Pope Francis again demotes conservative cardinal who criticized him

The story is from USA Today:

In a move that reflects the loosening posture of the Vatican on major social issues, conservative U.S. cardinal Raymond Burke was removed by Pope Francis from yet another top post.

Burke, who has long been vocal about denying communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion, was dismissed as head of the Holy See’s highest court and given the post of Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a largely ceremonial job overseeing charity to the elderly.

At 66, Burke is considered young by church hierarchy standards. The dismissal is a set-back to his Vatican career as well as a clear message from Pope Francis to those not hewing to his progressive view of the Catholic Church.

The move was expected by Vatican watchers given that Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis, had openly criticized Francis’ less doctrinaire approach to the faith. Last year, Francis had removed Burke from the Congregation for Bishops, a group tasked with the appointment of new bishops worldwide.

In an interview with a Spanish Catholic weekly published last week, Burke said of the pope’s leadership: “Many have expressed their concerns to me. … There is a strong sense that the church is like a ship without a rudder.”

[…]Philadelphia archbishop Charles Chaput recently characterized Francis’ reign as one of “confusion,” adding that “confusion is of the devil.”

This isn’t the first time Burke has been demoted by this Pope, either. It happened before in December 2013:

Pope Francis moved on Monday against a conservative American cardinal who has been an outspoken critic of abortion and same-sex marriage, by replacing him on a powerful Vatican committee with another American who is less identified with the culture wars within the Roman Catholic Church.

The pope’s decision to remove Cardinal Raymond L. Burke from the Congregation for Bishops was taken by church experts to be a signal that Francis is willing to disrupt the Vatican establishment in order to be more inclusive.

[…]To replace Cardinal Burke, Francis chose Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, an ideological moderate with a deep knowledge of the Vatican but also with pastoral experience. Father Reese noted that Cardinal Burke had been a leader of American bishops arguing that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be barred from receiving communion, while Cardinal Wuerl had taken an opposite tack.

I’m not Catholic, but Burke and Chaput are the two most conservative Catholic leaders in my opinion. As an outsider to the church, I prefer that Catholics try to be as conservative as possible, and not be influenced by the secular culture. I don’t expect them to be Bible-based like evangelical Protestants are, but I expect them to be resistant to the secular culture on things like abortion, gay marriage and the free enterprise system. This is disappointing to me, to go from Benedict to this. Benedict was a Pope I respected, but this Pope… I don’t like who he tries to make friends with.