Conclusion: Archbishop Carlo M. Vigano should be brought before a judge, ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation, and if he is found to be mentally competent (which is not at all certain), he should be excommunicated and laicized by the Church. Also, a court should order him to cease and desist from spreading harmful misinformation about the pandemic.

To be clear, Archbishop Carlo M. Vigano does not explicitly claim to be the Roman Pontiff. However, he behaves as if he alone were the head of the Magisterium, and as if he had the role, by his sole authority, without being led by the Roman Pontiff, without accepting any guidance or teaching from the Roman Pontiff, and without any consultation or unity with the body of Bishops, to decide what is and is not Catholic doctrine. Not only is Vigano a schismatic and heretic, as established in my past posts, but he acts as if he were the supreme teacher and judge of all the faithful. He has repeatedly issued teaching documents, addressed to the whole Church, as if he were the Pope. He has issued decisions on doctrine which are contrary to magisterial teaching, for example, in the Declaration of Truths, which contains heretical errors, such as its contradiction of the teaching of Trent on baptism of desire and adoption as children of God.

Vigano has also given himself the role to judge, not only the teachings of Pope Francis as Roman Pontiff, but also the teachings of Ecumenical Councils, especially Vatican II. No one judges Ecumenical Councils, except the Roman Pontiff who approves the Council, and thereafter other Roman Pontiffs must accept the teaching of the approved Council. Vigano is in formal schism for putting himself above the authority of the Roman Pontiff and the recent Council. And since he speaks as if he were the leader of the whole Church, he speaks as if he were Pope.

In some ways, he speaks as if he were above all Popes and Councils, so that he has even usurped the role of Christ over the whole Church. And other papal critics have behaved in the same way, progressing from judging and condemning one Pope, Francis, to judging Popes and Councils without limit, as if the whole Church were under their pretended authority.

The Letter to Mothers has no Magisterial Authority

In his latest document, Vigano errs gravely on a number of points. His writings have become so disordered that even LifeSiteNews had to put a “Disclaimer” on his Letter: “Some of the claims in Archbishop Viganò’s letter do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews and are presented only for your information.” The latest Vigano document is called “Letter to Mothers”.

The document is not so bad on pointing out abuses of government authority, promotion of abortion and other sins, and the need to speak out against such abuses. However, then the document goes into the subject of vaccines:

Vigano: “This certainly applies to the hateful law on abortion, but it should also be applied to other cases, in which the abuse of authority regards the imposition of vaccines whose danger is unknown or that, by their very composition, are ethically problematic. I am referring to the case in which a vaccine would contain fetal material coming from the bodies of aborted children.”

The Covid-19 vaccines currently in trials do not contain any fetal material, nor any fetal cells at all. The mRNA type vaccine is not produced using fetal cell lines. However, some research prior to production of any vaccine, may have used such a cell line. Decades ago, some cells from an aborted fetus were used to produce a particular lineage of cells, which are reproduced from one cell generation to the next, unceasingly. Very soon after, there is no material from the aborted fetus. A few such cell lines are used in research. Less commonly, some cell lines are used to produce the actual vaccines. In the case of the Covid-19 vaccines which are nearing public use, none are produced in that manner. However, out of the over 100 Covid-19 vaccines in development, some may be designed so as to be produced by such a fetal cell line.

So no vaccine today “contains fetal material coming from the bodies of aborted children”. That is factually false. The vaccines are tested in the standard set of trials, to determine safety and effectiveness. Some persons have opined that we should omit the last set of trials, and proceed with the vaccination, as many lives can be saved by the vaccine. So the dangers are not unknown; Phase II trials have been completed for the mRNA vaccine and soon for other vaccines. In the case of the morality of the use of a vaccine, in the worst case one in which fetal cell lines were used not only in early research, but in making the vaccine, receiving such a vaccine is moral.

The remote material cooperation with the abortion that occurred decades ago, for reasons unrelated to obtaining cells for research or for making vaccines, is of very limited moral weight in the circumstances of the act, and so the overall act becomes moral if there is a reason of equal or greater moral weight. Reducing suffering and death from a deadly pandemic is of such very grave moral weight that the use of such a vaccine is clearly entirely moral. To say otherwise implies either a rejection of the teaching of the Church on material cooperation, or a misjudgment of the circumstances of thorough incompetence.

