Cardinal hospitalized with COVID, breathing with ventilator
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the Catholic Church's most outspoken conservatives and a vaccine skeptic, said he has COVID-19 and his staff said he is breathing through a ventilator.
Burke tweeted Aug. 10 that he had caught the virus, was resting comfortably and was receiving excellent medical care.
“Please pray for me as I begin my recovery,” the 73-year-old Burke said in the tweet. “Let us trust in Divine Providence. God bless you.”
On Saturday, his staff tweeted that he had been hospitalized and was on a ventilator, but that doctors were encouraged with his progress.
“(His Eminence) faithfully prayed the Rosary for those suffering from the virus ... Let us now pray the Rosary for him,” his staff said.
The Washington Post and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Burke became infected during a visit to Wisconsin and was hospitalized there. Burke was born in Richland Center in southwestern Wisconsin and served as bishop in the Diocese of La Crosse from 1995 to 2004.
COVID-19 cases have been surging in Wisconsin in recent weeks due largely to the delta variant. The state’s seven-day case average stood at 1,139 as of Wednesday, the highest it’s been since February.
The diocese had no immediate information Monday on where Burke was hospitalized. A spokesman for the Wisconsin Hospital Association said he had no information on Burke. Vatican media officials didn’t immediately respond to an email.
Burke holds a doctorate in canon law. He moved from the Diocese of La Crosse to become archbishop of St. Louis. He spent more than four years in that position, leaving in August 2008 to oversee the Vatican's supreme court. He was the first American to hold that position.
Burke has built a reputation as an outspoken conservative. He drew attention in the...