The first question out of the gate was on Vatican officials suing bloggers. This is Cardinal Burke's response:
Unless the blogger has committed a calumny on someone's good name unjustly, I certainly don't think that that's the way we as Catholics should deal with these matters. I think contact should be made. I presume that the Catholic blogger is in good faith, and if there's someone in the hierarchy who is upset with him, the way to deal with it would be first to approach the person directly and try to resolve the matter in that way. Our Lord in the Gospel and St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians instruct us not to take our disputes to the civil forum, that we should be able, as Catholics, to resolve these matters among ourselves. (cf. Mt. 18:15; 1 Cor. 6:1-6)
It's easy to see this as a dig at Father Rosica, but it's not that clear-cut.
Cardinal Burke did not directly address the situation surrounding Vox Cantoris.
He didn't say Father Rosica shouldn't sue Vox. He just said it shouldn't happen "unless the blogger has committed a calumny..." So it all rests on whether a calumny was committed.
I'm not saying that Father Rosica is right. I don't think he should sue even if there was a calumny, certainly not for the reasons stated.
But I don't think Cardinal Burke is really taking sides. Although I suspect his words may be taken to mean he is.