In addition, it is morally obligatory for every individual to do whatever they can to help stop the pandemic, as the lives and health of our neighbors EVERYWHERE are at risk. Failing in such a grave moral obligation could be an actual mortal sin of omission. The only time that this moral obligation to accept a vaccine and to do other things, such as wearing a mask and social distancing, could be morally omitted, would be for an individual who has a particular personal circumstance that outweighs his particular contribution to the overall effort to end the pandemic.

Vigano: “But there are other disturbing aspects now envisaged, which regard not only the content of instruction but also the method of participation in the lessons: social distancing, the use of masks and other forms of presumed prevention of contagion in classrooms and school environments cause serious damage to the mental and physical equilibrium of children and young people, compromising their ability to learn, the interpersonal relations between pupils and teachers, and reducing them to automatons that are not only ordered what to think but also how to move and even how to breathe.”

The ability of masks and social distancing to reduce infection rate and mortality rate is well-proven [1, 2, 3, 4]. Therefore, such measures are morally required, just as the good Samaritan was morally required to go out of his way to help the injured victim of robbers. The exaggerated claim that these measures “cause serious damage” to children and young people is unproven. The claim they are reduced “to automatons that are not only ordered what to think but also how to move and even how to breathe” is an absurd exaggeration. Such measures are necessary during a deadly pandemic.

Vigano: “It seems that the very notion of common sense that ought to govern choices fraught with consequences in social life has been lost….” That quote is fittingly applied to Vigano’s own words and behavior.

Vigano: “parents have their children taken away from them if they test positive for an influenza virus”. No, the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2; Covid-19) is not a type of influenza. It is a type of SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and it has the ability to cause the deaths of tens of millions of persons before the pandemic ends.

Vigano’s conspiracy theory: “This mixing of private interests in public affairs, inspired by the dictates of Masonic and globalist thought, should be vigorously denounced by those who are representatives of the citizens, and by those who see their legitimate powers usurped by an elite that has never made a mystery of its true intentions.”

To the contrary, the literal freemasons of today have little power and no apparent interest in opposing the Church or controlling the world. It remains illicit for Catholics to become liberal masons. But this idea of a shadowing group of elite persons with masonic values or intentions is fictional nonsense. It does not correspond to reality.

On the other hand, the idea of figurative freemasons — those who wish to chip away at or replace the Stones of the Church, which are Her doctrines and disciplines, and who wish to oppose legitimate Church authority, so as to assert their own pretended authority — such an idea fits very well with the words and behavior of the papal critics, including Carlo Vigano. He is one of the figurative freemasons of today. He is the very enemy which he himself fears.

Vigano: “We should not lose sight of a fundamental element: the pursuit of ideologically perverse goals is invariably accompanied by an interest of an economic nature, like a parallel track.”

No, not necessarily. Some persons assert errors and erroneous ideology so as to gain power and notoriety, for ego and not particularly for riches. And this is seen in the case of Vigano himself, who frequently releases documents to the world to give himself notoriety and influence, not money.

Vigano: “It is easy to agree on the fact that there is no profit in the voluntary donation of umbilical cords, just as there is no profit in the donation of hyper-immune plasma for the treatment of Covid. Conversely, it is extremely profitable for abortion clinics to provide fetal tissue and for pharmaceutical companies to produce monoclonal antibodies or artificial plasma. ”

So it seems that Vigano is implying that plasma to treat Covid is moral; fine, it is clearly moral, as long as it works and provides no danger to the donors. Abortion clinics do not provide fetal tissue for the type of research that is involved in vaccine development. Monoclonal antibodies are a legitimate possible treatment for Covid-19. Artificial plasma is used in other disorders, not really in Covid.

