Without clarity on these issues, "people are in a very difficult state," he said, explaining that this is demonstrated by the fact that bishops conferences have issued conflicting guidelines on how to interpret "Amoris Laetitia."
In addition to Cardinal Burke, other signatories to the dubia letter were Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, president emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences; Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna; and Joachim Meisner, Archbishop Emeritus of Cologne.
Cardinals Meisner and Caffarra passed away within two months of each other over the summer, leaving Cardinals Burke and Brandmüller to carry forward the ongoing debate over the dubia.
Cardinal Burke's latest interview was not related to the release of a letter signed by 62 Catholic clergy and scholars, the most notable being superior general Bishop Bernard Fellay of the breakaway Society of St. Pius X. That letter presented itself as a "filial correction" to Pope Francis for reputed errors and heresies.
Among other things, the letter argues that the Pope has either directly or indirectly perpetrated seven heresies, most of which surround comments he has made about Martin Luther and ambiguities in "Amoris Laetitia," specifically related to the question of the reception of Holy Communnion by divorced-and-remarried Catholics who cannot get an annulment.
The letter also objects to the Pope's silence in the face of the "dubia" submitted to the Pope by the four cardinals.
Like the four cardinals' original dubia letter, the 25-page letter of "filial correction" was also sent to the Pope privately, but the signatories decided to publish it after having received no response from the Pope.
Neither Cardinal Burke nor Cardinal Brandmüller signed the document. According to a Tweet sent out by the traditionalist blog "Rorate Caeli," which has provided favorable coverage of the document's release, cardinals were not asked to sign. The letter was "step one only."
In his interview, Cardinal Burke said that many lay people argue over "Amoris Laetita," and "many priests are suffering in particular because the faithful come to them, expecting certain things that are not possible because they've received one of the these erroneous interpretations of 'Amoris Laetitia'."
As a result, these people no longer understand Church teaching, the cardinal said. And in the Church, "we have only one guide, the Magisterium, the teaching of the Church, but we now seem to be divided into so-called political camps."
The at times volatile "attacks" from parties who disagree is "a very mundane way of approaching things, it has no place in the Church," Cardinal Burke continued. "But that's where we're at right now."
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The only way for the conversation to move forward on these matters, he said, "is to make the point of reference the doctrine of the Church. That's what unifies us."
Cardinal Burke also cleared up what he said are several misconceptions about him that are often promoted by the media, namely that he is "only interested in doctrine and law," and that he is "out of touch with the times and living in the Middle Ages."
"I am very pastoral and in fact, I don't see any contradiction between being pastoral and being faithful in announcing the Church's teaching and following the Church's law," he said.
The cardinal insisted that he is also "very conscious of the everyday culture in which we live, and I try to address it, but in a way that is full of compassion in the sense of addressing the Church's teaching to the cultural situation and trying to lead the culture to a certain transformation."
Referring to those who at times paint a picture of the Pope as a great revolutionary changing the tide of the Church in modern times, the cardinal said being the Successor of Peter "has nothing to do with revolutions." Rather, it involves "maintaining the Church in unity with her long and constant tradition."
Many people also claim the Pope is somehow going against the Church's centuries-long tradition, he said. "And that isn't possible either, because the Roman Pontiff is that principle of unity, unity which is not only present now, but unity with those who have gone before over the centuries.