Opinion: The southwestern Wisconsin native among papal possibilities

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Among the potential successors to Pope Francis is a Wisconsin native who frequently crossed swords with Francis and voiced support for President Donald Trump despite the pope’s criticisms of Trump administration policies.

So severe were the ideological differences between the ultra-conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke and the progressive Pope Francis that the pope busted Burke from one of the top positions at the Vatican, stripped most of his authority and evicted him from his free Vatican apartment.

Yet the 76-year-old Burke, a native of Richland Center in southwestern Wisconsin, appears on several lists of top candidates when the cardinals vote for pope. If elected, Burke would be the first American to rise to the papacy.

The cardinals will gather within three weeks in huddles reminiscent of the recent movie “Conclave,” which portrays the behind-closed-doors politicking when the princes of the church convene to vote for a new pontiff.

Pope Francis died of a stroke and heart failure at 88 on Monday after battling pneumonia for several weeks. His funeral was Saturday at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Burke, who was bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., from 1995 to 2004, led the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008. In 2008, hardline traditionalist Pope Benedict XVI summoned Burke to Rome and appointed him to the first of several prestigious posts he held at the Vatican. Benedict ordained Burke a cardinal in 2010.

The 76-year-old Burke, a strong proponent of the Latin mass and other conservative positions, split allegiances among the faithful in La Crosse, particularly over his creation of the $25 million Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, built between 2004 and 2008.

After Francis succeeded Benedict, Burke openly criticized Francis’ progressive views, especially regarding abortion, allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion and lenience toward LGBTQ+ people, among other issues.

Burke also has blamed the “radical feminist movement” for many of the church’s problems.

In 2013, after Pope Francis chose not to renew Burke’s membership in the Congregation of Bishops, which helps the pope select new bishops, Burke said, “One gets the impression … that he thinks we’re talking too much about abortion, too much about the integrity of marriage as between one man and one woman. But we can never talk enough about that.”

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Burke disagreed with the vast majority of U.S. Catholic bishops who suspended public masses to curb the spread of the virus.

While Francis has criticized Trump policies, especially building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and other immigration efforts such as mass deportations, Burke has aligned with Trump.

Burke hailed Trump’s 2016 election as a victory for anti-abortion efforts. In 2019, the cardinal urged voters to choose Trump over Biden because of the abortion issue.

Some Vatican observers sense that some cardinals want to reverse Pope Francis’ pastoral efforts, while others want to bolster his progressive stances.

Besides Burke, others mentioned in the papal sweepstakes to lead the world’s 1.37 billion Catholics include Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines (the oddsmakers’ favorite at 3-1), Pietro Parolin of Italy, Peter Turkson of Ghana, Péter Erdő of Hungary, Angelo Scola of Italy and Pierbattista Pizzaballa of Italy (yup, that’s his real name, which would drive headline writers bonkers).

Burke is considered a dark horse, according to Vatican journalist John Allen Jr., one of the few people who accurately predicted Pope Francis’ election.

Although Allen noted that electing Burke would be too dramatic a swing from Francis, he is quoted as saying in a Newsweek article that “I certainly think there will be some voters in the conclave, however, who will be interested in Cardinal Burke’s opinion. So, I think he may be more in a position to play the role of kingmaker rather than king himself.”

One might surmise that, if the conclave ends with white smoke signaling Burke as pope, Francis will be turning over in his grave.

Mike Tighe, who lives in Shoreview, is a retired veteran journalist who has worked at several newspapers and other outlets in the country, including the La Crosse Tribune, where he covered religion, health and other issues.