Vice presidents are in the news currently while we are comparing Joe Biden’s Catholicism and that of VP hopeful JD Vance. Biden’s faith is born of Vatican II, Vance’s is born of the blowback to Vatican II that grew wings under the papacies of JP II and Benedict XVI.*
Together, the two popes went out of their way to elevate Opus Dei, the order founded by a Spanish fascist priest who supported dictator Franco, among other things. Resistance to Vatican II is alive and well in powerful players such as Leonard Leo, who almost singlehandedly brought about the current MAGA Supreme Court.**
And Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, architect of the notorious Project 2025, the blueprint for the fascist takeover of America if Trump wins the 2024 election.***
The fascist wing of the RC church makes war with Pope Francis by ignoring Laudato Si and promoting denial about climate change–“drill, baby drill!” being their meme. Also, by holding up the shadow side of capitalism as practiced unfettered on Wall Street and among international conglomerates that prefer their profits to the lot of the poor. A “preferential option for the poor” is not in their world view any more than protecting Mother Earth is. Cutting billionaires’ taxes is their priority.
They are well represented in the American bishops’ conference which chose to make abortion (i.e., controlling women’s bodies) the #1 issue this presidential election year, rather than whether democracy can and should survive.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vignano, who was appointed papal nuncio to the US by Pope Benedict in 2011 and served to 2018, has also questioned the teachings of the Second Vatican Council (Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, was also opposed to Vatican II). Vignano also questioned the legitimacy of Pope Francis.
But in an amazing and historically unprecedented event, Vignano was recently excommunicated by Pope Francis.
What does it mean that a Vatican ambassador to the United States for seven years would subsequently be excommunicated by a Pope? What about all the American bishops he got appointed? And those candidates he vetoed from appointments? What damage did he do as ambassador that will take generations to undo?
How did he impact the American bishops conference itself—which elected an Opus Dei archbishop as its head and still has a majority of bishops in America of that persuasion–though Pope Francis is trying to alter that.
To be continued
*Paul Elie, “J. D. Vance’s Radical Religion,” The New Yorker, 7/24/2024.
**See Jay Michaelson, “The Secrets of Leonard Leo, the Man Behind Trump’s Supreme Court Pick,” The Daily Beast, 7/24/2018.
***Rachel Leingang and Stephanie Kirchgaessner, “Kevin Roberts, architect of Project 2025, has close ties to radical Catholic group Opus Dei,” The Guardian, 7/26/2924,
See Matthew Fox, The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved.
Banner Image: Now-excommunicated former Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, presided over solemn Vespers at St. Joseph Province, 2015. Photo by St. Joseph Province on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What does it mean to you when you learn of the impact of a neo-fascist religious order on the Supreme Court and on political leaders and movements in our time? Where and how does your spiritual commitment kick in?
Recommended Reading
The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved
The Pope’s War offers a provocative look at three decades of corruption in the Catholic Church, focusing on Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The final section in the book focuses on birthing a truly catholic Christianity.
“This book should be read by everybody, not only for its ferocious courage, but also for its vision for what needs to be saved from the destructive forces that threaten authentic Christianity.” ~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope.
“In the gripping The Pope’s War, Matthew Fox takes an unwavering look at the layers of corruption in the Catholic Church, holding moral truth against power.” — Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II
6 thoughts on “An Excommunicated Papal Nuncio & VP Religious Allegiance”
Thank you, Matthew.
But wasn’t the focus of John XXIII in calling Vatican II, that of peace? It was the height of the Cuban missile crisis.
How could Biden be a Vatican II president when he authorized/promoted money for the killing of thousands in Gaza?
Biden has a dishonorable partner in Netanyahu. The entire region is the home of religious extremism. Backed into a corner would injecting more
Religion into the mix help? Biden has repeatedly asked Netanyahu to stop
killing innocent people.
Truly a tragedy…again driven by those willing to use faith for power.
The Church is heading towards its end… thanks to the fascism that already prevails.
My thoughts/comments on DM from August 5, 2024 still apply to today’s DM commentary questions. The RC church has been a conservative patriarchal institution for a long time in history spiritually suppressing/oppressing the Loving Divine Feminine Spirit in society except for genuinely spiritual exceptions among saints, mystics, prophets, spiritual social warriors, artists, indigenous peoples, and many good people with a living and compassionate Faith in their daily lives. Humanity is still spiritually evolving towards Cosmic Christ Consciousness with-in God’s Divine Spirit/Flow of LOVING Healing Creative Diverse Wholeness~ONENESS in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
I love seeing Pope Francis have the courage to excommunicate one of the hierarchy!! It seems contrary to his nature but he did it when it was necessary. A win is a win; I’ll take it.
The netflix documentary, “The Family”, from a few years ago traces the increasing power of religious fundamentalism and its power in the government from the 1930’s on. It was responsible for inserting “under God” in the pledge of allegiance in the 1950’s and for establishing “Prayer Breakfasts”, which have always been thinly disguised meeting of power brokers. It is not just Opus Dei, but a host of Protestant fundamentalists, who have perverted Christianity into a support of white supremacy. https://politicalresearch.org/2019/08/14/review-netflix-family
Regarding Joe Biden, I do respect him for having the grace and courage to stand down. But I cannot praise his brand of RC when he has made me complicit in what amounts to war crimes in the middle east by continuing to send weapons to Israel.
When I remember the campaign of Jack Kennedy, it is a supreme irony that the great fears that a Catholic President would be beholden to the Vatican seemed so ridiculous then and were never borne out—only to have an ex-President in the grips of the worst RC branch decades later.