Photo: Pool / Getty Images News / Getty Images
The Vatican has excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who previously served as ambassador to the United States, after finding him guilty of schism for his refusal to "recognize and submit" to the authority of Pope Francis. Viganò has also refused to accept many of the reforms made during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
Viganò has been one of the most vocal critics of Pope Francis. In 2018, he released a scathing report calling on Pope Francis to resign for knowing about sexual abuses committed by Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal of Washington, D.C., and failing to do anything to stop it.
The Vatican launched an investigation that disputed the findings of Viganò's 7,000-page report and cleared Pope Francis of wrongdoing.
Viganò has also called Pope Francis a "false prophet" and a "servant of Satan" over his attempts to enact reforms within the Roman Catholic Church.
While Viganò will be able to keep his title of Archbishop, he will not be allowed to celebrate the Mass or receive or administer sacraments.