Cardinal who has criticized vaccines taken off ventilator with COVID in Wisconsin
Aug. 22 update
Former St. Louis archbishop Raymond Leo Burke has been taken off a ventilator and released from intensive care, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadelupe announced.
Original story
Former St. Louis archbishop Raymond Leo Burke has been placed on a ventilator just days after he announced he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Burke, who has reportedly spread misinformation about the virus and the vaccines, first said he tested positive Aug. 10. At the time, he said he was “resting comfortably and receiving excellent medical care.”
Four days later, an update on his Twitter feed showed his condition had worsened.
“Cardinal Burke has been admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 and is being assisted by a ventilator,” an Aug. 14 post read. “Doctors are encouraged by his progress.”
Burke, 73, served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 2003 to 2008, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. His current role is Cardinal Priest of Sant’Agata de’ Goti in Rome, but the Post-Dispatch reported he caught the virus in Wisconsin, where he founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the city of La Crosse.
It’s unclear if Burke has been vaccinated, but last year he falsely suggested the COVID-19 vaccines inject a microchip that would allow citizens to “to “be controlled by the state regarding health and about other matters which we can only imagine,” Religion News reported.
The idea the vaccines contain microchips has been disproven by multiple fact-checking websites, including PolitiFact.
Referring to COVID-19 as the Wuhan virus — a term often used by former President Donald Trump — Burke said in December the virus was being used “by certain forces... to advance their evil agenda,” according to Irish Central.
At the onset of the pandemic last year, Burke said the most effective way to combat the coronavirus is “our relationship with Christ through prayer and penance.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Cardinal who has criticized vaccines taken off ventilator with COVID in Wisconsin."