The appointment of St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke to head the Vatican’s highest court, effective at 5 p.m. today, has prompted the following assessment from Thomas Reese, S.J. of Georgetown University’s Woodstock Center (via a press release emailed around by Fr. Reese himself):

“The appointment should make pro-choice Catholic politicians very nervous,” said Reese. “He will be a strong voice in the Vatican for cracking down on pro-choice politicians.”

On the other hand, maybe Burke’s being kicked upstairs in order to avoid a denial-of-communion donnybrook this election season. “Tempus,” as they say in Rome, “est optimus iudex.”