Before Covid-19, the Catholic far right daily attacked Pope Francis and the body of Bishops, as well as past Popes and Councils. The Ten Commandments, written on tablets of stone from the earth with the finger of God, have been replaced by these schismatics with their own understanding and with the majority opinion of their small subculture of Catholics. They not only reject any teaching of Pope Francis contrary to their own understanding, they also reject any teaching of any Pope or Council contrary to their ideas or the ideas of their subculture. And this far right schismatic subculture would not exist without the internet. They are a religious group born of the ability of scattered extremists to group together via the internet, and thereby oppose the Popes and Councils.

The surprising development was that, when the Covid-19 pandemic overwhelmed society, this same group of far right schismatics began to spew lies about the pandemic and the virus. Why? One of the perverse principles that knits this group together is rejection of all authority, both in the Church and in society, save that which is in agreement with their own minds and hearts. They do not worship God, but instead worship conservatism. So, for example, they treat a conservative President as if he were Roman Pontiff, and the true Roman Pontiff, Pope Francis, as if he were a despised political opponent. When they saw that government authorities were imposing rules on them, they rebelled — not because the rules were unreasonable or unnecessary, but because, like Satan, they hate all authority that would be above them. (Their seeming acceptance of authority that is highly conservative is not a type of acceptance of authority, for they only accept what is in agreement with their own minds and hearts.) Like Satan, they hate the Popes and the body of Bishops, they hate the Magisterium and the Church Herself, daily spewing words of vomit against the Church and Her true Shepherds.

This recent article by schismatic Bishop Carlo Vigano contains several of these falsehoods about the pandemic. It will be referenced below as “the Vigano article”.

This post will expose the lies that this hateful schismatic group is spreading about the pandemic and the Covid-19 virus. The lies are numbered, in no particular order, as follows.

1. The claim that the Covid-19 virus (officially called SARS-CoV-2) has not been isolated.

The Vigano article claims: “according to the statements of the US CDC (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – the virus has not yet been isolated.” This is entirely false. The virus has been isolated and genetically sequenced.

There exist multiple “strains” of this virus, just as occurs with other viruses, which have relatively small differences in the genetic sequence, but has also the same set of genes. Here is an article at Phys.org about the virus. It explains that researchers have analyzed the genes of the virus across thousands of different samples, and have found 6 main strains, which are very similar to one another. They are so similar that one vaccine should work against all six strains.

Here is another article, this one from the FDA, which explains that Covid-19 was isolated and genetically sequenced very early in the pandemic. In fact, one of the first samples of the virus to be genetically sequenced was from an early patient who became ill with Covid-19 in January of 2020.

Here’s a link to the exact nucleotide RNA sequence of one isolate of Covid-19. There are many thousands more isolates available online on that same government website. The claim by Vigano and others that the virus has not been isolated is false.

2. The next lie is based on the first lie above, that if the virus has not been sequenced, how can they test for it and how can they develop a vaccine for it? The simple answer, of course, is that the Covid-19 virus has been isolated and sequenced many times.

3. Another lie is that Covid-19 is no different than the flu. Vigano claims: “One might wonder why a flu virus that according to recent WHO data has a mortality (0.13%) slightly higher than that of a normal seasonal flu syndrome (0.10%) could have led to the declaration of the pandemic….”

This claim is false. According to the CDC, in a typical year such as 2018, Influenza and Pneumonia take the lives of 59,120 persons in the U.S. That is an average of 162 persons each day. How many have died from Covid-19 in the U.S.? On each of the past two days, over 2800 persons have died in the U.S. from Covid-19. And the total so far is 283,300 deaths in the U.S. from Covid-19. The first death in the U.S. was on February 29th, so we do not even have a full year of deaths from this disease. In 2018, heart disease, the number one cause of death in most years, killed 655,381 persons — which is about 1,795 deaths on average per day. Covid-19 exceeds that daily death rate. The only reason we do not yet have 600,000 Covid-19 deaths is that the cases and deaths have been increasing as we move into late fall and winter.

