John J. Burke

Who was John J. Burke?

John J. Burke was a Paulist priest and editor of the Catholic World from 1903 to 1922.

A central point of Burke's writing and lecturing concerned the supernatural element of charity. Burke told the 1915 graduating class of New York's College of Mount Saint Vincent-on-Hudson that, for two millennia, the Church has pursued as her "one great purpose" to lead souls to the love of God. "Whatever other claims she makes as to her mission," he insisted, "are at best but secondary."

Burke warned Catholics about the modern superstition that "experts in the social sciences might well be trusted with our social betterment," a view that encouraged the trend towards making of religion "a private and an almost secret matter."