Source:
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/archbishop-vigano-excommunicated

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Archbishop Viganò excommunicated
The Pillar - July 5, 2024

The Vatican doctrine office announced Friday that it had found Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò guilty of the canonical crime of schism and declared his automatic excommunication.

A July 5 statement from the Holy See press office said that the verdict of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) was reached on Thursday and communicated to the former papal nuncio to the United States Friday.

The statement said: “On 4 July 2024, the congress of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith met to conclude the extrajudicial penal process referred to in canon 1720 CIC against the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Viganò, titular Archbishop of Ulpiana, accused of the reserved delict of schism (canons 751 and 1364 CIC; art. 2 SST).”

“His public statements manifesting his refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council are well known.”

The statement added: “At the conclusion of the penal process, the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Viganò was found guilty of the reserved delict of schism.”

“The dicastery declared the latae sententiae excommunication in accordance with canon 1364 § 1 CIC.”

“The lifting of the censure in these cases is reserved to the Apostolic See.”

The archbishop had not responded publicly to the declaration by press time.

The outspoken former Vatican diplomat announced June 20 that he had received a citation in an extrajudicial process, authorized by the congress of the DDF’s members on May 10.

According to the citation, dated June 11, the DDF’s senior membership voted to proceed with Viganò’s prosecution via an abbreviated extrajudicial process, as opposed to a full canonical trial.

The citation also ordered the former Vatican ambassador to appear at the dicastery in Rome to answer the charges on June 20, either in person or via formal legal representation.

The charge of schism is defined by canon law as the “refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”

According to the decree of citation sent to Viganò, the archbishop was accused of making “public statements resulting in a denial of the elements necessary to maintain communion with the Catholic Church: denial of the legitimacy of Pope Francis, breaking of communion with him, and rejection of the Vatican Council II.”

The dicastery is authorized to judge cases of crimes against the faith, as well as the most serious crimes against morals and the sacraments, and by special papal mandate can judge those who would otherwise be subject only to the Bishop of Rome, including cardinals, patriarchs, papal legates, and bishops.

Viganò, a prominent critic of Pope Francis and Vatican Council II, and an outspoken supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin, issued a lengthy statement June 20 in response to his citation for schism, which he called a “badge of honor.”

“It is no coincidence that the accusation against me concerns the questioning of the legitimacy of [Pope Francis] Jorge Mario Bergoglio and the rejection of Vatican [Council] II: the Council represents the ideological, theological, moral and liturgical cancer of which the Bergoglian ‘synodal church’ is necessary metastasis,” the archbishop wrote.

The citation to appear before the DDF was, the decree said, Viganò’s opportunity to inspect the evidence against him, in line with canonical procedure for an extrajudicial process.

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