FORMER LA CROSSE BISHOP TO SERVE ON HIGH COURT
Wednesday, July 12th, 2006 -- 8:29 AM
Pope Benedict XVI has named former La Crosse bishop and current St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke to the Roman Catholic Church?s supreme court, its highest judicial authority.The Vatican?s Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, as it is called, hears appeals of select cases that cannot be settled in the church?s lower tribunals.
Many of the cases the dozen or so judges hear deal with disputes between Vatican departments. The tribunal also hears appeals of other cases ? for instance, in parish closings, or the removal of priests for allegations of sexual abuse of minors.
Burke, a canon lawyer by training, has worked for the court before. He was the first American to serve as the tribunal?s defender of the bond ? the equivalent of the U.S. solicitor general ? from 1990 to 1994. Burke will serve the court from St. Louis, although he might have to travel to Rome for hearings.
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