The Washington Post is no friend of the Catholic Church and from the article the author demonstrates that he/she has no idea of Catholic sexual morality by giving credence to the opinions of a handful of dissident priests and nuns.
Anonymous sources again, as I said pure speculation so far but of course you will believe what you want to believe.
Do you think that the Knights of Malta would be naive enough to believe that the Pope would threaten to take over their properties just on the say so of Cardinal Burke? They are a sovereign order not beholden to anyone. They do not need the patronage of the Catholic Church and since that article was written they have told the Vatican in no uncertain terms to mind its own business.