The Vatican excommunicated former Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò after he was found guilty of “schism” Thursday.
Schism is when one stops submitting to the Pope or from the communion of Catholics subject to the Vatican head and is one of the greatest crimes in the Catholic canon. It is considered so because it threatens the unity of the church.
Vigano’s “refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the church subject to him and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council” were the reasons for the ruling, the Vatican’s doctrine office said, CBS News reported.
The former archbishop has accused the Vatican of covering up sex abuse and called the Pope a “servant of Satan” and a “false prophet,” according to CBS News. He is now separated from the church and cannot receive communion or other sacraments. (RELATED: REPORT: Pope Repeats ‘F*ggotry’ Remark After Initially Apologizing For It)
Viganò did not participate in the Vatican’s proceedings because he believed the institutions putting them forth were illegitimate. “I do not recognize the authority of the tribunal that claims to judge me, nor of its Prefect, nor of the one who appointed him,” he wrote in a June statement.
He also referred to the charges as “an honor” in the same statement where he reaffirmed his rejection of the Second Vatican Council. He referred to the council as “the ideological, theological, moral and liturgical cancer of which the (Francis’) ‘synod church’ is the necessary metastasis,” according to CBS News.
+++ BREAKING +++ Archbishop #Vigano excommunicated. pic.twitter.com/RGKGh52Bz1
— Rudolf Gehrig (@RudolfGehrig) July 5, 2024
Viganò resigned in 2016 before releasing sex abuse allegations against top Catholic leaders and calling on the Pope to resign in 2018, CBS News reported.
