After a short time, many of the posters were covered with signs reading "abusive posting." The majority of the posters had been taken down by Sunday morning, and as of Monday nary a one was to be seen.
The brief phrase included on the posters was written in "Romanaccio," or the Roman dialect, and indicates the culprit is someone who comes from more conservative sectors of the Church, many of whom have been in sharp disagreement with the Pope regarding his decisions and ongoing reform of the Curia.
By saying the Pope had "decapitated the Order of Malta," the author was making a clear reference to the Pope's recent request for the Order's former Grand Master, Matthew Festing, to resign while ousted Grand Chancellor Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager be reinstated.
The reference to taking over congregations and removing priests is likely a reference to recent allegations that Francis had fired three priests from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith with no notice or reason.
On ignoring cardinals, the point was a clear reference to a letter written to Pope Francis in September, asking for clarification on five points – called "dubia" – in Amoris Laetitia. The letter was subsequently published in November, after the Pope did not respond.
The signatories of the letter were American Cardinal Raymond Burke, Patron of the Order of Malta, as well as German Cardinals Walter Brandmüller and Joachim Meisner and Italian Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, all of whom are widely considered to sit on the right of the Church.