Posted on 12/03/2014 7:43:06 PM PST by NYer
I wish someone would exile me the way Pope Francis exiled Cardinal Burke.
When I think of exile or banishment, I think of tiny islands.
Where friends are few and far between.
The Associated Press described Cardinal Burke’s new position as “largely ceremonial” and said the Knights of Malta are a “charity” who provide “residences for the elderly.”
Oh, really?
Because last time I checked, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (their full name) was the world’s oldest surviving order of chivalry boasting over 13,000 members (knights and dames), 80,000 permanent volunteers and 20,000 personnel.
The Knights of Malta became a military order in 1099 during the First Crusade that conquered Jerusalem.
They kept themselves busy for the next Four Hundred Years by conquering islands, protecting Christian pilgrims and fighting Muslims.
Then in 1517 they helped turn back the Ottomon Empire in the Battle of Lepanto. It was kind of a big deal.
The modern day Knights of Malta are present in over 120 countries. They have bilateral and official diplomatic relations with over half of the world.
The Order now also includes Dames of Malta, seen here preparing for battle in line outside the Vatican.
Cardinal Burke has said he will be traveling to meet with Knights and Dames of Malta all over the world, maybe in one of their planes.
That’s right, planes.
When he gets to his destination, maybe he will use one of these Sovereign Military Order of Malta passports.
You know who else has to carry multiple passports?
Secret agents.
Undercover operatives.
International men of the liturgical counter-revolution!
As Cardinal Burke explains, the Knights of Malta have two primary missions (that we know about): the defense of the faith (defensio fidei) and the care for the poor (obsequium pauperum).
Pretty awesome, right? And we’re just getting started.
Every year the Knights of Malta bring thousands of malades (the sick and infirm) on pilgrimage to Lourdes, France for a week. They gather in the Basilica of St. Pius XII, which looks like this from above on Google Maps.
But underground it holds 25,000 knights, dames, pilgrims and malades.
Cardinal Burke will be serving as Patron of the Order, an office where he serves as the representative of the pope to the prince of the sovereign military order, Fra. Matthew Festing, the 79th head of the order.
Here is Cardinal Burke leading a procession in Lourdes.
Oh wait, that’s a bad angle.
There. That’s better. The unofficial motto of the Knights of Malta is “Go big or go home”.
Cardinal Burke says he is optimistic for the future and is looking forward to his new assignment.
I would be too if the pope had just given me an army!
Awesome, ping!
What a lifting and encouraging post! Thanks.
That one picture looks like they are totally into football.....the American, or only real kind of football!
I love Malta! And while Cdl. Burke will probably only hang out at their headquarters in Rome, when you go to Malta, you get an entirely different view of the Faith vis a vis Islam, because these forces on this tiny, ancient island were massively important in protecting Europe. Every European power had a “house” there, meaning a residence with a splendid church, from which the Knights protected Europe.
The Spanish (who are not thrilled with Pope Francis) were particularly involved in this, but actually all of the Catholic countries converged here. And I think maybe now our time has come, because there are many American Knights and also many Americans working for their activities. If Cdl Burke is there, that can only be good for all of us. I think the Pope threw Cdl Burke into the briar patch.
Try real hard to believe the spin.
If the Spanish don’t like the Pope, I think that says a lot about the Pope. There are some very devout Catholics from Spain.
Good people do good everywhere; there’s no exiling them.
God bless Cardinal Burke.
Pope Francis is big on the Church’s humanitarian efforts, large and small. The Order is a big part of those efforts. I think Cardinal Burke knows that and that the boss ain’t sending him there as punishment. It’s all good.
Exactly.
Yep.
This is a really great article. Continued prayers for Cardinal Burke.
SOO he is Tom Hagen with army RIGHT or Luca Brazzi LOL!
Thanks for posting. Very uplifting. The Lord will use Cardinal Burke, makes no nevermind where he is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.