VATICAN CITY (AP) — A conservative American cardinal has distanced himself from former White House adviser Steve Bannon and severed ties with a Bannon-linked institute that wants to train future populist leaders in Italy.

Cardinal Raymond Burke said in a statement on Tuesday that he was stepping down immediately as honorary president of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute because "it has become more identified with the political program of Mr. Bannon."

Bannon and the institute launched plans to establish an academy for future populists at a medieval monastery outside Rome. Italy's government has blocked the project over unpaid concession fees and a failure to do necessary maintenance.

The final straw for Burke appears to have been a report Tuesday that Bannon was interested in making a film about the Vatican's gay subculture.