So far, Francis himself has declined to engage his foes directly, preferring to let his writings, periodic interviews and daily sermons speak for themselves.
Yet Francis is hardy without champions in what some are calling a “Catholic civil war,” with perhaps the most prominent and vocal among them a soft-spoken Italian priest, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro.
Indeed, Spadaro is so ubiquitous in his mission to defend the pontiff that critics like to call him “the pope's mouthpiece” – a label seemingly designed to undermine Francis by denoting Spadaro as a kind of papal puppet master, as well as making Spadaro a target in his own right.
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