ROME – The Vatican’s doctrinal office has formally declared that a former US envoy charged with schism is excommunicated.
In a July 5 statement, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) announced that nearly six years after calling on Pope Francis to resign, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who served as nuncio to the United States from 2011-2016 and who has accused Pope Francis of abuse coverup, was excommunicated.
Previously, Viganò had been summoned by a DDF decree to appear at the Vatican for a June 20 audience to answer to charges of schism based on “public statements which show the denial of the elements necessary to maintain communion with the Catholic Church: denial of the legitimacy of Pope Francis, breaking communion with him, and rejection of the Second Vatican Council”.