Vigano: “Having said this, it is necessary to understand whether the solution of a vaccine is always and everywhere the best health response to a virus. In the case of Covid, for example, many exponents of the scientific community agree in affirming that it is more useful to develop a natural immunity rather than inoculate the depowered virus. But also in this case, as we know, herd immunity is attained without any costs, while vaccination campaigns involve enormous investments and guarantee equally large profits for those who patent and produce them. And it should also be verified – but in this the experts will certainly be able to speak with greater confidence – whether it is possible to produce a vaccine for a virus that does not yet seem to have been isolated according to the protocols of science-based medicine, and what potential consequences may come from using newly generated genetically modified vaccines.”

That’s a crock of shit! [5] Multiple vaccines are one essential part of the response to any viral pandemic, as we do not have the types of curative medications that are effective for most bacterial infections (antibiotics). It is absolutely necessary to develop vaccines as soon as possible. The first sentence from the quote above is ignorant.

No experts are saying that. I’ve been reading research studies on Covid-19 daily since late February, 2020. I’ve read hundreds of studies. I’ve listened to very many medical lectures on video about Covid-19. I know that the experts are saying, as I’ve read and heard them in videos. No one is saying we should develop a natural immunity. Do you know what the experts are saying about natural immunity? That is might fade after a matter of three months. This point is controversial, with experts on both sides (i.e. whether natural immunity will last or not). Bug usually, to obtain this immunity, one must become sick with Covid-19 and then recover. This involves the risk of death and of permanent damage to one’s healthy via lung fibrosis or other disorders. Therefore natural immunity, and the widespread natural immunity needed to produce herd immunity, is attained AT GREAT COST of lives lost and lives damaged. The claim that this immunity is obtained “without any costs” is an exceedingly harmful falsehood.

Vaccine investments are very risky, especially since a number of companies are producing vast amounts of their vaccines prior to final testing and approval, thereby risking a vast loss of money put at risk. And they do this to more quickly be able to protect health and lives, if the vaccine is approved.

The claim that the virus “does not yet seem to have been isolated” is false. Here is a link to U.S. National Library of Medicine which makes available the viral (SARS-CoV-2) genome for use by researchers. Numerous research studies, found via Google Scholar, have published their research on the whole SARS-CoV-2 genome.

Also, most vaccines under development do not “inoculate the depowered virus”, i.e. they do not use a killed or live-attenuated virus. Instead, they take a section of the RNA sequence for the virus, which codes for the Spike protein, and cause that, in various ways, to be expressed as the Spike protein which is then presented to the human immune system via the vaccine. This results in the adaptive arm of the immune system being able to recognize and attack the virus.

So the claims by Vigano about Covid-19 and vaccines are based on profound ignorance. His evaluations of the morality of the situation are not based on Catholic teaching about ethics and the principles of cooperation.

Vigano: “The world health industry, led by the WHO, has become a true multinational corporation that has as its primary end the profit of shareholders (pharmaceutical companies and so-called philanthropic foundations), and its means of pursuing it is the transformation of citizens into chronically ill people. ”

That is just one of many fictional conspiracy theories being promoted by Vigano and others on the far right. They justify their distrust and hatred of organizations that disagree with their own conservative world view by imagining that they are villains with secret powerful malicious plans about to overwhelm humanity. Such claims are literally proximate to schizophrenic paranoid delusions. Large companies and large non-profits sometimes err in various ways; they are not led by the Spirit of God as is the Church. But they are also not the organizations of supervillains, with some type of nefarious plan for world domination.

Vigano: “And it is obvious: the pharmaceutical companies want to make money by selling drugs and vaccines; if eliminating diseases and producing effective drugs leads to a reduction in the number of sick people and thus of profits, it will only be logical to expect that the drugs they make will be ineffective and that the vaccines they promote will be the instrument of spreading diseases rather than eradicating them. And this is precisely what is happening.”

Yes, paranoid schizophrenics always believe their conspiracy theories need no proof; it’s obvious. I find it hard to believe that Carlo Vigano is mentally stable and entirely mentally competent. I think he should literally be examined by a psychiatrist. The pharmaceutical companies are subject to legitimate reasonable criticisms. That said, they are not selling vaccines that spread diseases, rather than eradicating them. Their vaccines are tested by independent researchers, in published peer-reviewed studies, overseen by government organizations, such as the FDA and CDC in the U.S. They absolutely do not spread the disease. The vaccines in development do not contain the whole virus. And they are not trying to make ineffective drugs, as their medications are also subject to independent studies and reviews by government organizations (in various nations).

