Catholic cardinal who criticized vaccines hospitalized with Covid, breathing with ventilator

Cardinal Raymond Burke, an outspoken conservative within the Roman Catholic Church and skeptic of Covid vaccinations, has been admitted to the hospital with the coronavirus and is on a ventilator.

Burke’s Twitter account posted Saturday that the cardinal, who has publicly clashed with the views of Pope Francis, was admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 and was breathing through a ventilator. The post said that doctors were “encouraged by his progress” and that Burke prayed for those “suffering from the virus.”

Days earlier, on Aug. 10, Burke, 73, the former archbishop of St. Louis, tweeted that he had recently tested positive for the coronavirus and was “resting comfortably and receiving excellent medical care.”

“Please pray for me as I begin my recovery,” he said. “Let us trust in Divine Providence. God bless you.”

Burke, who has criticized how governments have dealt with the pandemic, has been an outspoken critic of mandatory vaccinations. In an address in May 2020, he said vaccinations should not be imposed “in a totalitarian manner.” He also repeated misinformation related to conspiracy theories about the vaccines.

In a homily in December, he called the coronavirus the “Wuhan virus,” a derogatory term used by former President Donald Trump, referring to the Chinese city where some of the earliest cases were reported, although the exact origins of the virus remain unknown. Burke said the virus had been used “by certain forces” to “advance their evil agenda.”

He has also said the best weapon for battling “the evil of the coronavirus” is a relationship with Jesus, according to The Associated Press.