The death rate is not 0.13%. Worldwide, the reported deaths to reported cases has a rate of 2.3%. In the U.S., the rate is currently about 1.9%. That is 19 times the death rate of influenza. In addition, the number of cases of Covid-19 vastly exceeds the number of flu cases. So we not only have a death rate for Covid-19 that is many times higher than the flu, we have a case rate that is also higher. If a thousand persons contract the flu, then on average one person dies (0.1%). If a thousand persons contract Covid-19, then (coincidentally) 19 persons die on average. But we have over 14.5 million cases of Covid-19 in the U.S. So while the number of persons who die from the flu each year is about 60,000, the number who have died from Covid-19 so far is in the hundreds of thousands. And before this pandemic is over, the number dead in the U.S. from the disease will be significantly higher.

Comparing a pandemic that has killed over 1.5 million persons worldwide to the seasonal flu is a lie. And what does the WHO say? See this Q and A page. They say that the death rate for influenza is “usually well below 0.1%” and they estimate the death rate for Covid-19 based on reported cases at 3 to 4%. That will be lowered based on unreported cases, however, it cannot be lowered to the same death rate as the flu.

Vigano “wonders” why nearly identical measures were enacted in many different nations. The reason is that they are all facing the same threat from the same viral pandemic, and are all following the advice of the medical community.

4. A similar lie is that Covid-19 is “mild” for 80% of persons. This is a falsehood often repeated even by medical sources. It is based on an early study in China that unfortunately used three different categories for Covid-19 cases: mild, severe, critical. The “mild” cases included persons with pneumonia, who had to be hospitalized. In other words, they were “mild” from the point of view of physicians who treat ICU patients. Later categorizations used four groups: mild, moderate, severe, critical. And then, even for “mild” stay-at-home cases, afflicted persons are reporting symptoms much more severe than any flu.

The more severe cases of Covid-19 include the following. Some persons have vast clotting of the blood, which destroys major organs. Many persons have difficulty breathing and have to be given oxygen. Some even have to be put on mechanical ventilation. Some persons have so much damage to their lungs, they end up with fibrosis of the lungs (permanent scarring of the lungs) which will make it difficult to breathe for the rest of their lives. Some persons develop Diabetes as a result of Covid-19. Some persons end up with LongCovid, such that their body is unable to clear the virus, and they have continuing severe symptoms for months on end. The virus can affect the brain, the peripheral nervous system, the major organs. The virus has the ability to infect lung cells, neurons (nerve cells), cells that line the blood vessels, cells in the heart, kidney, liver, and intestines. The virus can also infect platelets and lymphocytes. It can cross the blood-brain barrier. It can infect and gravely harm the placenta in pregnant women.

This is a severe virus which is not comparable to the flu. The medical authorities are not lying about the severity of the pandemic. Instead, ultra-conservative Catholics like Vigano are lying about the disease and its severity. Why do they lie? It gives them power. It plays on the fears of their audience. This is how perverse shepherds gather the sheep to themselves, not with love and truth, but with fear and lies.

5. Vigano: “One might also wonder why Covid-19 treatments are generally discredited, minimized or prohibited, while the vaccine is considered the most effective solution.”

Covid-19 treatments are becoming more effective. The death rate in the U.S. in April of 2020 was about 6.6%, and now it is just under 2%, cumulatively. The daily rate of deaths to cases is about 1.3%. The death rate is falling because doctors and hospitals are becoming better at treating Covid-19. It is not true that treatments are discredited or minimized or prohibited.

Vaccines are better than treatments because it is better to prevent a case, than to treat a case. If you avoid contracting a disease by means of a vaccine, you do not suffer. But if you contract a disease, you suffer and possibly die. So why would any sane person “wonder” why a vaccine is better than a treatment?

I question whether Carlo Vigano might be either mentally ill or at least in need of some type of psychiatric treatment. He seems to have more than a touch of paranoia. He frequently publicly “warns” people about a global conspiracy theory that is non-existent. He is in hiding. His lies about the pandemic, the “deep Church” and the “deep state” are similar to paranoid delusions. Perhaps he is in hiding so that the Church authorities or the state authorities will not be able to issue an order that he receive a psychiatric evaluation.

