I take it this is Tedious Day?

I actually archive the exchanges, so I see that I never wrote "Festing hasn't taken vows of obedience to the Pope."  I wrote that there were those in vows and those that were not, that those who were not vastly outnumbered those who were, that all those that were were under the direction of the Holy Father himself.

I also suggested that while the Knights of Malta were not under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy Father,  Fra Matthew Festing could find himself in a very difficult situation chosing between his vow to support the Church and his vow to the Knights.

I love that use of the Brit affectation "cheekily" to buttress your "Are you trying to convince yourself?" pose.