The much loved Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis, has been removed as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura and will now serve in a largely ceremonial role.

Catholic Culture is reporting that the Holy See made the announcement about Cardinal Burke's new appointment on Saturday, November 8. He has been named patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, succeeding Cardinal Paoli Sardi who is 80 years old.

Cardinal Burke's replacement at the Apostolic Signatura will be Archbishop Dominique Mamberti who formerly served as the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States. The Moroccan born Mamberti was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Ajaccio, France in 1981 and earned civil and canon law degrees before serving as apostolic nuncio to Sudan (2002-2006), Somalia (2002-2004) and Eritrea (2004-2006). He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the Vatican's "foreign minister", serving as Secretary of Relations with States.

Cardinal Burke served at the Apostolic Signatura since 2008, a term limit that is similar to his predecessors, none of which served more than six years on the post with the exception of Cardinal Dino Staffa, who served as prefect from 1967 to 1977.

However, the appointment of such a young prelate to a largely ceremonial role has been interpreted by some as a demotion and "punishment" for his outspoken support of Church teaching.

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