76-year-old Cardinal Raymond Burke is a very conservative clergyman who has frequently disagreed with Pope Francis on the majority of the major issues that the Catholic church faces.
Burke, a Wisconsin native, has maintained a firm stance against the church’s policies regarding divorce, LGBTQ individuals, and women’s roles within the church.
Burke supports Trump as well. Burke gave his support for the Republican in 2016, claiming he was “defending the values of the church,” while Pope Francis was denouncing the president’s plans to erect a wall along the southern border with Mexico.
Additionally, it appears that Trump, who is in his second term as president, is eager to have Burke appointed as the new pope.
Francis, the 88-year-old pope at the moment, is quite sick, battling pneumonia and experiencing several respiratory crises.
Burke will probably be among the candidates if the worst were to occur and the process of choosing a new Pope is initiated. After Pope Francis, he is currently the sixth favorite to succeed him at the Vatican, according to the bookies.
Francis and Burke’s separation
Benedict XVI, the hardline Pope at the time, summoned Burke, the Archbishop of St. Louis, to Rome.
Two years later, the American was made a Cardinal and appointed prefect of the Apostolic Signatura’s Supreme Tribunal, the highest court in the church.
Burke was removed from the Congregation of Bishops, which assists the Pope in choosing new bishops, when Francis was proclaimed Pope in 2013.
“One gets the impression, or it’s interpreted this way in the media, that he thinks we’re talking too much about abortion, too much about the integrity of marriage as between one man and one woman,” Burke said as he began to criticize Francis. However, we can never discuss that enough.
Burke persisted in speaking out against the Vatican’s shift toward a more lenient stance on homosexuality.
Burke was dismissed from the Supreme Tribunal by Pope Francis, who claimed that it had been prearranged and that he was not punishing the American.
The two remained at odds until 2023, when a group of Vatican department chiefs decided to take away his €5,000 monthly pay and rent-free flat in Rome. However, this decision was presented as a redistribution of privileges rather than a punishment.
Although he said it was obvious that “the pope doesn’t want me in any leadership position,” Burke claimed at the time that he had “never had the impression that he thinks I’m his enemy.”
Cardinal Burke has remained in Rome since losing his apartment.
The process for choosing the next Pope
If Pope Francis’ illness turns out to be deadly, Burke is one of numerous candidates to succeed him.
The 138 cardinals under the age of 80 will convene in a conclave to choose Pope Francis’ successor in the event of his death.
To select the new pope, they are confined within for two to three weeks. Voting continues until a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote, at which moment the chapel’s chimney releases white smoke.
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In addition to Burke, the other front-runners are:
Pietro Parolin (70, Italy) has been the Vatican’s secretary of state since 2013. He is a centrist who strikes a balance between Burke’s conservatism and Francis’ radicalism.
Peter Erdö, 72, from Hungary He is a fervent conservative who is against same-sex unions and the reception of refugees. Burke is anticipated to split the traditionalist vote.
The youngest frontrunner and a liberal is Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, of the Philippines. would be the first pope of Asian descent and shares Francis’ progressive social ideals.
Italy’s Matteo Zuppi, 69, is thought to be the most similar candidate to Francis. He is regarded as one of the pope’s favorites and is active in diplomatic missions, supporting LGBTQ Catholics.
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