The Post Dispatch Profiles Abp Burke and His First Year

For a soft-spoken guy, Raymond Leo Burke has had a lot to say since he was installed as the eighth archbishop of St. Louis one year ago this week.

{Archbishop] Burke presided over some of the biggest St. Louis headlines of 2004 - from election controversies over politicians and voting, to a battle with St. Stanislaus Kostka church.

Taking the heat when you're the new guy can be difficult, and Burke did not have the luxury of a honeymoon in St. Louis. At the very beginning, he dove into the deep end. But the people who know him best say he is a kind man who leads a simple, holy life. His favorite activities are walking, reading and bird-watching. They say he is guided by his faith in Jesus and his love and respect for the Catholic church.

"You have to pray a lot and be courageous," he said last week. Burke sees his role as protecting the church and his flock. Like a dog who doesn't bark when a thief approaches, he said, "a shepherd who doesn't shepherd is useless." "Sometimes I bark," he said.

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