Former Vatican Ambassador to U.S., outspoken critic of Pope Francis, Charged with Schism
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò faces possible excommunication from the Catholic Church.
By Gary Gately
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò — the former Vatican ambassador to the U.S. and an outspoken critic of Pope Francis who has called the pontiff a “servant of Satan” and a “false prophet” who should be arrested — has been charged with schism by the Vatican’s doctrinal office.
The canonical charge of schism is punishable by excommunication from the Catholic Church.
Viganò published on his website today a two-page June 11 decree from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith ordering either him or a legal representative to appear at the dicastery in Rome to answer the charges today.
America: The Jesuit Review reported that Viganò submitted a three-page written defense today, which he published on his website.
Viganò stands accused of making "public statements that show a denial of points necessary for the preservation of communion with the Catholic Church."
Statements he has made, the citation said, resulted “in a denial of the elements necessary to maintain communion with the Catholic Church: denial of the legitimacy of Pope Francis, breaking of communion with him, and rejection of the Vatican Council II.”
In his submitted defense, Viganò remained defiant.
“I reject and condemn the scandals, errors and heresies of Jorge Mario Bergoglio [the pontiff’s name before he took on the name Francis as pope]…. with this ‘Bergoglian church’, no Catholic worthy of the name can be in communion.”
In a statement posted online, Viganò wrote: “I consider the accusations made against me as a reason for honor. I believe that the very wording of the charges confirms the theses that I have repeatedly supported in my interventions. It is no coincidence that the accusation against me concerns the questioning of the legitimacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio and the rejection of Vatican II: the Council represents the ideological, theological, moral and liturgical cancer of which the Bergoglian ‘synodal church’ is necessary metastasis.”
Repeating his oft-stated criticisms of Francis, common among some conservative Catholics, the 83-year-old Italian cleric wrote: “Bergoglio promotes uncontrolled immigration and calls for the integration of cultures and religions” and
”supports the LGBTQ+ ideology: Bergoglio authorizes the blessing of homosexual couples and forces the faithful to accept homosexuality, while covering up the scandals of his protégés and promoting them to the highest positions of responsibility.”
The statement also attacked the pope for his commitment to preserving the environment and for criticizing climate change deniers.
“I repudiate, reject and condemn the scandals, errors and heresies of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who manifests an absolutely tyrannical management of power, exercised against the purpose that legitimizes Authority in the Church: an authority that is vicarious of that of Christ, and as such must obey Him alone,” the archbishop wrote.
The Vatican did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Viganò became known for his often-incendiary social media posts attacking Francis and supporting former President Donald Trump, opposing COVID-19 vaccines, spreading of Q-Anon conspiracy theories and rejecting the Second Vatican Council.
But he turned against Trump in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and wrote then that Russia had “an epochal role in the restoration of Christian Civilization, contributing to bringing the world a period of peace from which the Church too will rise again, purified and renewed in her ministers.”
Viganò’s statement did not mention his 2018 call for the resignation of Francis over what Viganò characterized as a vast Vatican cover-up of allegations against ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The archbishop alleged that Pope Francis knew McCarrick had abused seminarians, but lifted penalties Pope Benedict XVI had imposed on McCarrick.
Many of the charges Viganò leveled against the Vatican in its handling of the McCarrick investigation have been discredited.
McCarrick had also been accused of sexually assaulting a boy in the 1970s. A Wisconsin judge suspended charges against McCarrick in January, ruling he was incompetent to stand charges because of dementia.
The Vatican press office reported on its website that Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told reporters today: “Archbishop Viganò has taken some attitudes and some actions for which he must answer. I am very sorry because I always appreciated him as a great worker, very faithful to the Holy See, someone who was, in a certain sense, also an example. When he was apostolic nuncio, he did good work.
“I don’t know what happened.”
Viganò, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the U.S. from 2011-2016, had served as the secretary-general of the Governorate of Vatican City State from 2009 to 2011.
Pope John Paul II consecrated him as a bishop in 1992 and he spent most of his career working in a diplomatic capacity for the Holy See.