I think the cardinals of the Church regret electing a Jesuit to the papacy whenever they hear Pope Francis criticising the Church with his strong language and shocking metaphors.

The Pope’s latest harangue was, in fact, directed against them. He told the cardinals that careerism, scheming and greed had infected them with “spiritual Alzheimer’s”.

On a previous occasion, Francis said that men studying for the Roman Catholic priesthood should be properly trained or the Church could risk “creating little monsters” more concerned with their careers than serving people. Strong words indeed, coming from the Pontiff himself.

Catholics were not flattered when their newly-elected Pontiff observed that “inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do... is undermining the Church’s credibility”.

They were shocked when Pope Francis told them that they do not have “to breed like rabbits”.

In an interview with Civiltá Cattolica, the Pope said that the Church had locked itself up in “small things, in small-minded rules” and that the Church should not be “obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently... Otherwise, even the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards”.

This constant and unprecedented criticism of the Church by none other than the Pope himself must make the Catholic clergy and faithful fret and fume as they watch their Church imploding on itself in public view.