Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò—the former papal nuncio (ambassador) to the United States—is facing excommunication for schism. Schism is defined as a formal division in, or separation from, a church or religious body.
The outspoken former Vatican diplomat, who has accused Pope Francis of helping cover up abuse, received a letter summoning him to Rome to face an “extrajudicial” proceeding for the alleged crime, which he republished on Thursday.
“I have been summoned to the Palace of the Holy Office on June 20, in person or represented by a canon lawyer,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I assume that the sentence has already been prepared, given that it is an extrajudicial process.”
Viganò is accused of denying that Pope Francis is the rightful pontiff and also of outright rejecting the doctrines established during the Second Vatican Council. In response, he declared that he regards the accusations as an “honour.”
“I believe that the very wording of the charges confirms the thesis that I have repeatedly defended in my various addresses,” he said, adding, “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.”
Viganò also stated that the Second Vatican Council “represents the ideological, theological, moral, and liturgical cancer” of which Pope Francis’ agenda “is the necessary metastasis.”
Viganò added:
It is necessary for the Episcopate, the Clergy and the People of God to seriously ask themselves whether it is consistent with the profession of the Catholic Faith to passively witness the systematic destruction of the Church by its leaders, just as other subversives are destroying civil society.
From 2011 to 2016, Viganò served as papal nuncio to the United States, a position that gave him significant oversight over the Catholic Church in the country.
He came to prominence in 2018 after publishing an 11-page “testimony” in which he accused the pope of covering up for former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was eventually found guilty by the Vatican of sexually abusing minors and sexually harassing adult seminarians.
Viganò called on Pope Francis to resign, claiming the pontiff knew about accusations against McCarrick but chose to lift restrictions on him imposed by the previous pope, Benedict XVI.
Since then, Viganò has regularly published open letters accusing the pope of heresy, mismanaging the Church, and of abusing his authority. In his letters, he has also become increasingly critical of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, held from 1962-65, and condemned attempts to restrict the Traditional Latin Mass.
An increasingly controversial figure, even amongst traditionalist Catholics, Viganò also became an outspoken supporter of former U.S. president Donald Trump, calling the 2020 presidential election “the most colossal electoral fraud in history.” He urged resistance to the “deep state” and “New World Order.”
Further, Viganò has since become a supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, declaring Moscow the “Third Rome” and adding that the sees of Rome and Constantinople had become “deserted and silent” and “hostage to apostates.”
The Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will decide whether Viganò has incurred latae sententiae excommunication through his statements. If so, he could face removal from religious office or be barred from exercising ministry.
