In a recent post, we noted that a cabal of right-wing Catholic cardinals was actively trying to undermine Pope Francis' shift to more progressive positions and away from the wingnuts' favorite hobby horses, like denying women's reproductive rights, opposing LGBTQ rights, and protection of the powerful and wealthy. Chief among the clerical culprits was Cardinal Raymond Burke, who had been demoted from several important posts after his right-wing agitation against the Pope became too obnoxious to ignore. His meeting with neo-fascist political figures in Europe (and his tacit approval of posting signs around Rome that were critical of the Pope) was the final straw in removing Burke from his position overseeing the Knights of Malta.
Fast forward to today. Pope Francis has shipped Burke to Guam (we had suggested Tehran) to preside over a case involving child molestation allegations against the island's archbishop. That should be interesting, considering Burke's soiled history:
"Despite being well versed in Canon law, Burke’s reputation on clerical sex abuse cases is dismal. He stands accused of not reporting predator priests while he worked in the United States, and he once blamed gay priests as the authors of the assaults, accusing the perpetrators of being 'feminized and confused about their own sexual identity.'”Pause for a moment to enjoy a bit of schadenfreude.
Perhaps if Burke publicly sweeps the allegations under his cassock rather than having an honest trial, the Pope would honor our wish and permanently assign Burke to Tehran. After all, he shares many of the same cultural, if not religious, views of the mullahs.