6. Vigano: “an alleged pandemic – that today we see is no more serious than a normal flu, as confirmed by official data from all over the world”. This lie is a combination of the previous lies. There is in fact a pandemic, as proven by over 65 million cases and over 1.5 million deaths to date worldwide. The claim that Covid-19 is not more serious than the flu is a very harmful and blatantly false lie. The claim that “official data” confirms these lies is also blatantly false.

7. The Great Reset. The claim is made by Vigano and others, that the pandemic is a hoax that “has been used to create a tremendous global social and economic crisis and so to legitimize the drastic reduction of the basic rights of the population. It is what its authors themselves call the Great Reset: the global reset of the economy, of society and of masses of people.”

The fear is that the pandemic will be used as an excuse to reform society in ways that persons on the far right will find disagreeable. Have none of these conspiracy theorists noticed that the world, in general, already acts in ways contrary to ultra-conservative Catholicism? Sinful secular society already has made abortion widely legal, and has approved of many sexual sins, via law and/or culture. What need would there be for a “reset”? The nations of the world are controlled by persons who already strongly disagree with the views of the religious far right.

In addition, the pandemic is neither a hoax, nor was it initiated, nor is it controlled by any authorities or individuals or groups. Epidemics and pandemics are a type of natural disaster that will occur from time to time. No one is controlling the pandemic in order to institute into society some new restrictions on rights.

Also, there would seem to be no restrictions on rights that have been introduced during the pandemic. Restrictions on the number of persons at Mass has been, at times, excessive. But that is a typical over-reaction of politicians (and their typical lack of concern for religion). It’s not a conspiracy.

8. The wearing of masks is a medical necessity, as proven by the fact that doctors and nurses have always worn masks in surgery, to prevent spread of disease. It is medical leaders who are recommending masks for our own protection and the protection of others. Studies show that masks have two benefits: reducing risk of contracting Covid-19, a deadly disease, and, if one should become ill in any case, it reduces the amount of virus that initiates the disease, thereby reducing the severity of the case. In other words, if you happen to become ill despite wearing the mask, the mask has at least reduced the amount of virus and this in turn makes it more likely that the case of Covid-19 will be mild instead of severe.

9. Social distancing and reducing the number of persons who gather at any event also protects people reducing the risk of contracting the virus. So masks and distancing are not a conspiracy, but are medical interventions designed to reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

Vigano: “the deprivation of freedom, the interference of governments in the private life of its citizens, the establishment of a pseudo-health regime in which, against all objective scientific evidence, the number of diners, the distance between people, the possibility of buying, selling, breathing and even praying, is decided from above.”

The above claims in the quote from Carlo Vigano are contrary to reason and medical science. I have read literally hundreds of medical studies on Covid-19. The objective scientific evidence contradicts what Vigano is saying, and instead supports masks, distancing, reducing the number of persons who gather, and other precautions recommended by doctors. In addition, it is absurd to exaggerate these restriction to claim that buying and selling are prohibited, along with breathing and praying.

10. False End Times claims

Vigano’s public expressions about the Roman Pontiff and the pandemic often reference, subtly and even openly, the End Times. But we are not in the End Times at the present moment. There is no Antichrist in the world today. There is no “mark of the beast”. Some persons have claimed that a vaccine is a way in introduce tracking microchips into persons’ bodies, and even that this is a type of the “mark of the beast” from the last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation (the apocalypse). This is factually and spiritually false. The book of Revelation speaks of the Antichrist as a single human person who obtains political and military control over the whole world. There is no such person in the world today. The world is divided into many different nations, with a vast number of leaders.

The mark of the beast in Revelation is a visible mark on the hand or forehead which is required in order to buy or sell. A vaccine is nothing like such a mark. The comparison is absurd. We are not in the time of the Antichrist today, and we will not be for at least a few hundred years, as many different lengthy events must occur first.

