On his chartered Alitalia flight from Cuba to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Pope Francis responded to criticism from U.S. conservatives that he is a liberal, even a Marxist. "I am certain that I have never said anything beyond what is in the social doctrine of the church," Francis told the reporters traveling with him. "Maybe I have given an impression of being a little bit to the left," but that is a mistaken interpretation. "If I have to recite the Creed, I'm ready," he joked.
Pope Francis illustrated this with a story told to him by a cardinal "who is a friend," who was asked by an older Catholic lady — "a good woman, but a bit rigid" — about whether the Antichrist was the same as an "anti-Pope."
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