Sir Howard Cooke, Governor-General of Jamaica is flanked by Archbishop Edgerton Clarke (left) and Archbishop Lawrence Burke (right). The Governor-General was one of the dignitaries present during the mass of investiture of Archbishop Burke, held at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kingston, Sunday May 2.
At right, newly-installed Archbishop of Kingston, the Most Rev. Lawrence Burke is kissed on the hand by a nun. -Norman Grindley photos
Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter
THE MOST Rev. Lawrence Burke, the newly-installed Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kingston, has come to the office without a strong personal agenda. He seeks, instead, to listen to the various constituencies within that denomination to hear their ideas concerning how to move the church forward.
For that reason, high on his 'to do list' is a scheduling of meetings with priests - diocesan and religious, nuns, and laity "to hear from them what are the critical issues facing the local church and how to put the church on a very firm footing. I have not come with my mind made up," Archbishop Burke told The Gleaner.
A Jamaican, Archbishop Burke was born into a Roman Catholic family on October 27, 1932. He grew up in Vineyard Town,Kingston, and from early he came under the influence of Jesuits. He was impressed by them and even more so when he attended St. George's College on North Street, Kingston. After graduation, he joined the teaching staff in January 1951 and by August that year, he went to Boston College to study for the priesthood. He returned to Jamaica in 1958 and as a scholastic he taught chemistry for three years at St. George's. He holds a one-of-a-kind relationship with St. George's. He is the only person to have taught there as a member of the laity, then as a priest, then hold the office as chairman of the board, and acting principal.
During his long association with St. George's he was appointed Superior to the Jesuit community there, and then Regional Superior which meant he was the liaison between the Archbishop of Kingston and the Bishop of Montego Bay ( the church had two dioceses then. It has three at present.) As Superior, he found himself in charge of not just St. George's but Campion College as well. He was also involved in: publishing the Catholic Opinion, fostering the growth of the credit union movement, and providing training to persons working in sugar workers' co-operatives. His last post at St. George's was that of Acting Principal. He was in that job for 18 months when Pope John Paul II summoned him to become the Bishop of Nassau. He served in that post for 23 years until he was again summoned by the Holy Father to leave the Bahamas and come back to his homeland.
His return to Jamaica was occasioned by the mandatory retirement of Archbishop Edgerton Clarke, who on February 14 this year celebrated
his 75th birthday. In keeping with Canon Law,
bishops must vacate office at 75. The only
exception to this rule is the holder of the office
Bishop of Rome. The incumbent, who is
in his 80s, looks increasingly frail
Some think he should retire. But the new Archbishop, installed on Sunday May 2, will not go down that road. "He (the Pope) has given such great leadership. His mind is still sharp and he is still writing excellent things. There are times when you see him up there and from a public relations point of view you want to see someone more vibrant. I would not presume to tell the Holy Father what to do."
He does not know what was going on in the mind of the Pope and his advisers why he was asked to return to Jamaica. "I can't tell you why I was asked to come here. It was very hard to come here after 23 years. I put down some roots down there (in the Bahamas). I come here willingly. We believe in the Catholic Church that the Bishop of Rome is the successor of the Apostle Peter. If he asks you to go some place, then you go. I am at the service of the church. I am happy to be here and to play my part. Obviously at my age, I am 71, I will be trying to form (mentor) a local person here again to take my place," Archbishop Burke said.
His formal title is Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Kingston. This jurisdiction includes, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Kingston, Montego Bay and Mandeville. For the dioceses of Montego Bay and Mandeville, however, he has ceremonial and not executive powers. This is so because those two dioceses have their own bishops Bishop Charles Dufour for Montego Bay; and Bishop Paul Boyle for Mandeville.
When Archbishop Clarke succeeded Archbishop Samuel Carter 10 years ago, that appointment was celebrated within the church as a kind of coming of age, as up till that time, the Archbishopric of Kingston had not had a diocesan priest (a pastor of a congregation). But with the appointment of the Most Rev. Lawrence Burke - the Archbishopric has returned to the Jesuits, who up until Archbishop Clarke were the sole holders of that office.
As to his leadership style the new Archbishop cites, the Church Father, Augustine of Hippo North Africa. "I like to exercise authority from within the community. I really believe what
St. Augustine said when he became the Bishop of Hippo. He said: 'For you I am your Bishop. But with you, I am a believer.'
"Being a Bishop, brings a lot of responsibility, and sometimes great temptations because you are tempted to be authoritarian in the exercise of power over people. But being a Christian, being a believer, is really a source of grace for him. This is what has made me tick. I really believe we have to empower the lay people to make them take their proper roles in the church. I believe that our role is really one of service. As a result of that I think I have had a wonderful grace of being free. I am not concerned about being promoted or being asked to leave a country. Because I have a sense of freedom because I am only here because I was sent here and I am going to do what I think is the right thing to do. I really believe that in accountability, that whatever we have financially it's the people's money and so they should know what's going on. I think one of the dangers is that when a lot of people get into authority, they assume ownership. They forget that they are stewards. This is the kind of thing that one has to break-down because it can take its root even inside the church," Archbishop Burke said.
The Roman Catholic Church, like most Christian communions, has a shortage of priests. Archbishop Burke has thought about the challenge of attracting men to the priesthood. He said, "People have to believe that what we are doing is exciting and fulfilling. If they don't see that, they are not going to want to be involved. We are calling for a kind of radical way of life. In order to do this, therefore, it takes quite a bit of sacrifice. I think we need to encourage our young men that they are not going to be wasting their lives and that what they are doing is very important. We have to do a lot of work in strengthening family life. This, I think, will be a big influence on vocations. I believe that what we are doing in the church prepares people and can give them the values and the motivation to be more effective citizens of the world."
He sees no advantage in women being allowed to become priests. But he tells the story how in 1990 at a synod in Rome, he asked permission for married men to be ordained. The church in response, he said, expressed the view that it did not want married men as priests to be a regular feature of clergy life as the celibate priesthood better represents the high priesthood of the Christ. There is scope for married men to be priests in the Roman Catholic Church but it is extremely rare when such is allowed, he said.
"This is not against the tradition of the church, but in recent tradition this has not happened," he said.
He is not impressed with the view that the celibate life was in part responsible for sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests which made headlines last year in the United States. "I don't think you can show a relationship between celibacy and paedophilia. Celibate clergy and celibate religious is a powerful witness to Christ in a world that has become so secularised and so involved in power, individualism, and sexual promiscuity. It is good to have people who are in the midst of that world and say there is another option here," Archbishop Burke said.
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