@English Catholic I beg to slightly differ with you, my friend. What you state may be so in some cases, but not in this one. They
BOTH —
the Holy Father and His Eminence, Cardinal Burke — have themselves and by their own will and volition, made their interaction and confrontational relationship very public, conducting their affairs with regard to each other quite undisguisedly before the whole world, speaking of each other very candidly and openly in great and copious detail regarding all manner of subjects and concerning a great many issues since the commencement of this pontificate; including the whole Knights of Malta debacle and right up to the latest round of Dubia. It was Cardinal Burke who openly, before the whole Church and to the entire world, first broached the subject of a “fraternal correction” of the Pope and openly discussed and published correspondence with which he and other Cardinals had initiated a doctrinal inquiry of the Holy See; and it was Pope Francis himself who, just recently, viciously castigated the Cardinal in a very public forum, threatening (in front of a room full of the highest ranking officials in the Vatican) to snatch away his very livelihood and the roof over his head and allegedly calling him an “enemy.” So
NO, this situation between the two of them has never, ever been defined within the context of the type of “discretion and rightful privacy” of which you speak, and that is usually accorded persons dealing with the Holy See or who are engaged in personal interaction with the Holy Father himself. They have
BOTH broken all codes of confidentiality and mangled all standards of erstwhile privacy, thereby making this scenario we see unfolding between them very, very public. And it is because of this fact that many, including myself, are greatly concerned about Cardinal Burke and his well-being, and are unsettled by his very troubling and untoward silence in this moment, as we have every right and justification to be.
