Dear Friends and Supporters of Catholic Action,

Our heroic pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, has passed into eternity. We can only see as fitting and as a divine blessing that he died on the eve of the Feast of the Holy Family. Like our Patron, His Eminence, Cardinal Burke (whose statement on the passing of Benedict is below), the former pope was like a bright-ringing bell, a clarion call of truth, in a darkened age.

How many times have we emphasized through the years the need for clarity about the Catholic Faith as our means of combatting the confusion of our spiritually disoriented society? In fact, it seems that the “diabolical disorientation” that Sr. Lucia of Fatima spoke about grows and spreads by the day. 

Thankfully, Pope Benedict has left us with voluminous lucid writings of both a spiritual and doctrinal nature. We will have his legacy of pure truth to fall back on as we march forward in our mission of equipping laity and clergy alike with the unvarnished Catholic Faith, which alone is the answer to the problems of our world.

In the meantime, with the rest of our universal Church we mourn the loss of a truly Good Shepherd, but our mourning is tempered with the Hope of the Gospel which Pope Benedict preached with such eloquence. 

Please see Cardinal Burke’s statement below on the passing of Pope Benedict. (You can read the original statement on his website.)

Your friend in Christ,

Thomas J. McKenna  
Founder and President
Catholic Action for Faith and Family

Cardinal Burke's comments on death of Pope Benedict XVI

With deepest sentiments of sorrow and of gratitude, I have received the news of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It is sad to lose the earthly company of a Successor of Saint Peter who, even after his abdication of the Petrine Office, continued to be a source of many graces for the Church, especially by the offering of his prayers and sufferings for so many needs of the Church in our time. At the same time, I am deeply grateful to almighty God for the life of Joseph Ratzinger who responded faithfully to the vocation to the Holy Priesthood, even to the acceptance of the unimaginable weight of serving as Bishop of the Universal Church, and who put his considerable talents completely at the service of Christ the Good Shepherd as a priest and Bishop acting in His person for the teaching, sanctifying, and governing of the Father’s flock, and eventually as the Vicar of Christ on earth. He was an especially gifted teacher of the Catholic Faith with a particular appreciation of the highest and most perfect expression of the Faith: Sacred Worship. His sound teaching, especially regarding the Sacred Liturgy, remains a lasting and living heritage.

It was my honor to serve him as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. In my meetings with him, while he was still Roman Pontiff and after his abdication, I was always impressed by his extraordinary intelligence and knowledge, coupled with Christ-like meekness. He truly served according to the inspired words of his episcopal motto as one of Our Lord’s “cooperatores veritatis” [“fellow workers in the truth” 3 John 8 ]. 

Please join me in praying for the eternal repose of his immortal soul. May he rest in peace.

Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE