Cardinal Raymond Burke has been a major thorn in the Pontiff’s side while he seeks to modernize the Catholic Church.
Tony Gentile / Reuters
Pope Francis demoted a conservative U.S. cardinal Saturday who has stymied the Pontiff's efforts to reform and modernize the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, 66, was sidelined as the head of the Vatican's highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, and demoted to the ceremonial post of chaplain of the charity group Knights of Malta, Reuters reported.
Prior to his demotion, Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis, had been the highest-ranking American in the Vatican.
When bishops from around the world met at the Vatican last month, Burke had been responsible for leading a conservative bloc to oppose the Pope's plans for the Church to adopt a more welcoming embrace of gays and lesbians.
Cardinal Burke, center, pictured at the Vatican on Oct. 13.
Franco Origlia / Getty Images
At the meeting, or synod, Burke spearheaded a successful campaign to water down language from an interim document that contained the Church's most positive language ever on gay people.
The earlier draft's passage stating that gay people had "gifts and qualities to offer" was removed, with the final document stating only that LGBT discrimination "is to be avoided."
Burke has been public in his criticism of the Pope, using an interview last month to compare the Catholic Church under Francis to "a ship without a rudder."
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