Pope Francis has punished one of his highest-ranking critics, Cardinal Raymond Burke, by yanking his right to a subsidized Vatican apartment and salary in the second such radical action against a conservative American prelate this month, according to two people briefed on the measures.

Francis told a meeting of the heads of Vatican offices last week that he was moving against Burke, because he was a source of “disunity” in the church, said one of the participants at the Nov. 20 meeting. The participant spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal the contents of the encounter.

[This is a pattern rather than a coincidence. Strickland’s removal came after a public instance of insubordination, although one suspects that this was a convenient pretext for the Vatican. Burke committed no such act; he merely dissented from Francis’ agenda, especially on synodality. How can the Church exercise its holy mission if its bishops cannot freely speak their minds? — Ed]