WHAT’S THE STORY?

AN ancient Catholic lay order is set to defy the Pope in a dispute sparked by a condom controversy.

The astonishing challenge to Pope Francis’s authority has come from the Knights of Malta, led by a British former Guards officer.

Condoms are at the heart of the quarrel which has laid bare growing tension between hardliners and liberals within the Catholic Church. The simmering row has erupted into an unprecedented modern rebellion against Rome.

In language that calls into question the Knights’ claim to be a chivalric order, Grand Master Matthew Festing has refused to co-operate with a papal investigation into the condom affair.

Cambridge-educated Festing said the inquiry into his sacking of a senior knight over the distribution of the condoms was “irrelevant”.

Festing fired his Grand Chancellor, a German aristocrat, accusing him of allowing the mass distribution of condoms in Myanmar by the Orders’ Malteser International Group.

Tens of thousands of condoms were distributed through family planning and anti-HIV programmes despite the Church forbidding the use of contraception.

Albrecht von Boeselager is now contesting his sacking and has denounced the Grand Master, saying his behaviour was “more reminiscent of an authoritarian regime than one of religious obedience”.

He insists that he knew nothing of the condom hand-out, which he suspended as soon as he learned of it.The National:

WHY THE OUTRAGE?

POPE Francis approved a Vatican investigation into the controversy at the end of last year and the Grand Master has not only refused to co-operate but has warned other members not to break rank if they agree to speak to the investigators.

The five-member investigation is headed by the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Festing says it has no authority, arguing that the Order is a sovereign entity and the Pope has no jurisdiction over it.

He said the Grand Chancellor’s sacking was “an internal act of the government of the Order”.

The battle is not just a fight over the Holy See’s jurisdiction but an indication of the resentment and increasing defiance emanating from Catholic conservatives who oppose Francis’s papacy because they believe he is too liberal, particularly regarding social doctrine.

“It is not just the fact that they are defying the pope’s authority, but they are doing so using language that is disrespectful and confrontational,” said Austen Ivereigh, author of a biography of the Pope “It is as bad as it looks.

“You are dealing here with a very profound culture clash within the Catholic church. Burke and the Knights of Malta represent in many ways everything that the church of the second Vatican council and Francis have been seeking to get away from,” he said.

WHO IS BEHIND IT ALL?

FESTING reportedly has the support of the traditionalist American Cardinal, Raymond Burke, who has not only publicly criticised the Pope but also allegedly considers Boeselager too liberal.

Boeselager said the Grand Master – while Burke was present – had given him the impression that the Pope wanted him to stand down but Cardinal Parolin has since said that Pope Francis wanted no such thing.

In theory the Grand Chancellor is supposed to obey the Grand Master but Boeselager argues that he is not required to obey an instruction that violates the constitution of the Order. He alleges that Festing has not abided by the legal rules in demanding his resignation. Boeselager’s supporters have called the events a coup and have protested that Festing has also taken a vow of obedience – to the Pope.

Cardinal Burke has made life difficult for the Pope since his election in March 2013, continually criticising his attempts at reform. As a result, Pope Francis has tried to lessen his influence at the Vatican by appointing him patron of the Knights of Malta. A ceremonial post in the main, the patron is in effect an ambassador between the Order and Rome.

WILL HE BE SILENCED?

THE Cardinal has refused to be sidelined, however, and has challenged Francis’s authority by accusing him of contradicting Catholic teaching over whether those who are divorced and remarry civilly should be able to take communion.

Along with three other cardinals, Burke accused the Pope of spreading “grave disorientation and great confusion” over the issue.

The Pope had called for priests to show “discernment” in their treatment of those believed to have broken the church’s rules.

“Burke is becoming a real thorn in the side of the pope,” said Vatican expert Robert Mickens. “I suspect he is driving this [Boeselager’s sacking] and it is part of his obsession with sexual morality, as if this is the decisive feature of what it means to be Catholic and faithful to Jesus Christ when in fact scriptures say very little on these matters.”

The Order is one of the oldest institutions of Christian civilisation, and has been a lay religious order of the Church since 1113 and has diplomatic relations with more than 100 states and the EU.The National: