American Cardinal Raymond Burke suffered his second demotion in one year after Pope Francis removed him as head of Vatican's highest court. In 2013, the 66-year-old former archbishop of St. Louis and outspoken critic of the pontiff's reforms was removed as head of the Congregation for Bishops.

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Vatican announced on Saturday his appointment as chaplain of the charity group Knights of Malta, considered a ceremonial post. Burke was informed in October that he would be transferred, although he wasn't aware of the details.

Until his demotion, Burke was the highest-ranking American cardinal in the Holy See. Even Vatican observers anticipated his demotion because of his being outspoken about the leadership of Pope Francis under which he said the 2-billion strong Roman Catholic Church is like "a ship without a rudder."

Since the Argentinean cardinal from Buenos Aires known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to replace Pope Benedict XVI - a known conservative - in March 2013, Burke had several run-ins with the pope who viewed the outspoken nature of the American clergy as a culture war that he prefers to set aside.

While Burke had said in October that he would leave his post with a heavy heart, he would nevertheless follow the Christian virtue of obedience and follow what the pope says.

In the recent Church synod that tackled controversial topics such as divorce, communion and gays, Burke and other conservative bishops were behind a move that resulted in a weaker version of the synod's final document in relation to homosexuals serving in the church.

He also criticized German Cardinal Walter Kasper who pushed during the synod that the Church should modify its teachings regarding the current prohibition for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacrament of Communion.

Burke has the support of other American church officials such as Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput who described the Church under Pope Francis as confused.

However, the unorthodox pontiff has his supporters too, like Catholic University of America sociology professor Rev. Paul Sullins, whom USA Today quotes as saying, "The conservatives had it all their way for about 30 years, and now the shoe might be on the other foot ... Now they feel on the outside a little bit, which is exactly how the progressives used to feel."

Tagscardinal raymond burke, Pope Francis, roman catholic church, Vatican