Philadelphia's Archbishop Emeritus Charles Chaput sees Pope Francis' "underlying resentment" against Western arrogance as damaging to the papacy.
In an article for the US Catholic magazine "First Things " (April issue), Chaput writes that this resentment, which is even understandable based on his experience, is "one of the most characteristic and regrettable features of Francis' pontificate".
It creates "critics and enemies instead of reconciling them" and creating a credible "source of Catholic unity".
And, according to Chaput: "The advisors, apologists and ghostwriters surrounding this pontificate have contributed significantly to exacerbating the problem."
The 79-year-old Capuchin friar, who headed the important archdiocese of Philadelphia until 2020, attributes Francis' work to his commitment to fighting poverty.
"Very few Americans live in the kind of poverty that is common in other parts of the world," said Chaput. "It is therefore difficult for us to understand the suffering that comes with living in constant insecurity."
It would be too easy, writes the archbishop, "to dismiss Pope Francis' hostility to modern capitalism and the materialistic indulgence that flows from it as a form of soft-Marxist ignorance".
Francis' emphasis on the priority of mercy is indeed "a necessary reminder (...) for those of us in complacent 'developed' countries".
But, said Chaput: "The Pope's apparent distaste for the leadership of the US Church and Catholic life in the US may be based on a lack of knowledge and is deeply frustrating" - even if his critical stance towards the wealthy nations of the global North, and the US in particular, is not unjustified.
"Rehearsed ambiguity on certain doctrinal issues"
The US archbishop also emphasises Francis' priestly attitude. He has a keen sense of the burdens and complex life problems that people bring with them to confession. "Simply quoting the catechism offers little comfort in such cases. It also lacks humanity."
This insight helps to explain "the Pope's frequent complaints about backwardness, rigidity and fixity in Catholic thinking"; as well as "his aversion to 'lawyers' and his casual approach to questions of canon law" and "his rehearsed ambiguity on certain questions of doctrine and church discipline", Chaput said.
It also explains the Pope's "refusal to reside in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, his disdain for some of the normal formalities of his office and his habit of causing confusion with careless and even provocative public comments," Chaput writes.
And it also explains "his peculiar hostility towards the old Latin Mass and the alleged reactionaries who 'cling' to it".
However, none of this is conducive to the papacy's service to unity.