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Pope Says He Prays US-led Schism Can Be Thwarted

Reuters

   ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE - Pope Francis said on Tuesday he prayed that
   dissent from American Catholic conservatives would not lead to a schism
   in the Church and that he was willing to listen to critics and make
   corrections if necessary.

   But in frank comments to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome
   from a trip to Africa, he said he was not afraid of a schism. Some of
   his critics had allowed political ideology to infiltrate religious
   doctrine, he said.

   It was the first time Francis has spoken so openly about the
   possibility of a schism in the 1.3 billion worldwide Roman Catholic
   Church, albeit in answer to a question.

   Francis also implied that some of his critics were hypocrites for
   accusing him of being "a communist pope" even though he was saying the
   same things about social issues that had been said by the late Pope
   John Paul, who many conservatives consider an icon.

   Francis has been the butt of criticism from a small but powerful number
   of American conservatives unhappy with his stands on various
   theological issues as well as social matters from immigration to
   climate change.

   An American reporter asked him about the attacks from conservative
   clerics, Catholic television stations and websites in the increasingly
   polarized U.S. Church. Some have demanded his resignation, saying he is
   sowing confusion about moral issues, such as homosexuality and divorce.

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