Speaking to a leading American podcaster, Cardinal Raymond Burke commented that homosexual marriage is a heresy against “reason itself” while also noting a rise in demonic activity in society and the Church.
In a highly anticipated two-part podcast, Burke joined former US Navy Seal Shawn Ryan to field questions on the Old and New Testament. Ryan boasts an incredibly large audience: on YouTube alone he has 6.5 million subscribers and is ranked the third most popular U.S. podcast on Spotify. He has been increasing leaning towards Christianity and has also hosted prominent exorcist Fr Chad Ripperger for two recent episodes of the podcast.
The wide-ranging conversations dealt with topics from demonic activity – which Ryan said he was an increasing victim of – to creation, Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, key historical points of the Old and New testament, Mary’s marriage to Joseph, the Eucharist and the final days of the world.
Mostly catechetical in nature regarding the Scriptures, the conversation also moved into doctrinal and moral issues from the context of the historical elements in Scripture.
Burke compared the Old Testament account of Sodom and Gomorrah to the “rebellion” found in modern society which focuses on “the idea that I am the author of my own being, that I have the right to decide whether I should live or not, and that I have the right to change the identity that was given to me at birth.”
“Evil is exalted as good,” he said, “in defiance of God’s law.” This is demonstrated in the “homosexual agenda”, added the cardinal, who described same-sex marriage as a violation not just of faith but of natural order and reason:
“There are countries, like the country of my own ancestors in Ireland, that have put in their Constitution that there can be marriage between two people of the same sex,” he lamented. “I say this is heresy, not only against faith and against what the Scriptures teach, but against reason itself. It’s clear that God made man for woman and woman for man.”
Burke criticised the role of the medical profession in aiding the spread of such ideology, giving special mention to the so-called sex-change surgeries which now proliferate as a means to support the transgender movement. “The medical profession has taken on the task of actually mutilating people so that they can realise that idea that the sex assigned to them by nature is wrong. It turns out, of course, that no one can be happy like this.”
Moving to the Holy Family and Mary’s divine motherhood, Burke rejected the common claim that Mary was a Scriptural example of an un-married mother. Jewish law outlined two stages of marriage, with a “period of time before the husband would lead the wife into his home and consummate the marriage, but the consummate didn’t make the marriage, the marriage was already there.”
“Mary was married to Joseph” already at time of the Annunciation, demonstrating – said Burke – that God ordained His plan of salvation through the means of a family: “he is blessing the family from the very beginning of his saving work.”
Moving through the New Testament account of Christ’s life and death, Burke dealt with the passion and resurrection, along with the institution of the sacraments and the centrality of the Eucharist for the Church. On this front, the former prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura also rejected arguments made against the priesthood by lay activists who call for a celebration of the Eucharist without a priest. “No, Christ willed it in this way that there should be a consecrated man who offers the holy Eucharist for us so that we can be strengthened with the gift of Christ’s very life and also it’s a pledge of eternal life.”
The cardinal also cited the widespread use of pornography, linking it to the difficulties faced by fathers of families in today’s society. Both priests and married men must have in mind the spiritual goal of those in their care, “therefore, we aren't looking for the immediate gratification of a child who says, ‘Oh, I love you,’ but we’re looking for the long-term good of that child.”
“The important thing,” he added, “is that we’ve fulfilled our responsibility before God and in God to be a father of a family.”
Moving then naturally into the topic of demonic activity once again, Burke spoke about exorcisms and the increase of the need for such interventions. “It seems that in the present time – and I know this from talking with brother bishops and with exorcists – there is a lot of demonic activity.”
He theorised that this is partly due to indifference or even presumption on the part of many who believed that there is “nothing to worry about” when it comes to Satan. “Satan is never happier than when we think he’s not around, because then he can really do damage.”
The world and the Church have been permeated by actions which can only be attributed to Satan, Burke opined. “We have to have our eyes wide open and see now this is something that’s diabolical. And sadly in the world today and even sometimes in the church we see things that are diabolical and they’re so evil that they could only come from the evil one himself.”
Michael Haynes is an English journalist in the Holy See Press Corps. He serves as Vatican Correspondent for the Catholic Herald, while readers can follow him at Per Mariam and on X @MLJHaynes.
