Cardinal Raymond Burke said he thinks often about his humble upbringing in rural Wisconsin and where his Catholic faith has taken him during his lifetime.

“You just keep doing what you believe the Lord wants you to do, and who knows where it [may lead] you eventually,” Cardinal Burke said during a recent interview in his Rome residence. “That’s the only way I can describe it.”

Cardinal Burke, a long-time friend of the Institute on Religious Life, has now served for three years as the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court in the Catholic Church. In this article from the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, he talks about the unfolding of his vocation, from growing up in the heartland of the United States to serving such a vital role in the universal Church.