The ultra-conservative archbishop was found guilty of splitting with the Catholic church.
spoiler

An Italian archbishop and staunch critic of Pope Francis has been excommunicated by the Vatican, its doctrinal office has said.

Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of schism - meaning he has split from the Catholic Church - after years of fierce disagreement with the pontiff.

The 83-year-old ultra-conservative has previously called on the Pope to resign, accusing him of heresy and criticising his stances on immigration, climate change and same-sex couples.

Archbishop Vigano was a senior figure in the Church, serving as papal envoy to Washington from 2011 to 2016.

In 2018 he went into hiding after alleging that the Pope had known about sexual abuse by an American cardinal and failed to act. The Vatican rejected the accusation.

Over time, the archbishop became associated with US conspiracy theorists, criticising Covid vaccines and alleging a "globalist" and "anti-Christian" project by the UN and other groups - both familiar conspiratorial themes.

On Friday the Vatican's doctrinal office said his refusal to submit to Pope Francis was clear from his public statements.

"The Most Reverend Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of the reserved delict [violation of the law] of schism," the statement said, adding that he had been excommunicated - or banished from the church.

Responding by a post on X, the archbishop linked to the decree that was emailed to him and said:

"What was attributed to me as guilt for my conviction is now put on record, confirming the Catholic Faith that I fully profess."

Archbishop Vigano was charged with schism and denying the pope's legitimacy last month. At the time, he write on X that he regarded the accusations against him as "an honour".

"I repudiate, reject, and condemn the scandals, errors, and heresies of Jorge Mario Bergoglio," he said, using Argentine Pope's given name.

Pope Francis has put himself at odds with traditionalist Catholics by making overtures towards the LGBTQ+ community, championing migrant rights and condemning the excesses of capitalism.

Last year, he took action against another ultra-conservative critic, dismissing Bishop Joseph E Strickland of Texas when he refused to resign after an investigation.

  • Tomorrow_Farewell [any, they/them]
    ·
    1 month ago

    I take it you didn't read the rest of what I said. Here it is for you:

    Being a catholic means that you recognise the infallibility of the pope.
    EDIT: And yes, I am saying that if you want to be a catholic (in particular, but I also have a more general claim), if you want to be principled, and if you want to not be a shithead, you have to choose up to two of those things.

    But hey, considering that you want to stan for the church known for its pedophilia (among other things), do enlighten me how a person can be both a principled catholic (i.e. upholding the authority of said church, among other things) and not support stuff like pedophilia, queerphobia, racism, etc.

    EDIT: just in case, I'm going to reiterate what I said: the archbishop is yet another example of catholics reneging on their religious ideology when it is inconvenient for them, despite claiming that there is some supernatural support for said ideology and that not adhering to it is bad and, depending on the details, can be punished in a very cartoonishly overreacting manner.
    And no, I'm not claiming that the archbishop is not a shithead on the grounds of him being unprincipled.

    EDIT2: and yes, the catholic church does have principles. They include defence of sexual assault, including pedophilia, support for genocides, support for the German nazis in particular and nazis in general, fearmongering about LGBT people, support for slavery, support for colonialism, invention of reasons for why it is okay to kill Muslims, and so on.

      • Tomorrow_Farewell [any, they/them]
        ·
        1 month ago

        I'm not interested in all of this

        Cute way of admitting to first misreading what I said and proceeding to defend a horrible entity.

        and the implied contention, that the Church is beholden to the worst and least felicitous possible interpretations of text/teachings, is goofy

        It's 'nice' to see you double down on your defence of the actual actions of a centuries-old pedophilic cult on account that you can pick and choose what rhetoric you like. Sure sounds like you claim that the popes' teachings are not infallible.

        Find God

        So I get to tell everybody how trans and gay people are an affront to nature? So that I get to tell non-white people how they should all be subservient to white people, up to and including as chattel slaves? So that I get to support the Holocaust and then help German nazis avoid facing justice? So that I tell women how they are lesser people than men? So that I get to engage in SA on minors?

        I think I'll pass on every god that supports that.