A Vatican Shot Across the Bow for Hard-Line U.S. Catholicsbr that Papal Advisers Bash Ameribr In an interview, Father Spadaro — whose critics have called him "the pope’s mouthpiece" — said the reaction to the essay had been "incredible." he said he had received kind wordsbr but also "plenty of hate." Some critics, he said, had tried to distort the argument into an attack on cooperation between Catholics and Protestants, something he said he himself had promoted.br Fans of the article said it made clear that the conservatives who ran the American churchbr for decades were out of step with the new Catholic mainstream under Francis.br That criticism, he said, often came from opponents of Francis "who are trying to downplay the role of this pontificate." Father Spadarobr would not say whether he had received Francis’ approval, or whether he had spoken with the pope since the essay’s publication.br The article and the backlash to it — accusations of anti-Americanism have been rife,br and one prominent American prelate likened the authors to "useful idiots" — have highlighted the widening distance between Francis and American Catholic conservatives.br Francis chose him to lead the Chicago diocese in 2014, after the retirement of Cardinal Francisbr George, a giant of American Catholic conservatism, and elevated him to cardinal last year.