Pope Francis has demoted one of his loudest critics.  American Cardinal Raymond Burke will leave his post at the top of the Vatican’s highest court of canon law, to the much-less prestigious, ceremonial post of patron of the sovereign military order of Malta. 

“In the church as priests, we always have to be ready to accept whatever assignment we’re given,” Cardinal Burke said.  “And so I trust, by accepting this assignment, I trust that God will bless me, and that’s what’s in the end most important.”

All this follows the row in the Pope’s “Extraordinary Synod on the Family”.  The Vatican put forth a preliminary draft that suggested a radical change to the church’s approach to questions like divorce and homosexuality.  Not that these things were approved of, Catholic teaching isn’t going to change.  But rather, the Church would instruct clergy to be more inclusive to gays and lesbians, and people whose marriages ended in divorce.

It was the English-speaking bishops who were the most offended, and later in the week, the English-language version of the document had been altered to dial back the inclusiveness – but the original Italian document had not been altered.

“According to my understanding of the church’s teaching and discipline, no, it wouldn’t be correct,” Cardinal Burke said of the draft document earlier this week.  He claimed that Pope Francis had “done a lot of harm” by not saying “openly what his position is.”  Burke then veered off into conspiracy theories, accusing the Vatican of designing the Synod to “weaken the church’s teaching and practice” with the apparent blessing of Pope Francis.

Burke seems to have been a speed bump on Pope Francis’ road to make the Catholic Church more inclusive and less judgmental.  When the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio moved to the Vatican in March 2013, the first Jesuit Pope started moving the church away from the so-called “culture wars”, and back towards serving the needs of the poor.

But Burke was heavily invested in divisive social issues, having marched against reproductive rights; declaring that Communion is not to be given to those politicians who support women’s right to choose; and fretting about a unspecified threat posed by “the homosexual agenda” (whatever that is).  Sounds like he answers more to Rupert Murdoch’s political and cultural agenda than to God, anyway.