Cardinal Burke is currently the Order of
Malta’s patron, a role whose main task is to be the Pope’s personal
representative to the knights and point man for the Holy See.
But following the saga between the order and the Vatican - leading to the resignation of the Knights Grand Master, Matthew Festing - the Pope has ruled that his representative will, for the time being, perform the cardinal’s job.
It means that while Cardinal Burke is still technically be in office, he is out of power.
In a 27 January letter to the order’s
interim leader, Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein, Francis states that the
delegate is to be “my sole spokesman…for everything about the order’s
relations with the Holy See” and this will continue until the election
of a new Grand Master.
The delegate is to work closely with
Hoffman ensuring a “spiritual and moral renewal of the order” with a
particular focus on those knights who have undertaken religious vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience.
It is this quasi-monastic elite who hold
the leadership positions of the world-wide organisation, and elect its
leader.
But sources inside the order say that formation processes for
the fully professed were not sufficiently robust with questions being
asked about the quality of religious life among this group of knights.
The decision by Francis to put his
delegate in charge of the renewal work further sidelines Cardinal Burke,
as another element of the patron’s job is to “promote the spiritual
interests of the order”.
On Saturday, the sovereign council of the
knights formally accepted the resignation of Matthew Festing, following
a bitter public battle between the order and the Vatican over the
sacking of a senior German knight, Albrecht von Boeselager.
Festing, with the support of Cardinal
Burke, sacked and suspended von Boeselager for alleged involvement in
the distribution of condoms, and claimed that the disciplinary action
was in accordance with the wishes of the Holy See.
But letters revealed the Pope never called for such a move to be taken and sparked a Vatican investigation into the matter.
It was this defiance of Francis’ wishes -
and the knights public refusal to co-operate with the Holy See’s
inquiry - which led to Festing’s resignation and the sidelining of
Cardinal Burke, who has been a vocal critic of the Pope’s moves to give
communion to divorced and remarried.
The cardinal has publicly challenged
Francis about this matter and has even threatened to “formally correct”
the Pope if he doesn’t respond to a series of questions that Burke and
three other cardinals have submitted.
After Festing met with the Pope last week where he agreed to resign,
it was reported that Cardinal Burke sought to dissuade him, with
sources inside the knights saying he spent almost an hour trying to make
Festing change his mind.
The outgoing Grand Master held firm,
however, and his resignation has now been ratified.
Furthermore, all
actions taken by the order’s leadership after 6th December have been
declared null and void while von Boesealger has been reinstated to his
position as Grand Chancellor.
In his letter of 27 January the Pope also
reassures the knights of their sovereignty: the 11th century
crusader-era order have diplomatic relations with more than 100
countries including observer status of the United Nations.
Festing and his allies had claimed that
due to their sovereignty the Vatican investigation into the sacking of
von Boesealger was “judicially irrelevant” and said they would refuse to
co-operate.
Nevertheless the Holy See commission, led
papal diplomat Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, received hundreds of
submissions from members inside the order which were swiftly submitted
to Francis.
The Vatican always maintained that
because the knights are a Catholic order who owe ultimate obedience to
the Pope in matters regarding their religious life.