Raymond Leo Burke is an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, born on June 30, 1948, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, USA, as the youngest of six children to Thomas F. Burke and Marie B. Burke. He completed elementary education at Saint Mary School in Richland Center (1954-1959) and Saint Joseph School in Stratford, Wisconsin (1959-1962), attended high school and initial college courses at Holy Cross Seminary in La Crosse, Wisconsin (1962-1968), and studied as a Basselin Scholar at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (1968-1971). He pursued theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (1971-1975), where he was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI on June 29, 1975, in Saint Peter's Basilica. Returning to the Diocese of La Crosse, he served as associate rector at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Worker and taught religion at Aquinas High School. In 1980, he returned to Rome to earn a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Burke's ecclesiastical career advanced rapidly: appointed Defender of the Bond at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura in 1989, he became Bishop of La Crosse on December 10, 1994 (ordained January 6, 1995), during which he founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, dedicated in 2008. He served as Archbishop of Saint Louis from December 2, 2003, to June 27, 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Elevated to cardinal on November 20, 2010, by Benedict XVI with the titular church Sant’Agata de’Goti, he participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (until June 19, 2023). Known as a prominent conservative and traditionalist voice within the Vatican, Burke has been a vocal critic of Pope Francis's approaches, leading to his removal from the Signatura prefecture in 2014, and has advocated for traditional liturgy, including the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, as well as traditionalist Catholic values in politics and law. He has ties to Opus Dei and has been involved in conservative Catholic legal movements.

Currently, Burke remains a member of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. He serves as International Director of the Marian Catechist Apostolate, supports various Catholic apostolates like Catholic Action for Faith and Family, and continues scholarly work on canon law, the Eucharist, and devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe. He promotes the sanctity of human life and has expressed reservations about organizations like the Legionaries of Christ amid their scandals.