The Vatican’s doctrinal office announced Friday that Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was found guilty of schism and excommunicated. Viganò, who was previously the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, is an outspoken critic of Pope Francis, accusing him of heresy and schism, and liberal reforms made by the Second Vatican Council. Viganò also accused the Vatican of corruption and subversion of the Catholic Faith. On the other hand, the Vatican’s decree cites what it describes as over a dozen instances of insubordination.
Viganò responded to the Vatican’s decree by quoting scripture from the Gospel of Luke describing the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, stating on X, “I say to my brother Bishops: ‘If you are silent, the stones will cry out’ (Lk 19:40).”
Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland responded to the action by noting how the Vatican expedited excommunication of Archbishop Viganò but left Theodore McCarrick “unexcommunicated”:
We find ourselves at a strange moment in Church history when Archbishop Viganò is excommunicated swiftly while Theodore McCarrick remains unexcommunicated after years of his crimes against the Church have come to light. We should look closely at a Vatican that operates in this manner.
McCarrick is a former cardinal and archbishop, and the most senior church official to be laicized in modern times following reports of sexual misconduct and multiple criminal charges following accusations of sexual abuse throughout his 60 years as a priest.
