Burke: 'Trump's pope' returns to the Vatican to take part in the Conclave

The death of Francis has fostered the return of Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the biggest critics of the Argentine pope, to the Vatican. In an unprecedented move, the American prelate, one of the main leaders of the most conservative sector of the church, was forced to leave his apartment in the Vatican City and his salary was withdrawn by the pope himself, who said Burke should not benefit from privileges while openly questioning the ecclesiastical leadership and fostering "disunity."

Born in Wisconsin in 1948, Burke will be one of the 133 purpurates who will choose Bergoglio's replacement in the near future. Despite his weight among conservatives, and like Robert Sarah, the chances of his name being the one to be announced in St. Peter's Square are practically zero, given the virulence of his resistance to the reforms initiated by Francis.

Ex-prefect of the highest court of the Catholic Church

After his departure from the Vatican, Burke was entrusted with the patronage of the Order of Malta, a position that was also withdrawn from him in recent times. Far from being daunted, the cardinal continued his public opposition to Francis on anything that involved a break with church tradition, especially concerning LGBT issues and gender ideology.

Before his fall from grace, Burke held positions of great responsibility in the Vatican. From the hand of Benedict XVI, the American, with legal training, became prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura in 2008, the highest court of justice of the Catholic Church, before being made a cardinal, also by Ratzinger in 2010.

Clashes with Francis from the start

His clashes with Francis began early. His firm stance on the defense of life led him to demand that politicians who supported abortion be denied communion. He even went so far as to call for this measure to be applied to Joe Biden himself and former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, provoking a fierce debate that forced the pope himself to endorse allowing the U.S. president to participate in the sacred service.

In addition, Burke publicly argued with the Argentine pope over his nods to the LGBT community and gender ideology, the possibility of ordaining women and allowing the divorced faithful to receive communion. Likewise, the veteran cardinal has signed two of the dubias sent by several cardinals to Francis asking him to clarify his position on key aspects such as synodality or the concept of family.

Criticism of rapprochement with China and accusations of "apostasy" to the Amazon Synod

Burke was one of the harshest critics of Francis' agreements with the Chinese Communist Regime, going so far as to describe it as "a repudiation of generations of martyrs and confessors of the Faith in China." He also condemned the content that came out of the Amazon Synod, claiming in a letter that there were six serious errors in the final document, which he went so far as to describe as "apostasy."

This is a very serious accusation, since, as he himself explained, it goes beyond heresy: "Heresy is the conscious and voluntary denial of a truth of faith. It points to a particular truth that someone denies, while apostasy is a complete desertion of the faith, a total turning away from Christ, and from the many truths of faith."

"Trump defends the values of the church"

During the 2016 campaign, Burke openly declared himself an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump because, in his mind, the now-president defends "the values of the church," especially "the defense of human life from conception."