The fact that your physician makes a living treating your illnesses does not mean that he is trying to make you sick. And the same is true for medical companies; they mean well.

Vigano: “It may seem difficult to persuade ourselves that those who ought to be protecting health instead wish to ensure the continuation of illnesses: such cynicism repulses – and rightly so….”

Yes, the cynicism, to put it mildly, of Vigano is repulsive — morally and rationally repulsive — as it is contrary to truth and is an unjust baseless false accusation of grave sin. Vigano violates one of the ten Commandments with these claims: you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Vigano: “And yet this is what is happening right under our eyes, and it involves not only the emergence of Covid and vaccines – in particular anti-influenza vaccines, which were widely distributed in 2019 right in those areas where Covid has had the highest number of victims [in 2020] – but all treatments and therapies, as well as childbirth and care for the sick.”

No, that is not what is happening. Thousands of independent physicians and researchers have published thousands of studies, and they have not found any such conspiracy. Their research is available online at Google Scholar and many other websites. So, what is right under our eyes is the absolutely clear proof that these conspiracy theories are false.

Vigano is claiming, in the above quote, that “anti-influenza vaccines” caused Covid-19 deliberately. In other words, he implies that the flu vaccine was a means to spread Covid-19. And the further claim that “all treatments and therapies” are part of this conspiracy is also patently false and literally an indication of mental illness on the part of Vigano.

Vigano then “clarified” his conspiracy theory, when questioned about it by LifeSiteNews, and his reply just made it worse: “All the therapies, in the WHO’s plan, must lead to rendering the patients chronically ill.”

Vigano: ” so also in the “Church of Mercy” that was born in 2013 it is preferred to adapt the commitment of the Pontifical Dicasteries and the Academy for Life to a liquid vision – and I dare say a perverse vision because it denies the truth – which embraces the demands of environmentalism with connotations of Malthusianism.”

Okay. This is getting tedious. The phrase Church of Mercy is placed in quotes by Vigano because, as more clearly stated in past documents, he does not seem to hold that the Church led by Pope Francis (since 13 May 2013) is the true Catholic Church. That assertion alone makes him a formal schismatic. Vigano does not have the role to stand in judgment over the Church and the Holy See to judge or to condemn, nor to decide what is and is not truth.

Vigano: “We remain bewildered, however, as we witness the silence of Rome, which appears to be more concerned with promoting recycling – to the point of writing an encyclical about it – rather than the lives of the unborn, the health of the weakest, and the assistance of the terminally ill”

The Pope’s teaching on environmentalism is integral, including the human person and human society, and placing all the elements in a scale of values, with human needs such as life (and opposition to abortion) higher in the scale than concern for global warming (for example).

As for “Mathusianism”, which refers to the idea that a massive number of deaths of human persons is a natural way to balance the population, is a closer fit to Vigano’s ideas than anyone else’s. Vigano wants to reject vaccines and drugs from pharmaceutical companies in favor of natural immunity and herd immunity — which can only be established if the vast majority of the population becomes sick with Covid-19 and tens of millions to hundreds of millions die on the way to establishing herd immunity without vaccines.

If, on the contrary, herd immunity is established WITH vaccines, then far fewer persons die on the path to that herd immunity. Yet Vigano rejects vaccines and many treatments, leaving little to stand in the way of sickness and death before herd immunity can be established.

Malthusian refers to Vigano. Freemason also fits Vigano. The closest fit to his own conspiracy theory is that he and his ilk are the conspirators. They are doing the things that their conspiracy theory accuses others of doing, including trying to subject the Church and the world to their own plan and understanding, rather than to the plan and will of God.

Vigano: ” This is only one aspect of a much wider problem, a much greater crisis, which as I have said many times stems from the moment in which the deviant part of the Church, led by what was once the Society of Jesus, seized power and made her a slave to the mentality of the world.”

