About F%$#ing Time

I am not a Catholic, and I cannot claim to have a deep knowledge of the theology Catholic church, but I am a practicing feudal monarchist on weekends (The Society for Creative Anachronism), and I do understand how calling the King, and the Pope is the absolute monarch of the Church, a c%$#-sucker is not something that his subjects are supposed to do.

It comes as no surprise then that after years of public and vituperative ranting against Pope Francis, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has been excommunicated.

Truth be told, I'm surprised that they did not defrock him (technically a lesser punishment) as well:

The Vatican said on Friday that it had excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the church’s former ambassador to the United States, after finding him guilty of schism for refusing to recognize the authority of Pope Francis and the liberal reforms enacted after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

Archbishop Viganò has emerged as one of the most unbridled conservative critics of Francis, calling him in public statements a “false prophet” and a “servant of Satan,” while embracing right-wing conspiracy theories and lauding former President Donald J. Trump.

Though excommunicated, Archbishop Viganò will be able to keep his title, but he will not be allowed to celebrate Mass, receive or administer sacraments and hold official positions within the church’s hierarchy.

………

In 2015, when he was the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, the archbishop invited a critic of gay rights to greet the pope in Washington, challenging Francis’ message of inclusivity. At the time, the Vatican said it had been blindsided by the archbishop, and his standing at the Vatican began to deteriorate.

In 2018, he wrote a 7,000-word letter calling for the pope to resign, accusing Francis and Vatican officials before him of covering up sexual abuse by an American cardinal. The bombshell accusations, which were published when Francis was on a mission to Ireland issuing wrenching apologies for clerical sexual abuse scandals, amounted to an extraordinary public declaration of war against Francis’ papacy.

People like Viganò were the ones who cheered on the expulsion of any vestiges of liberalism or modernity under John Paul II while that Pope canonized literal Fascists. 

Those who were of a more liberal bent in the Church accepted this, and did not rant about this in public.

His Grace should be following the same protocol.