Cardinal Raymond Burke places Catholic church issues on women

Burke calls it the church's 'man crisis'

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — A former La Crosse bishop is making headlines again after giving an interview in which he blames women for many of the churches problems, including priest sexual abuse.

Cardinal Raymond Burke calls it the church’s ‘man crisis’.

He says radical feminism assaulted the church in the 1960’s, leaving men feeling marginalized. He says that led to priests becoming confused about their sexuality, leading to the sexual abuse of minors in the church.

He admits in the interview that women are often the first to step up and volunteer at church, but says it might be driving men away. But the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration say collaboration between men and women is a good thing.

“You’ve got all these people that were in the pews before but maybe didn’t feel like they had the backing to stand up and to really meet the needs of the church so we’ve got all these people now that can do it and we are, I think we’re working together with that, so it’s a wonderful thing,” said Sister Karen Luecke, President of the Franciscan Sisters.

Burke gave the interview to an online publication. It was his first interview since a very public demotion handed down by the pope last year.