Again, such assertions are schismatic. Vigano is rejecting the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and is implying that Pope Francis is not the valid Roman Pontiff of the Church, but a leader of a false Church or, in this new phrasing “the deviant part of the Church”. If Vigano believes that Francis is the valid Roman Pontiff, then he is accusing the Church of losing Her indefectibility, which is heresy. Or else, Vigano is accusing Pope Francis of being an antipope over a false Church, which is schismatic.

Vigano: “Its present members hope for mass vaccination and the universal brotherhood of the New World Order, contradicting previous pronouncements of the same Pontifical Academy.”

I have no idea how mass vaccination during a pandemic somehow establishes the “universal brotherhood of the New World Order.” It’s patently absurd and contrary to both faith and reason.

Eschatological note: the establishment of one world government and one world religion occurs in the distant future, during the time of the Antichrist. The one world religion is the religion of the Antichrist, but the true Catholic Church still exists as a clearly separate entity, against which the Church of the Antichrist is vehemently opposed. The Antichrist never wishes to be Pope, nor to run the Church, but only to destroy Her. Since that time is in the distant future, the current set of world events cannot be fit into that sequence of events.

Vigano then quotes the Pontifical Academy of Life — during the time period when he has praised its leadership and its words and actions — and claims: “This statement lacks any doctrinal authority and instead aligns itself with the dominant ideology promoted by the WHO, its principal sponsor Bill Gates, and pharmaceutical companies.”

Wrong. The principles of cooperation with evil, especially permitting remote material cooperation with a past abortion, are clear. And in this case, the remoteness is very high, and the moral weight of the good consequences during a deadly pandemic clearly greatly outweigh the remote material cooperation. This is a simple application of the perennial teaching of the Church and of orthodox moral theologians.

And then, on top of his error on the principles of cooperation, Vigano adds his conspiracy theory, as if it were obvious. WHO, Bill Gates, and big pharma are not part of a global conspiracy to dominate the world.

Vigano: “From a moral point of view, for every Catholic who intends to remain faithful to his or her Baptism, it is absolutely inadmissible to accept a vaccination that utilizes material coming from human fetuses in its process of production. This has also been restated authoritatively recently by the American Bishop Joseph E. Strickland in his April 27 Pastoral Letter[4] and in his August 1 tweet.[5]”

FALSE. It is not “absolutely inadmissible” since remote material cooperation is not an intrinsically evil act. Also, the vaccines soon to be available for Covid-19 do not use material from human fetuses in the process of production. In fact, no vaccines use “material coming from human fetuses in its process of production”. None whatsoever do that. Instead, they use a cell line which long ago lost all material from any fetus. Also, though such cell lines are used in basic research studies, they are not often used to actually produce vaccines.

Then the decision of Bishop Strickland, since it contradicts the prior authoritative decisions of the Holy See, is not authoritative, especially for persons outside of his diocese. The decision of the Holy See is the authoritative decision, which Vigano rejects. So he is not following Church authority, but only his own mind.

Vigano then asks us to “create a united front that opposes the excessive power of the globalist elite which would like to subjugate us all.”

There is no such global elite cabal seeking to control the world and to “subjugate us all”. And the following sentences are simply inexplicable.

Vigano: “It should be recalled that while the pharmaceutical companies are proceeding on the plane of economic interests only, there are people operating on the ideological plane who, using the opportunity of the vaccine, would also like to implant devices for identifying people, and that these nanotechnologies – I am referring to project ID2020, “quantum dots” and other similar initiatives – are being patented by the same individuals who patented the viruses as well as their vaccine. Furthermore, a cryptocurrency project has been patented to allow not only health identification but also personal and banking information to be monitored, in a delirium of omnipotence that up until yesterday could have been dismissed as the ranting of conspiracy theorists, but that today has already been initiated in several countries, including for example Sweden and Germany. We see the words of Saint John taking shape right before our eyes: “It forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a mark on the right hand and the forehead; so that no one could buy or sell without having the mark” (Rev 13:16-17).”

