Archbishop Vigano, a young far-right attacker excommunicated

The Vatican’s most visible attack dog for the billionaire-funded neo-Nazi right has been excommunicated for schism.

Vigano, who once served as the papal nuncio to the United States, has made a career out of sending out classic right-wing missives on Vatican letterhead. A staunch supporter of Donald Trump, for whom he has written campaign endorsements, Vigano has also repeatedly attacked Pope Francis, calling him just about every name a Catholic priest can call another Catholic priest, thereby denying papal authority and Vatican II.

I know nothing about canon law, but it would seem that Vigano’s behavior is schismatic on its face. He has placed himself and his personal ideas in direct contradiction to the doctrinal authority of Pope Francis, as well as to the doctrinal authority of the Second Vatican Council and to all the popes who have sat on the throne of Peter since Pope John XXIII.

He contradicted and ignored Pope John II’s many writings supporting Vatican II. He called Pope Francis a “heretic” and declared that “no Catholic worthy of the name can be in communion” with Pope Francis.

I don’t know canon law, but this seems to me to be a direct, straightforward, and intentional schism.

Since Pope Francis began publicly following the Gospels of Christ in speaking on behalf of the poor, an extremely powerful and well-funded movement has been launched to discredit and attack him. I recall the late Rush Limbaugh standing up early in Pope Francis’ pontificate and declaring the pope a “communist” in flamboyant and provocative terms.

The reason? Pope Francis talked about the poor, and the people who made Rush Limbaugh very rich by selling his political positions for millions on his radio talk show made billions of dollars largely by exploiting the poor and making sure they stay poor.

The attacks on Pope Francis really picked up steam when he wrote Laudato Si, his incredibly courageous and prophetic encyclical on the environment. It pitted him against the right-wing billionaires in the oil industry. And the war against his papacy, funded by right-wing billionaires, has turned into a relentless scorched-earth attack with all the money, power and cruelty that the fascist right has at its disposal.

I believe Vigano was a soldier of these right wing billionaires in their war for world domination. As always, and I mean always This happens throughout Christian history: anyone who truly believes in Jesus Christ and seeks to follow Him will come up against the ungodly rich who worship their money above all else.

Jesus and greed don’t mix.

I doubt that Vigano’s story ends there. He remains a useful tool of international fascism. Instead of using the Vatican paper to attack the Pope and support fascism, he can go on a speaking tour, create a podcast and sell his pamphlet as a living martyr.

Other prominent former priests, as well as Bishop Strickland, provide a suitable model.

Excerpt from America magazine:

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has been declared excommunicated for schism by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican dicastery, however, has chosen not to remove him from the clerical state, although canon law does not exclude this sanction.

The decision was widely expected after the former nuncio to the United States refused to participate in the trial against him, saying he “did not recognize the authority” of the dicastery or its prefect, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, or of Pope Francis.

The archbishop said he did not recognize the legitimacy of Pope Francis and said: “I reject and condemn the scandals, errors and heresies of Jorge Mario Bergoglio,” adding: “With this ‘Bergoglian church’ no Catholic worthy of the name can be in communion.”