The Vatican on Friday excommunicated its former ambassador to Washington after finding him guilty of schism — when someone withdraws submission to the pope, threatening the unity of the Catholic Church.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano was once the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S., a critic of Pope Francis, and an ultraconservative who inserted himself into American politics.
Vigano said in a lengthy statement last month that he considered it “an honor” to be accused. “On the day on which I was supposed to present myself to defend myself before the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, I have decided to make public this declaration of mine, to which I add a denunciation of my accusers, their ‘council,’ and their ‘pope,’” he wrote. He also attacked Francis’ church for being “inclusive, immigrationist, eco-sustainable, and gay-friendly.”
The measure is expected to increase tensions between the Vatican and the American Catholics, whom Francis previously accused of replacing faith with “ideologies.”
In 2015, Vigano invited Kentucky clerk Kim Davis along with a group to the Vatican to meet the Pope. Davis’ attempt to spin the visit as the Pope’s alignment with her anti-gay marriage views was met with denial.
In 2020, Vigano wrote a letter to Trump linking Covid restrictions and Black Lives Matter protests as the work of “the children of darkness.” He drifted further into conspiracy theories, backing bogus claims about Covid vaccines and making proclamations about the evils of the “deep state.” This week, he shared an X post from Marjorie Taylor Greene in which she asserted: “The Covid vaccines are killing people.”
About an hour before the Vatican decree was made public, he announced he would be celebrating a Mass on Friday for those who have been supporting him and asked for donations.
AP, CBS, Daily Beast
