The Party of Death
By 
Wondering what the Cardinal who refused communion to John Kerry because he was Insufficiently Respectful of Human Life is up to these days? Well, you can probably guess:
Most days during the coronavirus pandemic, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke could be found strolling down the streets of Rome maskless and carrying rosary beads. The 73-year-old conservative cardinal was an early critic of social distancing and, later, an unabashed skeptic of the vaccine.
On Tuesday, Burke announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Now, the cardinal is in a hospital bed in his native Wisconsin, breathing with the help of a ventilator.
“Doctors are encouraged by his progress,” Burke’s press team tweeted Saturday night. “[His Eminence] faithfully prayed the Rosary for those suffering from the virus. … Let us now pray the Rosary for him.”
The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Sunday.
A former archbishop of St. Louis, Burke made a name for himself as an outspoken conservative figurein the mid-2000s. In 2004, he refused to give Communion to then-Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry because the Democrat was an abortion rights advocate. In 2007, Burke resigned from the board of a Catholic hospital in protest of its invitation for Sheryl Crow, who isalso an advocate, to play at a benefit concert.
Two years later, he excoriated the University of Notre Dame for giving former president Barack Obama an honorary degree. In an interview, Burke said that Catholics who voted for Obama “collaborated with evil.”
During the global pandemic, Burkespoke out against vaccine mandates, claiming the practice “violates the integrity of its citizens.”
“While the State can provide reasonable regulations for the safeguarding of health, it is not the ultimate provider of health. God is,” he said during a May 2020 address.
Amazing how God stopped being the “ultimate provider of health” as soon as he needed a machine to breathe with because he wouldn’t take a free, safe, and effective vaccine. But at least Sheryl Crow is still owned!
Anyway, remember this when the Supreme Court overrules Roe next year (whether honestly or sub silentio) and we get another round of You Have to Respect the Deep Moral Commitments of the Pro-Life Movement punditry.