Pope replaces Cardinal Burke with Italian Jesuit as patron of Order of Malta

Pope Francis has appointed an Italian Jesuit cardinal to succeed US Cardinal Raymond Burke as the patron of the Order of Malta.

The Vatican announced yesterday that Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda will take on the role as the “Cardinalis Patronus,” the papal representative to the sovereign order responsible for promoting the spiritual interests of the order and its 13,500 members.

The 80-year-old has already played an active role in the Order of Malta’s reform. He was part of the team that drafted the order’s new constitution and spoke with the Pope at length about the process, along with Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, the most recent special delegate to the order.