VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– Pope Francis has announced a new cardinal patron of the Order of Malta, thus replacing Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has held the position since 2014, but having been replaced in all but name since 2017.
As announced in the Holy See’s daily press bulletin of June 19, Pope Francis has appointed fellow Jesuit Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda as the new patron of the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of Malta. The news was issued shortly after Francis met with recently elected Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap at the Vatican.
Ghirlanda – a long time professor and former rector at the Jesuit-run Gregorian University – was made a cardinal in the August 2022 consistory.
According to Francis’ recent constitutions, the cardinal patron “as a sign of the Holy Father’s solicitude toward the Order, has the task of promoting the spiritual good of the Order and its members as well as the relations between the Holy See and the Order.”
The appointment of Ghirlanda as patron to the Order – while generally seen as a largely ceremonial role – is notable due to its finalization of Burke’s removal from his role with the Order.
Burke was appointed as patron in November 2014 when Francis removed him from his position as prefect of the Apostolic Signature, in a move widely seen as a punishment for Burke’s criticism of elements of Francis’ pontificate. Francis denied such claims, stating the move to the Order was because “we needed a smart American who would know how to get around and I thought of him for that position.”
But Burke’s tenure even at the Order of Malta was curtailed, since he was effectively replaced in all but name in early 2017, due to the contraceptive scandal which engulfed the Order.
In December 2016, then-Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing dismissed Grand Chancellor Baron Albrecht von Boeselager for his involvement in a program that distributed condoms. However, Francis and Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin then intervened, with Francis directly ordering Fra’ Matthew to resign in January 2017 after von Boeselager complained to Parolin.
The National Catholic Register’s Vatican correspondent Edward Pentin reported that Francis asked Fra’ Matthew to write up a letter of resignation on the spot in which Festing included – by request – that the Grand Master had asked for Boeselager’s dismissal as “pushed for” by Burke, the patronus of the Order.
Liberal bishops around the world continue promoting heterodox views on homosexuality, female priests, divorce, contraception, and more — advancing anti-Catholic positions that jeopardize the salvation of souls.
Such bishops often sideline, ignore and even persecute traditional Catholics who simply ask that the Faith be preserved and passed on to their children.
But traditional Catholics cannot be silenced any longer, which is why we are uniting in this international boycott of modernist bishops and dioceses until the deposit of Faith is upheld by the hierarchy again.
SIGN: We will not fund modernist bishops or priests who undermine the Catholic Faith, but rather direct our contributions towards faithful clergy and orders that work for the salvation of souls.
There are countless examples of bishops working against Christ’s Church in calling for divine law to be ignored in favor of sexual, doctrinal and liturgical deviancy, even trying to clamp down on Catholics who practise the Faith.
Just last year, Cardinal Cupich banned traditional prayers after Mass, and more recently has curtailed the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese.
Cardinal Cupich has banned the Hail Mary and St Michael Prayer after Mass
Who but a devil would ban these prayers after Mass
— Nick Donnelly (@ProtecttheFaith) August 27, 2021
The attack on the Faith is out in the open, with modernist bishops causing scandal in countless ways:
We have seen enough. Now is the time to show true Catholic unity against those who undermine the Faith – do not be bullied into submission by these men who would disfigure Christ’s Church.
JOIN THE BOYCOTT & SHARE! Tell everyone you know to STOP giving money to bishops who attack the Catholic Faith.
“We therefore commit to a financial boycott of modernist bishops until the hierarchy resolves to uphold the entire deposit of Faith.”
If the bishops refuse to uphold and protect the teaching of Christ’s Bride, the Catholic Church, then we must refuse to support them until they repent.
Thank you
P.S. — Demanding that liberal bishops be held to account through financial boycott will help save the Church from doctrinal and pastoral ruin. This is the first step in restoring the Faith for future generations. Our time is now, so please join us by signing today!
Photos: Pope Francis. Flickr. Long Thiên; Cardinal Cupich. Flickr. Goat_Girl; Collection Plate: Lisa F. Young/Shutterstock
READ: Cardinal Burke criticizes acting Knights of Malta head for ‘calumny’ against him
Such an action by Burke would have been an overstepping of his authority – had it taken place – and subsequently Burke was falsely implicated in an apparent underhanded system of actions by the Vatican and individuals within the Order itself. The American cardinal has also directly denied asking von Boeselager to resign, stating:
I simply stated that the person who knowingly permitted the distribution of contraceptives in the Order’s works should take responsibility, and then the Grand Master once again asked the Grand Chancellor to resign, which he refused to do. Then the Grand Master proceeded to his dismissal without my involvement at all. The account of the Grand Master and myself stands.
Von Boeselager was soon reinstated as Grand Chancellor despite strong opposition from within the Order, and declared that Burke was “suspended” as patron of the Order.
Francis then appointed the now disgraced Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu as the Holy See’s special delegate to the Order, assuming Burke’s responsibilities.
READ: Cardinal Burke is ‘de facto’ suspended, claims Knights of Malta condom promoter
“For the moment, I am completely removed from any involvement with the Order of Malta,” Burke said in 2017. “While I retain the title of the cardinal patron, the pope has made clear that the only person who can treat questions of the Order of Malta in the name of the Holy Father is Archbishop Becciu. So I don’t know.”
Cardinal Silvano Tomasi replaced Becciu as papal delegate to the Order in 2020, with Burke still technically listed as the patron, but nevertheless removed from his duties and responsibilities.
In September last year, Francis dissolved the existing leadership and constitution of the Order, and promulgated not only a new Constitution and Code of the Order but also a new Sovereign Council. Ghirlanda was involved as an “expert” in drawing up the new constitution for the Order.
READ: Knights of Malta elect new Grand Master formerly picked by Pope Francis as interim leader
The years-long power struggle centered on the Order came to somewhat of a conclusion earlier this year, with Fra’ John Dunlap elected as the new Prince and Grand Master of the Order. Speaking to LifeSiteNews about the election and its import, former Knight Henry Sire expressed the hope that Fra’ John, whom he knows well, would restore the Order in its “primarily religious nature.”
“Fra’ John is well qualified to take the Order of Malta on the path of restoring its primarily religious nature, the cause that was dear to the heart of the late Grand Master Matthew Festing,” said Sire, revealing a more hopeful future for the Order which has been so embattled.