Archbishop Burke's Farewell Mass in St. Louis

In the minutes before the farewell Mass for Archbishop Raymond Burke on Sunday, well-wishers hurried to find what few seats were left inside the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica.

On the cathedral's steps, the Knights of Columbus, the Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver, the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Knights and Dames of Malta, lined up to begin the processional. Their swords gleamed in the afternoon sun. Sweat dripped below their white-tufted chapeaus.

Inside, nuns in white and blue habits sat next to little girls with black lace head coverings. Organ music, trumpets, bells and the voices of a choir mixed with the fragrance of incense.

Burke, wearing a golden miter, gripped his golden crosier with both hands, eyes closed in prayer as his priests and seminarians filed by him in procession before the Mass began.

About 1,500 people squeezed into every corner of the cathedral. Some watched on two large-screen televisions. Others kneeled on the church's marble floors.

Seven bishops, including those from the dioceses of Jefferson City, Kansas City-St. Joseph, Springfield-Cape Girardeau and Springfield, Ill., concelebrated the Mass with Burke.

In June, Pope Benedict XVI named Burke, 60, to lead the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura -- the first American to hold the position. Bishop Robert Hermann, 74, is serving as the archdiocesan administrator until Benedict names Burke's successor as leader of the roughly 450,000-member archdiocese.

That announcement could come in the next three to six months.

Outside the cathedral, Karen Heiby, 35, of Belleville, said she'd come to the Mass to see Burke off on his way to the Vatican. "He's in this high office in Rome now, and I'm really happy for him," she said. "It's a big deal for the Catholic community here and I want to see what he has to say."

Bishop James Johnston of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese said he was sad to see Burke go. "I'm happy he'll serve the church in a wonderful new way," he said. "But I'll miss his support, his leadership and his friendship."

For many St. Louisans, Burke's name has been associated with controversy -- from numerous excommunications in the battle over St. Stanislaus Kostka Church to his statements saying he would deny Holy Communion to Catholic politicians Sen. John Kerry and former New York Mayor Rudy Guliani, both of whom publicly supported abortion rights.

In an interview last week with the archdiocesan newspaper, the St. Louis Review, Burke said he would want his critics "to see that what I did in terms of discipline in situations, to see it in a context of pastoral charity, really, of pastoral love."

"I want them to see the challenge that the Church faces in our society, which has so many agendas and ideas which are really quite hostile to the Catholic faith," he said in the article. "I think sometimes we're so caught up in the culture in which we live, with this kind of political correctness, that we expect our priests and bishops to act that way. And if they do, then we're in troubled times."

Outside the cathedral, Ronald Hitschler, 59, of Wildwood, said he admired Burke for "holding the hard line, which a lot of Catholics needed."

In his homily, Burke spoke of the "relatively brief time" he spent in St. Louis, telling his former flock that God "never ceased to increase my pastoral love for you."

Burke is scheduled to leave St. Louis later this week.

The timing of Burke's transfer to the Vatican -- not even five years into his tenure in St. Louis -- was more of a surprise than the position itself. The archbishop, widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished canon lawyers in the world, worked on the staff of the Vatican's high court, called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, for five years before being named bishop of LaCrosse, Wis., his home diocese, in 1995.

The Signatura is an appellate court that hears disputes among Vatican tribunals and offices. In 2006, Benedict named Burke to be one of the 15 judges on the Signatura.

Just before tapping Burke to lead the court, the pope also named him to two Vatican offices, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which interprets canon law, and the Congregation for the Clergy, which regulates the formation and training of diocesan priests and deacons.

Burke's connections with St. Louis won't be severed completely. At the end of the two-hour farewell Mass Burke said that the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, told him several weeks ago that he would not be receiving a titular see attached to his new job.

Bishops who work in the Vatican as administrators or diplomats and who therefore don't head their own dioceses, or sees, have an extinct diocese attached to their title. But Bertone told Burke he would not receive an extinct see. Rather, he would become the emeritus archbishop of St. Louis -- "to my great joy," Burke said.

The cathedral erupted in applause.

"I'm proud to be identified with the blessed years I've spent as your archbishop. I love you all," Burke said, his voice breaking. "I will never cease to pray for you. Please do not forget me in your prayers."