The ultra-conservative Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò must answer to the Vatican’s judiciary for his harsh criticism of Pope Francis. He is accused of dividing the church, denying the legitimacy of the Pope and rejecting the Second Vatican Council, Viganò himself explained in the online service X. Dividing the church – the so-called schism – is considered a criminal offense in the Vatican and is punishable by excommunication.
According to a document from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Viganò was informed of the charges on Thursday as part of an extrajudicial criminal procedure. The 83-year-old Viganò, who represented the Vatican as apostolic nuncio in Washington from 2011 to 2016, had called on Francis to resign in 2018 because he had ignored allegations of abuse against then-US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for five years and had lifted punitive measures.
Viganò explained that he considered the charges against him on X to be an “honor”. Regarding the Second Vatican Council, which was held from 1962 to 1965 and whose decisions are considered a significant modernization of the Catholic Church, Viganò said that these represented an “ideological, theological, moral and liturgical cancer”. Pope Francis’ “synodal church” was his “necessary ulcer”.
In 2018, Viganò was already sentenced by an Italian court to pay 1.8 million euros to his disabled brother, whom he allegedly defrauded of his family’s inheritance.
If Viganò does not appear in the dicastery this Friday and does not take any action on the matter until June 28, he will be sentenced in absentia, the dicastery’s letter states. In addition to excommunication, a conviction could also result in fines and a ban on residence. The guilty party may also be prohibited from wearing clerical clothing.
