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Kiera Butler

Kiera Butler is a senior editor/reporter at Mother Jones. For more of her stories, click here.

By this Author

Pope Francis speaks about the role of the Holy Spirit in the church and in the world during his general audience in St. Peter's Square, Oct. 9, 2024, at the Vatican. (CNS/Vatican Media)

The pope is critically ill. Catholic trad trolls are out in force.

For some U.S. members of the ascendant Catholic traditionalist movement, Pope Francis' decline presented an opportunity to criticize him and demand that the Vatican reverse course on what they see as a dangerous tack to the left.

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