Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò posted the following on his X account this morning:
The archbishop’s full response can be found here.
So far, there’s been no official word from the Vatican.
Viganò is no stranger to controversy. Most recently, he incurred the wrath of a bishop in Wisconsin, who accused him of defamation.
Viganò served as nuncio to the United States from 2011 to 2016. As Wikipedia notes:
He is best known for having publicized the Vatican leaks scandal of 2012, in which he revealed financial corruption in the Vatican, and a 2018 letter accusing Pope Francis and other Catholic leaders of covering up sexual abuse allegations against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, although Viganò himself has been accused of covering for McCarrick and shifting the blame to Pope Francis.
On August 25, 2018, Viganò published an 11-page letter accusing Pope Francis and numerous other senior church leaders of concealing allegations of sexual misconduct against McCarrick. Viganò stated that Pope Benedict XVI imposed sanctions on McCarrick in response to accusations that were made against him, but that Pope Francis refused to enforce them and that he made McCarrick an important advisor. Viganò called on Francis to resign. The letter provoked diverse reactions within the church, with some expressing support for the allegations and calling for further investigation and others defending Francis, questioning the statements made in the letter, and attacking Viganò’s credibility.
After the publication of this letter, Viganò continued to issue public statements which aligned him with political positions of the far right and conspiracy theories. He has also grown close to traditionalist Catholicism, rejecting the Second Vatican Council and the Mass of Paul VI, also establishing a traditionalist seminary outside of the Church jurisdiction.
You can learn more about him here and here.
Stay tuned.
