Pope Francis criticized the state of the Catholic Church in the United States, calling it “reactionary” in recent comments during a closed-door meeting with members of the Jesuit religious order in Portugal.
The pontiff singled out the U.S. Catholic Church for what he said was a “reactionary attitude” that had wedded itself to political ideology instead of the traditions of the Catholic Church. The remarks were made on Aug. 5 but were only published Monday in the Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit journal.