A leading archbishop in Pope Francis’s church has hit back against the pontiff after the leader of the Catholic Church approved blessings for same-sex couples.
Viganò, a bishop of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Nuncio to the US for five years, attacked the pope in an Op-Ed in which he claimed his ruling over homosexual couples showed he is a “servant of Satan”.
Although the move by the pope was seen as a significant advance for the acceptance of the LGBTQ community within the church, critics have hit back against the decision with some members of the clergy refusing to follow the pope’s ruling.
Pope Francis shared the latest decision in a new document which insists that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.
Archbishop claims blessings for same-sex couples proves Pope Francis is 'servant of Satan'
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In his opinion piece slamming the “Bergoglian hierarchy”, in reference to Pope Francis's real name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop Viganò branded the head of the papacy as an “usurper”.
“The delirious Declaration Fiducia Supplicans, recently published by the parody of the former Holy Office renamed the Dicastery, definitively pierces the veil of hypocrisy and deception of the Bergoglian hierarchy, showing these false shepherds for what they really are: servants of Satan and his most zealous allies, beginning with the usurper who sits – an abomination of desolation – on the Throne of Peter.
“The very incipit of the document sounds, like all those issued by Bergoglio, mocking and deceptive: because trust in God’s forgiveness without repentance is called the presumption of salvation without merit and is a sin against the Holy Spirit.”
Although the pope’s declaration was seen by many as a huge leap forward, certain caveats were also made.
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According to the document, the pope ruled that blessings should not be part of regular Church rituals or related to civil unions or weddings.
It also added that its definition of marriage was a lifelong sacrifice between a man and a woman and made no mention of same-sex couples.
The Vatican said the change should be a sign that “God welcomes all”, however the decision of whether to allow the blessings would be operated on a case-by-case basis.
“Ultimately, a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God,” the document said.
St Peter's Square at the Vatican
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“The request for a blessing, thus, expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live.”
In a direct message to members of the Holy See, Archbishop Viganò told members of the church to “condemn” the pope’s behaviour.
He said: “I implore the bishops and ministers of God – by the Most Holy Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ – not only to raise their voices to defend the immutable teaching of the Church and to condemn deviations and heresies, under whatever appearance they may appear; but also to warn the faithful and prevent these sacrilegious blessings in their dioceses.
“The Lord will judge us on the basis of His holy law, and not on the pharisaic seductions of those who serve the enemy.”
