ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Faced with sustained opposition from Catholic conservatives in the United States who accuse him of driving traditionalists to break with the church, Pope Francis said on Tuesday that he hopes it doesn’t come to that, but isn’t frightened of it either.

“I pray there are no schisms,” Francis said in a lengthy news conference aboard the papal plane as he returned from a six-day trip to Africa. “But I’m not scared.”

Francis was returning to Rome from a trip to Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius that showcased the priorities of his papacy: reaching out to the poor, advocating justice for migrants and other marginalized people and protecting the environment from capitalism run amok. In doing so, he has alienated some conservatives — especially in the United States — who say he is promoting an anti-American, anticapitalist agenda and drifting from the core teachings of the Church.