Pope Francis’s relationship with the conservative wing of the American Catholic church was already on shaky ground when reports surfaced this week of his plan to evict one of his most prominent critics from a Vatican-subsidized apartment in Rome. Cardinal Raymond Burke, who led dioceses in St. Louis and Wisconsin before moving to Rome, is a lion of the faith among conservative Catholics who see him a defender of tradition and orthodoxy in a dangerously unmoored church. The move comes just weeks after Francis fired another outspoken critic, Bishop Joseph Strickland, who was removed from his post in Tyler, Texas, following a Vatican investigation into his leadership. Both decisions prompted a public outcry from conservative church leaders, making it clear that restoring unity in the divided American Church will take more than swatting down a few high-profile clerics. The pope’s increasingly open pushback against theological and liturgical conservatives in the church has nurtured a deep wariness of his leadership among conservatives in the church, who exist at all levels of Catholic life in America.

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Persons: Pope, Cardinal Raymond Burke, Francis, Bishop Joseph Strickland Organizations: American Catholic Locations: Rome, St, Louis and Wisconsin, Tyler , Texas, America