Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano continues to speak and act as if he were the head of the Church, and as if he had the right to judge all things, spiritual and temporal, a judgment given only to Christ and to His Vicar. He continues to show himself to be separated, by his own decision, from the true Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops. His latest public expression mentions Pope Benedict XVI, but not Pope Francis, and also rebukes the Bishops, as he says “such as those whom I recently denounced”, for being allegedly aligned with the deep state, with Masonic ideas, and with the children of darkness. Thus, Archbishop Vigano speaks and acts as one who is not only separated from the Pope and the body of Bishops, but opposed to them.

His recent public expression is a letter to the President of the United States. In that letter, he speaks of conspiracy theories, involving Masons, deep state plots, and evil supposedly wielding power within the Church. He goes so far as to claim that the Covid-19 pandemic, or at least its response, is part of this conspiracy, as is, he thinks, the recent protests in the U.S. and Europe. He goes so far as to accuse the Bishops in these words:

“They are subservient to the deep state, to globalism, to aligned thought, to the New World Order which they invoke ever more frequently in the name of a universal brotherhood which has nothing Christian about it, but which evokes the Masonic ideals of those want to dominate the world by driving God out of the courts, out of schools, out of families, and perhaps even out of churches.” [LifeSiteNews]

To the contrary, the Church, the Pope, and the body of Bishops are each indefectible. They each are a reliable source of truth, even when teaching non-infallibly. For they are protected from grave error in all their teachings, whether of the Pope or the Pope with the body of Bishops, and protected from all error when teaching infallibly. Then, too, the Roman Pontiff has the gift of never-failing faith, and so he can never commit apostasy, heresy, or schism; he can never fail by idolatry, sacrilege, or blasphemy. This is the teaching of the First Vatican Council and the constant teaching of the Magisterium.

Therefore, no conspiracy theory that contradicts the above teaching can possibly be true. The literal Masons no longer have any power with which to challenge or substantially harm the Church. The figurative freemasons of today are those who wish to chip away at, or replace, the stones of which the Church is built, Her teachings. Ironically, Vigano is a figurative freemason, who wishes to replace the teachings of the Church with his own misunderstandings and unfaithfulness. He wishes to reject the teaching of the First Vatican Council that each Pope has a never-failing faith. He wishes to reject the words of Jesus, that Peter and his successors, having been confirmed in faith by the prayer of Jesus, would then turn and confirm his brethren, the body of Bishops, so that they, too, as a body, would have a never-failing faith (Lk 22:32). Archbishop Vigano rejects the current Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops, and so he repeatedly issues his own documents as a type of replacement for Church teaching and authority. He is the fulfillment of his own conspiracy theory.

As I understand from many years of study and writing on Catholic eschatology, the Antichrist is not in the world today. He alone is able to attempt to force a one world religion, the worship of the Antichrist, upon humanity — but of course he ultimately fails. There is no one world religion that will be imposed, prior to his nearly successful attempt. And the Church will never be controlled or taken over by evil, or by the devil, or by the Antichrist, or by his false prophet. For the Church is the indefectible body of Christ. Instead, the Antichrist attempts to set up his own false church, to compete with the true Church, unsuccessfully, of course. So the conspiracy proposed by Vigano is nothing other than a needless fear of a future event, which will not occur for generations.

In the world today, we must oppose sin and falsehoods; we must oppose heresy and schism, as well as apostasy. But the main danger to the Church, right now, is from conservative heretics and schismatics, like Vigano, who oppose the Vicar of Christ. There is no deep state, or its spiritual equivalent. As long as we remain faithful to the true Magisterium and the true Roman Pontiff, we will not be led astray.

These documents that are issued by a very small set of Bishops and their supporters are a substitute for the Magisterium. They are presented as if they were more reliable than the teachings of the Pope and the body of Bishops. Do not be led astray. They are the sand crying out against the Rock. And the justification for their documents, that these are approved by many persons who sign the document after it is issued, is proof that they are building a false church upon sand. A doctrine or discipline is not justified by its approval from many persons. True doctrine and true discipline comes from the Church, the Pope, and the body of Bishops — not from those who oppose the same.

Ronald L. Conte Jr.