No, Abp. Burke isn't going to intervene in Notre Dame "immediately"

update: my apologies to Michael Voris, STB for attributing to him the quote below which is not from him. The quote is actually from Marc Brammer, the Owner of RealCatholicTV.

update 2: RealCatholic TV is disputing the quote originated from Marc Brammer. See changes below.

Many people have emailed me today asking me to substantiate rumors being circulated by "The Vortex" program on RealCatholicTV.com that Archbishop Burke will intervene in Notre Dame "immediately."

{update 2: here is the text I've been receiving, attributed to Marc Brammer}:

"We have it on good authority that The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura headed by its Prefect Mons. Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke has been duly petitioned and is preparing to deal with the Congregation of the Holy Cross on a number of issues including the awarding of an honorary degree to President Obama."

As I twittered yesterday, I put no stock in these rumors.

What has apparently happened is that someone has "filed a brief" in Rome with "actionable consequences" against Notre Dame. According to my knowledge of canon law, that's about as significant as someone sending a letter to the President - sure, you can send them a letter, but that doesn't mean they have to read or act on it. All this means is that Archbishop Burke('s staff) checks the mail.

Of course, Archbishop Burke could conceivably do something, but we have zero evidence that he will if we're basing them on the rumors circulating right now. Frankly, this doesn't strike me as his style - to rush something out the door with the President coming only a few days away.

The Vortex program also asks people to pray for Pope Benedict, Archbishop Burke and for the Notre Dame situation. I absolutely agree with all that. But let's not make our prayers dependant on or exclusive to invoking a last minute "hail mary pass" from the Vatican. Good things can come about in other ways, too.