Senior cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church have defended Pope Francis following recent attacks from anonymous conservatives against the position of the pontiff on certain issues.
According to the report of RNS, nine cardinals from across the world issued a joint statement on Monday in response to these attacks. The statement expressed 'full support for the Pope's work' and 'full backing for him and his teachings'. The cardinals were from Italy, Chile, Austria, India, Germany, Congo, the United States, Australia and Honduras.
Their statement added that the show of support was coming 'in light of recent events'. Vatican sources said this was a direct reference to the attacks that recently been made against Pope Francis and his teachings.
Francis' numerous critics call against the pontiff's positions which they see as too liberal in terms of divorce, sexuality, climate change, refugees and most recently, his side-lining of a senior cleric in the issue involving the Knights of Malta.
This week Francis was targetted by a 'fake news' edition of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which was sent to Vatican priests, bishops, cardinals and journalists. The mock-up front page contained a fake reply by Pope Francis to his critics. Many conservatives felt his communication article Amoris Laetitia seemed to permit liberalising the Church's position of denying communion to divorcees.
On February 4, anonymous posters criticizing the pope appeared in Rome. They challenged the Pope for his involvement in what it called 'the decapitation of the Knights of Malta'. The posters featured a mocking title asking Francis 'Where's your mercy?', in reference to the theme that has largely dominated Francis' papal ministry.
