The Vatican said Friday it had excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former church ambassador to the United States, after finding him guilty of schism for refusing to recognize the authority of Pope Francis and the liberal reforms enacted after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
Archbishop Viganò has emerged as one of Francis’ most outspoken conservative critics, calling him in public statements a “false prophet” and a “servant of Satan” while embracing right-wing conspiracy theories and praising former President Donald J. Trump.
In 2018, he wrote a 7,000-word letter calling for the pope to resign, accusing him of covering up sexual abuse by an American cardinal. Before that, in 2015, he invited a critic of gay rights to greet the pope in Washington, challenging Francis’ inclusive message.
He has since adopted anti-vaccine positions and blamed “deep state” forces in the West for sparking the war in Ukraine and demonizing Russia.
Although excommunicated, Archbishop Viganò will be able to retain his title, but will not be permitted to celebrate Mass, receive or administer sacraments, and hold official positions within the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
Archbishop Viganò did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Robert Moynihan, editor of a Vatican magazine that often reports Archbishop Viganò’s views, said the archbishop had been summoned to appear before the Vatican department in charge of religious discipline on June 28 but had not come to Rome to do so.
Instead, the archbishop issued a statement in which he said he did not recognize the authority of the tribunal “that intends to judge me, nor of its Prefect, nor of the person who appointed him.”
He also again attacked liberal changes in the Church and accused the Pope of committing a “crime against humanity” by promoting vaccines. He also condemned the Pope’s “adherence to climate fraud” and Francis’ conception of a Church that was “immigrationist, eco-sustainable and gay-friendly.”
Francis has also punished other right-wing clerics. The Rev. Frank Pavone, an American who led the Priests for Life group, was defrocked in 2022, and Cardinal Raymond Burke, a leading figure among Catholic traditionalists who believed Francis was watering down doctrine, was reportedly evicted from his subsidized Vatican apartment last year.
