(LifeSiteNews) — While criticizing Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and his theological positions, Bishop Athanasius Schneider maintained in comments to Religion News Service on Monday that Pope Francis would “increase divisions” in the Church if he were to excommunicate the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
“I think the pope would be wise and prudent if he were to not excommunicate Archbishop Viganò,” Schneider remarked in the interview while also asserting that Viganò “is in error, because he is voicing a new theory of the probably invalid theory of Francis’ illegitimate election.”
“I think that today the church has so much internal division that it would be imprudent, even if there is some canonical ground to judge Archbishop Viganò,” Schneider continued.
“Even a blind person perceives that we are living in a time of great confusion regarding clarity of doctrine and morals,” he added, explaining why he wrote his new book Flee from Heresy: A Catholic Guide to Ancient and Modern Errors.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Monsignor John Kennedy of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has charged Archbishop Viganò with the canonical crime of schism.
His Excellency was accused of making public statements “which result in a denial of the elements necessary to maintain communion with the Catholic Church; denial of the legitimacy of Pope Francis, rupture of communion with Him, and rejection of the Second Vatican Council.”
Viganò, who served as the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States under both Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, responded by stating that he considers the accusations an “honor” and said that his defense of Tradition is the same as the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991), the founder of the Society of St. Pius X.
“Fifty years ago, in that same Palace of the Holy Office, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre was summoned and accused of schism for rejecting Vatican II. His defense is mine; his words are mine; and his arguments are mine,” he declared in a January 20 statement.
News of Archbishop Viganò’s “extrajudicial trial” came on June 11, just weeks after he published a social media post accusing Pope Francis of committing the “same abuses” as the notorious, now-laicized Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.
It also came just days before reports began circulating online that the Vatican is planning to enforce a worldwide ban on the Latin Mass.
Notably, the Priestly Society of St. Pius X’s French District issued a statement on June 19 preparing its faithful for the consecration of more bishops without papal approval. Social media users speculated the move was not unconnected to Vigano’s anticipated excommunication and the rumored prohibition of the Latin liturgy.
On Friday, June 21, Archbishop Viganò clarified that he did not present himself to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome on June 20, as requested. He also announced that he does not plan to go in the future.
“I have no intention of submitting myself to a show trial in which those who are supposed to judge me impartially in order to defend Catholic orthodoxy are at the same time those whom I accuse of heresy, treason, and abuse of power,” Viganò declared.
Jesuit magazine America had falsely reported that His Excellency appeared in Rome previously.