Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives for his general audience at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, October 8. With his penchant for crowd-pleasing and spontaneous acts of compassion, the Pope has earned high praise from fellow Catholics and others since he replaced Pope Benedict XVI in March 2013. 
Pope Francis speaks during the feast-day Mass on a one-day trip to the Calabrian region of Italy on Saturday, June 21. The Pope spoke out against the Mafia's "adoration of evil and contempt for the common good," and declared that "mafiosi are excommunicated, not in communion with God.' 
The Pope meets faithfuls as he visits the San Gregorio Parish in Rome on Sunday, April 6. 
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome on April 3. 
Francis speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited the Vatican on March 27. 
The Pope blesses the altar at Rome's Santa Sabina church as he celebrates Mass on March 5, Ash Wednesday. 
Daniele De Sanctis, a 19-month-old child dressed up as a pope, is handed to Francis as the pontiff is driven through the crowd February 26 at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. 
Wind blows the papal skullcap off Pope Francis' head February 19 in St. Peter's Square. 
A lamb is placed around Francis' neck as he visits a living nativity scene staged at the St. Alfonso Maria de' Liguori parish church, on the outskirts of Rome, on January 6. 
The Pope holds a baby Jesus during a Christmas Eve Mass held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican in 2013. 
Pope Francis, right, meets with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican on December 23. Benedict surprised the world by resigning "because of advanced age." It was the first time a pope has stepped down in nearly 600 years. 
Pope Francis marked his 77th birthday on December 17 by hosting homeless men to a Mass and a meal at the Vatican. One of the men brought his dog. 
Pope Francis embraced Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man who suffers from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience November 6 at the Vatican. Riva then buried his head in the Pope's chest. 
Pope Francis jokes November 6 with members of the Rainbow Association, which uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages. 
A young boy hugs Francis as he delivers a speech October 26 in St. Peter's Square. The boy, part of a group of children sitting around the stage, played around the Pope as the Pope continued his speech and occasionally patted the boy's head. 
Francis has eschewed fancy cars. Here, Father Don Renzo Zocca, second from right, offers his white Renault 4L to the Pope during a meeting September 7 at the Vatican. 
Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter's Basilica with youths who came to Rome for a pilgrimage in August. 
During an impromptu news conference on July 29, aboard a plane from Brazil to Rome, the Pope said about gay priests, "Who am I to judge?" Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church. 
Crowds swarm the Pope as he makes his way through World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro on July 27. According to the Vatican, 1 million people turned out to see the Pope. 
Francis frees a dove May 15 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. 
Francis embraces a young boy with cerebral palsy on March 31, 2013, a gesture that many took as a heartwarming token of his self-stated desire to "be close to the people." 
The Pope washes the feet of juvenile offenders, including Muslim women, as part of Holy Thursday rituals on March 28, 2013. The act commemorates Jesus' washing of the Apostles' feet during the Last Supper. 
Francis stands at the reception desk of the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI residence, where he paid the bill for his stay during the conclave that would elect him leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. 
Francis, formerly known as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected the Roman Catholic Church's 266th Pope on March 13, 2013. The first pontiff from Latin America was also the first to take the name Francis.
- The Vatican announced a new assignment for American cardinal Raymond Burke
- Burke had a post on the Vatican's supreme court
- Now he is in a position with little responsibility
- Burke has been outspoken about the direction the church is heading
(CNN) -- Pope Francis has reassigned a conservative American cardinal from a key post to one that is mostly symbolic.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading conservative, has been vocal in his criticism of the direction the Pope is leading the Catholic Church in.
Burke was one of the highest ranking Americans in the church hierarchy in his position on the Vatican's supreme court. But he was reassigned to the position of Patron of the Order of Malta, the Vatican announced on Saturday. The National Catholic Reporter points out that Burke's new post is a job that "has almost no responsibilities."
The Vatican did not give a reason for the demotion.
Hard to change the Catholic Church, even if you're the Pope
The change, however, was not unexpected. Last month, Burke himself said he had been ousted from the Vatican's high court.
Burke has been outspoken about his opposition to Pope Francis' move toward more openness and inclusiveness of gays and lesbians.
"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 doctrine of the faith," Burke told Buzzfeed recently.
When a recent draft report included a call for the church to be more welcoming to gays, Burke said the report "lacks a solid foundation in the sacred Scriptures."
Subsequently, some of the language on the "gifts and qualities" that gay people can bring to the church was removed from the report.
The Pope has appointed moderates in several big dioceses, including in Chicago earlier this fall, and he's removed some archconservatives from their posts.
CNN's Daneil Burke contributed to this report.
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