Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote:
Assuming he didn't know what was going to happen at the Vatican garden ceremony (and there is reason to believe that he didn't), not making it clear that it was deeply problematic and continuing to allow the idols to be present in a Catholic context.
Artefacts were displayed. That's very different from the claim that pagan idols were worshipped. The artefacts were not pagan idols, and they were displayed not worshipped.
There is no evidence that Pope Francis regarded any of the artefacts as pagan gods.
There is no evidence that anyone present regarded any of the artefacts as pagan gods.
Just because something is displayed in a church doesn't mean it is worshipped.
Some people may regard the sun as a God, it doesn't mean that you or I regard the sun as a God.
Some people may regard 'Mother earth' as a goddesses, it doesn't mean that St Francis or John Paul II or you or I regard Mother earth as a goddess.
There is no evidence that 'Pachamama' is currently worshipped as a pagan goddess in the amazon. Just because this false assertion is repeated on many non-scholarly culturally-ignorant websites doesn't make it true (in the same way that a false Mother Theresa quote repeatedly stated on the Internet doesn't make it true.)
There is no evidence that representations of ''Pachamama' are worshipped by Amazonian pagans.
I'm no expert on Amazonian culture either, but I do have a lot of knowledge about some things and I know there are priests who claim that any form of yoga and mindfulness, and even Indian head massage, are satanic and dangerous (seriously, try googling "priest yoga") but I know with certainty that these things are very good and beneficial, and the vast majority of Catholics do not take these extremist ignorant priests seriously.
Pope Francis has the same kind of extremists criticising him at the slightest opportunity. These people have a particularly narrow and rigid outlook, which has nothing to do with being holier or better than the rest of us, but is merely an aspect of their particular psychology. Pope Francis cannot spend all of his time trying to reason with these people because they are unreasonable and they are only a tiny minority of Catholics who make a lot of noise on the Internet. He could spend all of his time defending himself from these ultra conservative attacks but he has much more important work to do. You don't have to agree with everything he says and does to be with him generally in what he is trying to do. He is inspiring a lot of people.