An archdiocese of Mexico City publication has dismissed Pope Francis’s criticism of the country’s bishops, saying he must have been given “bad advice”. The Pope had appeared to condemn Mexico’s bishops during his visit last month for living like princes and resting on their laurels. In a speech in Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral, he called on them to fight “as men, face-to-face” if they did fight – an allusion to disunity in the conference. An editorial in the archdiocesan newspaper Desde la Fe asked if the Pope had been properly briefed prior to his visit, saying the Church had kept more than 80 per cent of the population professing Catholicism even in the face of Evangelical missionaries, a secular state and anti-Catholic persecution. “Here it must be questioned: does the Pope have some reason for scolding Mexican bishops?” asked the editorial. The piece ended with a further question: “Will it be that the improvised words of the Holy Father respond to bad advice from someone close to him? Who gave the Pope bad advice?” Some commentators speculated that the editorial was inspired by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Archbishop of Mexico City. But staff at the paper said he was not involved. In his speech Pope Francis called on prelates to denounce drug cartels, better attend to victims of violence and avoid brokering backroom deals that lacked transparency. At a seminary the next day in the city of Ecatepec, he signed the guestbook with a warning to students to avoid becoming “clerics of the state”. Catholics involved in human rights issues have criticised the hierarchy for speaking out too softly on issues such as crime and corruption and seeking favour from the political class. “While other institutions have failed in the care and promotion of the common good, Mexican bishops have been accompanying a suffering and downtrodden people, living a life of giving to neighbours and not of princes without contact with the flock,” the editorial said. It added that the bishops had shown “compassion, strengthening the bonds of unity through prophetic pastoral signals, which, thanks to the Catholic faith, have returned hope in the country.” Church observer Rodolfo Soriano Núñez claimed that the editorial “confirms [Cardinal Rivera’s] rejection of the Pope’s reform”.