Huffington Post UK has published a long interview with Andy Burnham, one of the candidates for the Labour leadership, and this website has a report which highlights what Mr Burnham says about the Catholic Church and his relationship with it. Here are a few observations, in no particular order, about what Mr Burnham has to say... First of all, he has drifted away from the Church because the Church is judgemental, or more particularly because the Pope (by which he seems to mean Benedict XVI) was too judgemental. This is certainly not a new perception: indeed it is the standard criticism of the Church by those either outside it or on its edges. But it is a rather odd criticism for Mr Burnham to make, it seems to me. First of all, the Pope makes judgements, and the Church makes judgements, because the Pope is a leader and a teacher, and the Church too is a teacher and a mother. Parents, leaders and teachers have to make judgements, because they are often asked by those in their care for advice and guidance. Not to make a judgement would be to abdicate responsibility. If Mr Burnham becomes Labour leader, and later Prime Minister, he will have to make judgements and such judgements will perhaps leave many disappointed, but that is the price of leadership and fidelity to the truth. We just hope that Mr Burnham, or any future Prime Minister, makes the right judgement, the good choice. As it turns out, it is my firm conviction that Benedict XVI (and St John Paul II before him) made all the right judgements and showed bravery and leadership. Moreover, in so doing, they were following the path laid down by the founder of the Church. He too made judgements, and He too delivers not opinions, but authoritative teaching, even when this was not what people wanted to hear. And He certainly paid the price for telling people the truth, dying on the Cross. On Calvary he found Himself with few friends. It may be that Mr Burnham has a problem with authority. Again, authority is something essential, and as Labour leader, if elected, he will have to use his authority, the authority vested in him by the party’s constitution and as anointed heir to Keir Hardie. The authority of the Church and the authority of the Pope go back to Christ Himself, as Mr Burnham will have learned at school. And it is not just God, the ultimate authority, who thinks authority is a good thing; so have countless generations of faithful Catholics. As for judgement, we will all one day be judged by God, as all Christians believe, so we had better get used to the idea. It is interesting to note that in the course of a lengthy interview, Andy Burnham hardly says anything that could be construed as unpopular. He is against the “tampon tax” for example. Well, aren’t we all? No one likes tax. Saying you are against the tampon tax is an easy call, like saying you are “anti-war” or “pro-environment”, as you are espousing a cause that has no opponents. It is cheap posturing to gain public approbation, what is known as “virtue-signalling”. Thank the Lord that neither Benedict XVI or St John Paul II went down that route. Is Burnham a leader of the same calibre as they were? Secondly, Mr Burnham lives in the hope that the Pope will change the Church’s teaching not just on same sex acts, but on the question of same-sex marriage, and thought that the Irish referendum would be the opportunity for the Church to “move on”. Mr Burnham is certainly not alone in this. Many would like the Church to abandon its teaching, so that same sex marriage could then become utterly run of the mill. After all, it is only the Church that opposes same-sex marriage. If the Church were to give way, then same-sex marriage would be regarded as totally normal, as it already is by everyone else. At least that is how the argument goes. This argument forgets that the United Kingdom is a small part of the world, and, outside Europe especially, same-sex marriage is by no means greeted with euphoria, as President Obama found out when he went to Kenya. Mr Burnham’s attitude to sexual morality – saying that the Church is obsessed with it, and then in the same breath seeming to denote that same-sex marriage is something of a shibboleth – seems contradictory. But more than this, it denotes superficial thinking: is the Church to “move on” on this one matter, or on all matters? And how exactly does this one matter impact on all the other beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church? Finally, Mr Burnham makes reference to Catholic Social Teaching as underpinning his politics, without saying how this is the case. Catholic social teaching is authoritative, and it makes judgements, and it would have plenty to say of same-sex marriage, so it is just as well that Mr Burnham does not go there. The Burnham interview makes depressing reading. Mr Burnham, sadly, occupies a space that is getting crowded, the space filled with those whose Catholic allegiance is in name only. Somewhere along the line he has lost his faith. Nowhere does he mention the true foundations of any faith in God, the wellspring of love of neighbour, namely prayer and the sacraments. I am sure he is a nice man, but he reminds me too much of the failure of the Church to catechise the faithful effectively and keep them faith-filled. Furthermore, Mr Burnham’s words remind us, if ever a reminder were needed, that the modern Labour party is a hostile environment to faith. It was not ever thus, but it is certainly the case now, as Kevin Meagher argues in this powerful piece. Where are Catholic voters now to go?