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	St. Louis Archbishop to Head Vatican Tribunal San Francisco Chronicle June 27, 2008 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/27/international/ i074823D94.DTL&hw=vatican&sn=001&sc=1000 Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, a church law expert known for his tough stance that politicians who support abortion rights be denied Holy Communion, was named Friday to head the Vatican's supreme court. Pope Benedict XVI's appointment of the American prelate was part of a small shuffle; the previous head of the court, Italian Cardinal Agostino Vallini, was named as the pontiff's assistant for the diocese of Rome. Vallini replaces Cardinal Camillo Ruini, a powerful figure in the Italian church over the past 17 years, as the pope's vicar for Rome. Ruini is retiring. Burke, who will move to Rome, will head the Apostolic Signatura — as the supreme court is called. The court resolves jurisdictional disputes among various Vatican tribunals and hears procedural appeals from the Rota, which reviews marriage annulments. Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, have complained for years that local tribunals grant an excessive number of annulments. The supreme court is traditionally headed by a cardinal. In 2004, Burke caused a stir by saying he would deny Communion to the Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, because of the Massachusetts senator's stance supporting abortion rights. Most bishops spoke only in general terms on the issue without naming names. No successor for St. Louis was immediately announced.
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