WORCESTER (MA)
Crusader
By Dan Zacchei
Published: Friday, February 11, 2005
Judge Anne Burke of the Illinois Appellate Court spoke in Rehm Library last Monday as part of The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College Holy Cross lecture series titled, "Healing, Renewal and the Church." Burke served for more than two years as Interim Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops'Abuse Tracker Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People. The title of the talk was, "Lay Catholics and the Future of the American Church."
Burke began her lecture by discussing the February 2004 report that the Review Board had issued detailing the sexual abuse scandals that have shook the Church to its core in the past few years. She also stated that she could, "Think of no more important group of educators to help repair the image of the Church than those here at Holy Cross," observing that ultimately, "The mission of Holy Cross is the mission of the Church."
She outlined a brief history of the Catholic Church in America, explaining how she felt that the Church had gained great forward momentum in the 60's with the Second Vatican Council. When she began to discuss the abuse scandal of the past few years her tone changed. She stated that there was, "No reason to mince words," and that after all she had learned if she was going to write a book about the "horrific scandal" and the current state of the church she would title it either, "Asleep at the Switch," or "Who's Running this Joint?"