Is the pope’s crackdown on opponents the beginning of the endgame?

As punishments go, it was harsh. This week, Pope Francis decided to strip one of his most vociferous opponents, the retired cardinal Raymond Burke, of his privileges, including financial benefits and a coveted rent-free Vatican apartment.

“If this is accurate, it is an atrocity that must be opposed,” tweeted Joseph Strickland, a Burke ally, fellow conservative and another leading critic of the pope. Strickland knows what it is like to be on the sharp end of papal displeasure: last month, he was forcibly removed as bishop of Tyler, in Texas, after a Vatican investigation into the governance of his diocese.

The pope cancelled his attendance at the UN climate conference in Dubai this week because he is having breathing difficulties caused by acute bronchitis, requiring treatment with antibiotics.

It is the latest in a string of health concerns, including intestinal surgery and a hospital stay with bronchitis earlier this year. Francis, who will be 87 this month, has been pope for more than 10 years, and has hinted he will retire if his health fails.

He is probably keen to secure his legacy against the machinations of those who seek to undermine his reforms and his vision for the global Roman Catholic church.

Burke, an American, is at the forefront of those efforts. He has openly challenged Francis and his reforms, joining other conservatives in issuing “dubia”, or formal questions, seeking clarification on issues such as divorced and remarried Catholics and same-sex unions.

This autumn, Burke publicly accused Francis of pursuing a political agenda. Speaking before an important synod of bishops which will consider, among other issues, a greater role for women in the church and opening up church governance, Burke said: “It’s