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Carlo Maria Viganò is a titular archbishop (of Ulpiana) who served as the Holy See's apostolic nuncio to the United States from 2011 to 2016 (NPR; Holy See Press Office). Since 2018 he has issued numerous public statements, open letters and interviews that traditionalist and conservative Catholic outlets such as LifeSiteNews, The Remnant and Inside the Vatican have carried.
2018 testimony. On 25 August 2018 he released an 11-page statement alleging that Pope Francis had known of restrictions placed on Theodore McCarrick under Benedict XVI and had set them aside, and calling on Francis to resign (NPR). The Vatican's 2020 McCarrick Report disputed key parts of his account and said that he had not acted on a 2012 instruction to assess allegations against McCarrick; he denied its accusations (NCR; CWR).
2020 statements. In June 2020 he argued that the Second Vatican Council itself was the root of later errors and defended the suggestion that it be forgotten (InfoVaticana). Open letters to President Donald Trump in June and October 2020 spoke of a "deep state" and a "deep church" and described the "Great Reset" as a plan by a global elite; the Anti-Defamation League has treated the October letter as central to the spread of the "Great Reset" conspiracy theory (NCR).
Excommunication. Summoned in June 2024 to answer a charge of schism, he said he did not recognise the authority of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, its prefect, or the pope, and did not appear (NCR). On 5 July 2024 the dicastery declared that he had been found guilty of schism and had incurred latae sententiae excommunication, the lifting of which is reserved to the Apostolic See (DDF communiqué). He was not dismissed from the clerical state (The Pillar).
See the explainer Viganò's excommunication for schism.
In a letter dated 23 October 2021 to Archbishop José Gomez, then president of the U.S. bishops' conference, and to CDF officials, Viganò argued that the CDF's 2020 note on COVID-19 vaccines had neglected proportionality and that there was a grave duty to refuse the vaccines; he urged bishops to support religious exemptions (Catholic Family News). See COVID-19 vaccines.
The 8 most recent of 11 dated events, newest first.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, declared excommunicated for schism in 2024, posted a critique on X of Leo XIV's 25 September address at the Élysée Palace, which LifeSiteNews republished. He objected to the speech's favourable references to…
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith announced that an extrajudicial penal process concluded on 4 July had found Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò guilty of the reserved delict of schism. It declared the latae sententiae…
Archbishop Viganò posted a Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith decree of 11 June summoning him on 20 June to answer a charge of schism, citing his denial of Pope Francis's legitimacy and rejection of Vatican II. He did not appear and…
In a letter to USCCB president Archbishop José Gomez and to CDF officials, Carlo Maria Viganò argued that the CDF's 2020 note neglected proportionality, said there was a grave duty to refuse the vaccines, and asked bishops to support…
Corrispondenza Romana published, in Italian and English, Roberto de Mattei's article 'The Viganò Case: The Archbishop and His Double', alleging that many letters signed by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò had been written by one or more…
The Holy See's report on Theodore McCarrick disputed Viganò's description of Benedict-era sanctions and said he had not acted on a 2012 request from Cardinal Marc Ouellet to assess allegations against McCarrick. Viganò denied the report's…
A second open letter from Archbishop Viganò, dated 25 October 2020, described the World Economic Forum's 'Great Reset' as a plan by a global elite to subdue humanity through coercive measures. The Anti-Defamation League has described the…
Responding to a 1 June essay by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Archbishop Viganò argued that the Council itself lay at the root of later deviations. After Vatican commentator Sandro Magister wrote that such a wholesale rejection stood at…
2 published pieces, newest first.
The SSPX episcopal consecrations of 2026
The SSPX and its supporters say a crisis in the Church made consecrating bishops without a papal mandate necessary. Here is that argument in their words, and what the Holy See said before and after 1 July.
About: FSSPX.NewsSociety of Saint Pius X (SSPX)Carlo Maria ViganòDavide Pagliarani
Papal-critique and 'resistance' media
Archbishop Viganò called Leo XIV's 25 September address in Paris ‘the exact opposite of the Magisterium up to Pius XII’. The text, and the Church's own account of its teaching authority, point to a more limited dispute.
About: Integrity MagazineLifeSiteNewsCarlo Maria Viganò