very souls for whom they have been consecrated to care for spiritually. The poisonous fruits of the failure of the Church's pastors is seen in a manner of worship, of teaching and of moral discipline which is not in accord with Divine Law.

During a 2014 interview with Vatican Radio the well-seasoned prelate asked about the biggest challenges facing Catholic families today, responded:

One of the biggest challenges is the defective catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church — I can speak from my experience in the United States — for the past 40 to 50 years. Children and young people are not well catechized with regard to marriage. ... It is only in the family that the true sense of who we are as man and woman is taught effectively both by the example of the father and mother but also in catechesis to amplify that and assist the parents in the fuller teaching of the faith.

Watch the panel discuss how those, who are the future of the Church, must be catechized in The Download—Training Up Children.

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