Catholic Politicians and Non-Admittance to Holy Communion In this 2,800-word statement issued on Oct. 28, Cardinal Raymond Burke recalled his efforts to persuade Catholic politicians to defend the lives of unborn children while serving as the bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and later of St. Louis, Missouri. He said that the experience had convinced him that the “common refrain” that more dialogue was necessary to achieve a breakthrough was “at best, naïve.” The 73-year-old cardinal made the intervention ahead of the U.S. bishops’ plenary assembly in Baltimore, Maryland.