Pope Francis reportedly removed some Vatican privileges of critic Cardinal Raymond Burke—including stripping him of his Vatican apartment and salary. The moves are the latest in an escalating rift between the Pope and conservative doctrinal critics.
Daniel Gallagher is a visiting scholar at Cornell University who spent eight years at the Vatican translating the pope’s messages into Latin. He says that the increasingly strident and public fights between Francis and Cardinal Burke align with a growing trend of profound divisions emerging within the Holy See and broader Church.
Gallagher says:
“Reports that Pope Francis has revoked Cardinal Raymond Burke’s Vatican stipend and apartment, whether true or not, would be consistent with deep rifts opening up within the Holy See and the Church at large.
“There has been a long trend in the Roman Curia of personnel not communicating frankly and directly with one another. On the one hand, Pope Francis understandably wants the Cardinals and the hierarchy to support his mission. On the other hand, some curial leaders and bishops have serious concerns about Francis’s agenda.
“The real issue is how those leaders deal with those concerns, and how the pope deals with Cardinals and bishops who are vocal about their concerns. There is no easy solution to these problems, but my personal experience working within the Roman Curia has convinced me that there is an institutional dysfunction that needs to be addressed.”
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