Pope Francis criticized the state of the Catholic Church in the United States, calling it "reactionary" in recent comments during a closed-door meeting with members of the Jesuit religious order in Portugal.

The pontiff singled out the U.S. Catholic Church for what he said was a "reactionary attitude" that had wedded itself to political ideology instead of the traditions of the Catholic Church. The remarks were made on Aug. 5 but were only published Monday in the Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit journal.

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"You have seen that in the United States the situation is not easy: There is a very strong reactionary attitude," the pope reportedly said. "It is organized and shapes the way people belong, even emotionally."

The pope described a "climate of closure" in the United States, and that in such an environment "one can lose the true tradition and turn to ideologies for support" and that this leads to a factional view of the church.

"In other words, ideology replaces faith, membership in a sector of the Church replaces membership in the Church," he said.

The pope said that the error of the U.S. Catholic Church is that they view "the doctrine of the church as a monolith" and that "When you go backward, you make something closed off, disconnected from the roots of the church."

“I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals,” the pope said.

The Catholic bishops in the United States have faced criticism over the 10 years of Pope Francis's pontificate for not wholeheartedly embracing the pope's more liberal approach to leading the Catholic Church than the more conservative popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II.

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U.S. bishops such as Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, and Cardinal Raymond Burke have been, at times, vocal critics of the pope's approach to governing the Catholic Church. Most recently, Strickland published a pastoral letter that warned of attempts to soften the church's teachings on issues such as contraception, same-sex marriage, and eternal salvation during the planned Synod on Synodality, a meeting of bishops set to take place over the next year.

"Regrettably, it may be that some will label as schismatics those who disagree with the changes being proposed," Strickland wrote. "Be assured, however, that no one who remains firmly upon the plumb line of our Catholic faith is a schismatic. We must remain unabashedly and truly Catholic, regardless of what may be brought forth."