ordained in 1885 and had served for awhile as Bishop‘s Secretary. From 1888 until 1908 he served as parish priest at Alberton and part of 1908 was spent in Toronto organizing the new Catholic Extension Society. Michael Power in his article in the Centennial Issue of the Catholic Register states, “He was a conscientious and hardworking pastor, who selflessly devoted his life to his people as well as to the greater Island community. He was no simple country priest. He became a master of fruit raising, horticulture, stock raising, forestry, etc. Father Burke was president of the Fruit Growers Association of RBI. and a vice-president of no less than five other associations and societies, including the American Pomological Society of Boston. He was also a director of the winter fair, a member of the Dominion Alliance and a Grand Trustee of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. In 1902, the federal govern- ment sent him to the northwest as far as the Pacific to study colonization schemes. Two years later, the RBI. provincial government included him in its delegation to Ottawa to discuss constitutional matters.

Father Burke was chosen by the board of directors to be president of Church Extension and editor of The Catholic Register. Purchased in 1908 from George Plunkett Magann, its masthead was changed to Catholic Register and Church Extension. Father Burke was the obvious choice. He had excellent connections with Monsignor Francis Clement Kelley in Chicago, and his previous work on colonization for the federal govem- ment made him personally aware of the enormous task the board faced.

He had considerable success, as subscriptions rose, and donations to the Extension Society shot up, but these successes were overshadowed by his controversy with the French Language Newspapers. Father Burke was in favor of English only instruction for immigrants. The public spat was bitter. Msgr. Burke was eased out of the Presidency in 1915 and was appointed a Chaplain to the Armed Forces. He steadfastly refused to return to Toronto. He died in Rome on Dec. 15, 1926, and is buried in Campo Santo, near San Lorenzo, outside the walls; a world away from the rolling hills of Prince Edward Island.

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