In the view of Catholic eschatology (end times theology), the End Times will be divided into two parts: the lesser tribulation, then an inter-tribulation period, and finally the greater tribulation. The Antichrist and the mark of the beast are in the greater tribulation. But we have not yet experienced the lesser tribulation. So the pandemic cannot be related to the Antichrist or the mark of the beast.

Vigano: “Precisely in these days, with the harmony of a plan that seems orchestrated in every detail under a single leadership….”

There is no single leadership in the world. And the Roman Pontiff does not have control over the actions of governments. What is he talking about? This seems to be a reference, one of many, to the End Times, and in particular to the Antichrist. Vigano seems to think that the Antichrist is in the world today, and that he is orchestrating events from behind the scenes. But this claim is contrary to sound Catholic end times theology. There is no Antichrist in the world today. There is no conspiracy.

11. Another Vigano paranoid delusion: “threatened by an endless series of pandemics designed by those who already have the miraculous vaccine ready.”

Covid-19 is one pandemic. There is no evidence of an “endless series of pandemics”. To draw the conclusion of an endless series, from only one event, is paranoia; it is not the conclusion of a reasonable sane mind.

It is factually false to claim that the pandemic was designed by someone. The virus closely resembles a coronavirus that infects bats. That virus was then transferred to an intermediate host, another type of animal, and finally the virus jumped to humans. It is a natural event, not a man-made event, this pandemic. And there has been no “miraculous vaccine” laying ready to use. There is no evidence to support these insane claims.

12. Extending the conspiracy to the Church. Vigano: “Someone, in the deafening silence of the Catholic Hierarchy, has imposed the closure of churches or the limitation of religious celebrations, considering the House of God as a cinema or a museum, but at the same time declaring abortion clinics “essential services. These are the paradoxes of a misguided power, managed by people corrupt in the soul and sold out to Satan….”

The Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops have concern for the bodies and the souls of their flock and of the whole human race. Therefore, they generally support the recommendations of medical experts. This is the love of Christ for His flock, and not a conspiracy (which Vigano thinks originates from Satan). No one in the Church said that abortion was an essential service. Some government authorities wanted to keep abortion clinics open, while restricting churches; but that is the usual misguided work of sinful secular society, which does not come from the Church.

Bishop Carlo Vigano is a schismatic who rejects the authority per se of Pope Francis, and who has separated himself from communion with the body of Bishops led by Pope Francis. He is automatically excommunicated for schism. He also rejects the dogma of the indefectibility of the Church and the never-failing faith of the Roman Pontiff, thereby also committing the sin of heresy. So his criticism of the Church is from the outside. He is not a shepherd of the Catholic Church.

His accusation that the Catholic Hierarchy are corrupt in soul and have sold out to Satan is contrary to the dogma of the indefectibility of the Church. He is essentially accusing the Church of being infiltrated and controlled by Satan. This is tantamount to accusing Jesus of having a demon, as the Church is the body of Christ, with Christ as Her head, and with the Holy Spirit as Her soul. Such an accusation is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (the proximate type, not final impenitence).

Those Catholics who assist Carlo Vigano in spreading and promoting his schism and heresy and blasphemy are formally cooperating with those sins. Those Catholics who assist Vigano in spreading his lies about the pandemic are formally cooperating in those sins of harming the bodies and lives of their neighbors. These are grave sins being committed by the Catholics who run various conservative Catholic media outlets.

Past schisms and heresies in the Church were different from the current schism and heresy. For today the schismatics and heretics use modern media, including the internet, to gather those who like misguided minds and to spread harm against the Church and the human race. They do more harm by using these modern means of communication.

Carlo Vigano is acting like an Antipope, in all but the name. He is attempting to use fear to gather the faithful to himself, away from the true Vicar of Christ. He has condemned the Church Herself, and is attempting to lead the flock away from the Ark of Salvation, into his own false church of fear and lies.

Ronald L. Conte Jr.