None of the vaccines being developed can be used to implant computer chips or “quantum dots” or anything similar, in order to track people. And, you know, most people carry ID, live in a published address, given the government their address, carry a cell phone, we already can be found. And what is this obsession with being unable to be found? There’s no need for the government to implant something in people to find them. They can just look up your address. Then the claim about cryptocurrency also does not make sense, as it would not be a particularly fitting technology for personal information. But in any case, our personal, medical, and banking information is already available electronically. So there doesn’t seem to be anything to fear in this.

Then Vigano says: “until yesterday could have been dismissed as the ranting of conspiracy theorists.” Yes, until yesterday, on yesterday and today, and well into the future. This is definitely a conspiracy rant. And it has nothing to do with the Biblical “mark of the beast”. That is in the distant future, and it has nothing to do with vaccines. Vigano literally believes that we are living in the time of the Antichrist. He seems to think that the Pope is associated with the Antichrist, and that evil has taken over the Church. This man should be laicized. He is a danger to the path of salvation of the faithful.

Vigano: “The virus, as such, is not patented because it has not yet been isolated by anyone (and this makes it impossible to produce a vaccine, within which there must necessarily be the disabled virus)…. Thus they create the disease and the fake cure, and they have the pretext to insert the chip or quantum dots into people, officially to track the (non-existent) contagion but in fact to make us all controllable.]”

The Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 has been isolated very many times, and each different strain has been compared and studied. The vaccine can be produced without isolating the genome, by various techniques, such as obtaining only the gene for the Spike protein, and making that the basis for the vaccine. The vaccine does not need to contain the whole disabled virus, as is the case for killed-virus or live-attenuated-virus vaccines.

Notice that Carlo Vigano is publicly claiming that the Covid-19 disease was created by the global elitists. He is also speaking of a “fake cure”, which I think refers to the vaccine. In general, vaccines are not cures, although in some cases (e.g. rabies) a so-called therapeutic vaccine is curative. There’s not chip or quantum dot that tracks people. And it makes no sense to claim that such tracking would somehow control us.

I believe that Carlo Vigano has fallen under the influence of some particular false private revelation. This is a common type of claim in FPRs, the computer chip used by the Antichrist to control people. It is also false. The Antichrist is not in the world today; he is not born until the late 24th century, and does not take power until the early 25th century.

Vigano’s claim that “the contagion”, i.e. Covid-19, is “non-existent” is false, dangerous, and harmful to the entire human race. And the idea that we can be controlled by a quantum dot inserted by means of a vaccine, so that global elitists (apparently working for the Antichrist) can take over the world is insane. He closes the letter with a warning about a “perverse dictatorship that is about to be imposed on us.”

Summary

Archbishop Carlo Vigano, if indeed his is mentally competent, is guilty of heresy and schism, and of grave scandal by prompting heresy and schism among the faithful. He is also causing grave harm to the word by his baseless, irrational, patently-false, claims about the pandemic and the vaccines and medications used to save many persons from suffering and death. For these reasons, Vigano should be taken before a judge, to decide if he needs psychiatric treatment. After a psych evaluation, if he is mentally competent, he should be ordered by a judge to cease and desist from these false and harmful remarks about the vaccines, treatments, and the disease itself. Then the Church should issue a judgment of excommunication and laicization.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.

Please take a look at this list of my books and booklets, and see if any topic interests you.

1. Wang, Y., et al., “Reduction of secondary transmission of sars-cov-2 in households by face mask use, disinfection and social distancing: a cohort study in Beijing, China.” BMJ Glob. Heal. 5, e002794 (2020).

2. Leffler, CT, et al., “Association of country-wide coronavirus mortality with demographics, testing, lockdowns, and public wearing of masks.” update July 2, 2020. medRxiv (2020).

3. Kenyon, C. “Widespread use of face masks in public may slow the spread of SARS CoV-2: an ecological study.” medRxiv, 2020.03.31.20048652 (2020).

4. Courtemanche, Charles, et al. “Strong Social Distancing Measures In The United States Reduced The COVID-19 Growth Rate: Study evaluates the impact of social distancing measures on the growth rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the United States.” Health Affairs (2020): 10-1377.
See also “Appendix Exhibit 4” in Supplemental File.

5. Tom Post, Jaws 2.