Commentary by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

On June 11, 2024, the “Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith”, an entity erected by no pope sent a letter to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò informing him of his pending trial in the “Dicastery” on the charge of schism. In response to reports that he has been so charged and would attend he has issued a public statement denying that he will attend or attempt to defend himself.

Though he has been repeatedly informed by private correspondence that he must take his appeal to a provincial council in the Ecclesiastical Province of Rome, just as the Sutri Initiative suggests and urges, Archbishop Viganò has, instead, chosen to issue a public response full of expressions which will only lead to his condemnation.

The core of the Archbishop’s error lies in attributing to the Church the errors, crimes and immorality of Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his crew. On this basis, he denies the authority of the Dicastery, of Pope Francis, and of the Church in communion with him, to put him on trial.

Such statements will be viewed by all as schismatic, since semantically they express the very essence of the notion of schism.

The proper Catholic response, on the other hand, would be to accuse these persons before the proper tribunal (Provincial Council in the Roman Province). While the Sutri Initiative suggests such a recourse to challenge the validity of Pope Francis’ election in March of 2013, or the validity of his claim to be pope, on account of his patent heresies, such a recourse can also be made by an Archbishop who is incardinated at the Vatican when charged by agents of a Roman Pontiff who has any questionable hold on the Petrine Office, even one vitiated by heretical intentions.

I believe that once again, we are seeing play out in real time the destruction of the person and reputation of another outstanding cleric of the Roman Church, since, because he lacks the courage to bring a canonical complaint to the competent tribunal, he is attempting to win his case by public debate and diatribes: a thing which can never succeed, since the Church of Jesus Christ is a juridical entity with proper laws and procedures, and justice must be sought in accord with them.

Contrariwise, if the Archbishop changes his legal strategy immediately by publicly appealing to a provincial council against the actions of a dicastery which was erected not by Pope Benedict XVI but by another claiming the papal office during his lifetime, he will put the entire dispute squarely on the proper legal grounds and avoid a charge of schism. For no one appealing to the proper tribunal is a schismatic. He will also in the strongest possible juridical manner put in doubt the claim of Pope Francis to have the right to move against him.

In such a case, the Bishops of the Roman Province can decide to call or not call the Council: the charges against Pope Francis being sufficient to hold the Apostolic See impeded (see here fore more about this). If the Bishops were to refuse to convene, then the Archbishop could rightfully appeal to any provincial council in the world, since such a refusal would confirm the juridical doubt concerning the impeded see and a conspiracy to overthrow the Church. Furthermore, even if the provincial council in the Roman province determine against him, he could appeal to other provincial councils, since such decisions put in writing in a provincial council would demonstrate the unjust basis of Pope Francis’ claims to office. This would raise the controversy to the international level and require a general council to hear the case, as numerous provincial councils could rightfully demand such be convened.

This is the way to fight as a Catholic in the footsteps of great saints such as St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Let us pray that the Archbishop wake up fast, before he is eaten up by the crocodile on the Tiber.