If Satan had managed to place a man inside the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, it would have been American neo-fascist Cardinal Raymond Burke of Wisconsin, who went on from being bishop of La Crosse to arch-bishop of St. Louis. Pope Francis, finally fed up with his far right extremism and obsessive homophobia and Islamophobia, banished him to Malta in 2014-- and then further demoted him 3 years later so that now he has no real position at all. Last week he announced he has a severe case of COVID-19 and today the loud-mouthed anti-vaxx/anti-mask fanatic is on a ventilator in a Wisconsin hospital, fighting for his life.
In a Dec. 12, 2020, homily, the cardinal referred to the coronavirus as the "Wuhan virus," a derogatory nickname former President Donald Trump used to refer to the first reported cases of the virus in Wuhan, China.
Burke also said the virus "has been used by certain forces, inimical to families and to the freedom of nations, to advance their evil agenda."
"These forces tell us that we are now the subjects of the so-called 'Great Reset,' the 'new normal,' which is dictated to us by their manipulation of citizens and nations through ignorance and fear," said the cardinal.
In a May 2020 talk he delivered at the virtual Rome Life Forum, Burke spoke out against government imposing vaccination mandates. He also warned that some groups in modern society would suggest that "a kind of microchip needs to be placed under the skin of every person, so that at any moment he or she can be controlled by the state regarding health and about other matters which we can only imagine."
In a lengthy March 2020 statement he posted on his blog, Burke wrote, "In combating the evil of the coronavirus, our most effective weapon is, therefore, our relationship with Christ through prayer and penance, and devotions and sacred worship. We turn to Christ to deliver us from pestilence and from all harm, and He never fails to respond with pure and selfless love."
Burke has said that Catholics cannot vote for Democrats and he once said that Catholics who voted for Obama had "collaborated with evil." He has brought pain and suffering to countless Catholics and he will not be missed outside of a small circle of hateful extremists. Wisconsin has had 704,854 cases of COVID-- 121,058 cases per million and over 8,300 have died. In the last 2 weeks cases have risen 88% and hospitalizations are up 139%. Hospitalizations in Burke's home county, La Crosse, are up 841%. Maybe people there still take him seriously.