Pope says US critics use ‘rigid’ ideology’ to mask failings

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis says he isn’t afraid of a U.S. Catholic Church schism led by his conservative critics, asserting opponents infiltrated the American church with a “rigid” ideology to mask their own moral failings.
Francis said during an airborne news conference on Tuesday that he prays a schism in the U.S. Catholic Church doesn’t happen.
At the same time, he doubled down on confronting Catholics in the U.S. and elsewhere who criticize the p