Pope officially demotes conservative American Cardinal Raymond Burke

VATICAN CITY, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- After speaking out against statements of Pope Francis that appear to be very lenient toward homosexuals in the church, Cardinal Raymond Burke has been removed from his position as leader of the Vatican's highest court.

The pope has worked on a draft of the synod of bishops that included welcoming homosexual people into the Catholic church, to some degree. That part did not make it to the final draft, but it did stir things up in the church.

Around this time, Cardinal Raymond Burke told Buzzfeed "the pope is not free to change the church's teachings with regard to the immorality of homosexual acts or the insolubility of marriage or any other truth of the faith."

Now, according to a press bulletin from the Vatican, the cardinal will be leaving his highly sought after position as a leader of the high court to take on a lower position, considered to be ceremonial, as chaplain of the Knights of Malta charity order.

Burke had claimed last month such an event would occur, but this is the first time the Vatican has officially announced it.