As some Catholics know, Archbishop Viganò is a hero in the eyes of many who do not enjoy the spectacle of Pope Francis’ continual and seemingly ongoing reversal of Catholic teaching and law. The hyperpolitical, leftist Pope has been, by his own words, engaged in irreversibly (he hopes) and increasingly modifying (according to his own predilections) the Catholic Church since he took papal office. Sound like anybody you know?

Viganò has been consistently faithful to Canon Law and to the established teachings of the Church, his warnings falling against a wall of thunderous silence from most of the Western bishops (some in America have supported him) and various dogbodies who tend to the administrative bidding of the Vatican rather than to follow the clear teachings of Jesus and his apostolic instructions. Viganò’s positions are therefore judged by Pope Francis and his like as those of a conservative and faithful priest -- not a globalist or environmentalist or an advocate of a post-national, socialist world.

Today, Viganò has been summoned to Rome with the threat of excommunication:

“Rome -- June 20, 2024

The disgraced former papal nuncio to the United States, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, announced that he has been charged with schism by the Vatican's doctrinal office, after a six-year rogue period in which he called for Pope Francis to resign and labeled him a "false prophet."

On June 20, the archbishop posted on his own website a two-page decree from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith ordering him to appear for a trial regarding "public statements that show a denial of points necessary for the preservation of communion with the Catholic Church."

The decree is dated June 11 and is signed by Msgr. John Kennedy, secretary of the doctrinal office's disciplinary section, requesting that Viganò present himself on June 20 at 15:30 to formally receive the accusation and evidence against him.”

Actually, if there has been, or might be, any schism, it could sooner be laid at the door of Pope Francis himself. He has allowed politics and his own self-importance to destroy his only legitimate apostolic role, as a shepherd of Jesus’ faith. Francis courts the press, speaking out continually in a purely political framework; he scorns regular Catholics in America, he invites and courts celebrities and politicians with a frequency and tastelessness never approximated by any Pope in history. While reversing Canon Law with impunity himself, the Pope is now using his reimagined authority to possibly ex-communicate Viganò:

More recently, in 2022, Italy's military chaplain, Archbishop Santo Marciano, published an open letter to Viganò condemning his spread of conspiracy theories.

In his June 20 blog post, Viganò said he considered the charges brought against him to be an "honor.”

“A representative from the Vatican's doctrinal office did not immediately respond to NCR's request for comment. The decree states that if Viganò remains unresponsive through June 28, he will be sentenced in absentia.

According to the Church's Code of Canon Law, the charge of schism is punishable by excommunication.”

It is telling that the Pope’s episcopal staff used the slogan ‘conspiracy theory’ in its 2022 letter to Viganò -- the very phrase is redolent of the word-justifications for the current persecution of Christians by the American Left. In fact, much of the Pope’s current embroglios into politics reflect his obvious preference for ideology over substance, for opinion over matters of faith, and, most unfortunately, reveal a Bidenesque spite in his Papal wielding of power. In both men, personal interest is judged, instinctively or not, of far more relevance than that of their oaths of office. Next thing, the Pope will be talking ‘disinformation’ -- if he hasn’t already.

From Archbishop Viganò in his Easter 2024 message:

“Christians are progressively banished from civil society and considered a threat to the subversive project of the New World Order, while a minority of the vicious and perverted claim to erect their deviations as the universal norm. Here is the "visibility" of Biden and the woke ideology, celebrating a macabre mad dance to the abyss.”

No wonder Archbishop Viganò is in trouble in Rome, in a Vatican we have never seen before.

Image: George Martell via Flickr