Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, sometime archbishop of St. Louis, once bestrode the Vatican like a bedecked colossus. Trailing his cappa magna behind him, he presided over the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Holy See’s highest court, and, as a member of the Congregation for Bishops, had a major hand in deciding who would rise to the top of the American church and who would not.
But that was then, under Pope Benedict XVI. Under Pope Francis, Burke was first kicked off the bishops congregation and has now been removed from the Signatura. His new position is Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, with the task of promoting the Maltese knights’ spiritual interests.
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