Screen shot of Adam Shaw’s FoxNews.com column

Adam Shaw, an editor for the Fox News website, has been taking a lot of heat, even from some conservatives, for a rip-roaring assessment of the pope’s recent apostolic exhortation. His column is titled: “Pope Francis is the Catholic Church’s Obama – God help us,” which gives you a sense of where Shaw was coming from.

But if Shaw’s Fox job is safe — hey, when Rush Limbaugh is blasting the pontiff anyone else looks tame — his other gig, as a film and video game reviewer for Catholic News Service, is over as of yesterday.

Tony Spence, editor in chief of the wire service, which operates under the aegis of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he had been “very pleased” with Shaw’s work, which included an analysis of the comics book industry. Spence said he knew that Shaw worked for Fox but it never caused a conflict — until this week. Spence wrote in an email:

“(W)hen he penned the recent piece on Pope Francis, comparing him to President Obama, and presenting it as an op/ed, he seriously compromised his credibility as an objective Catholic journalist for CNS. Had Adam merely reported on the pope’s apostolic exhortation, even citing unflattering sources, there would have been no problem. However, Adam’s caustic condemnation of the exhortation and of Francis himself, one of the key figures we cover daily with objectivity, fairness and certainly charity, left me little choice but to end his service with us.”

Spence wished Shaw well “at FoxNews.com and in all his future endeavors.”