Archbishop Viganò: Vatican canceled my scheduled audience with Pope Leo
'I would have expected Leo to come looking for the lost sheep and bring it back to the fold from which his predecessor had expelled it. This did not happen,' Viganò writes.
Archbishop Carlo Maria
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Thu Mar 19, 2026 - 2:22 pm EDT
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Editor’s note: This statement originally appeared on Archbishop Viganò’s X account.
(LifeSiteNews) — I would have expected Leo, following the example of the Good Shepherd, to come looking for the lost sheep and bring it back to the fold from which his predecessor had expelled it. This did not happen.
Although I am convinced that my “excommunication” is an unjust and evil action that for this reason had not actual juridical effect, I cannot help but point out that it constitutes, for those who inflicted it on me, a sort of aquae et ignis interdictio, the penalty in ancient Roman law equivalent to a form of perpetual exile, which required the condemned person to abandon Roman territory, with a prohibition against anyone providing him with water, fire, or any form of assistance, including hospitality or shelter, under penalty of severe punishment. In practice, this made the condemned an outlaw, depriving him of the essentials of survival and isolating him from society. And so, in defiance of the fine words about welcome and inclusiveness, I see myself condemned to a “spiritual death penalty,” deprived of the Sacraments and supposedly destined for eternal damnation. For Bergoglio and Prevost, capital punishment, which kills only the body, would be inadmissible, but excommunication, which kills the soul and condemns it to eternal death, is permissible.
UNEARTHED: 1995 photo shows Pope Leo XIV participating in Pachamama ritual
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For this reason, wanting to leave no stone unturned, I felt it my duty to write to Leo and request an audience. Here is the chronology of the entire affair:
– On June 4, 2025, I sent a personal letter of extremely sensitive content via the Vatican Post, in which I also requested an audience.
– On August 28, 2025, having received no response to my previous letter, I resubmitted my request to be received in a private audience with Leo, through the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, by sending an email to the Regent, Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza.
– On September 20, 2025, I received a reply from Msgr. Sapienza, confirming that the audience had been granted, and that it was scheduled for December 11, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Library of the Apostolic Palace.
– On December 9, 2025, at 8:08 a.m., two days before the meeting, Msgr. Sapienza informed me by an email that the audience had been canceled.
– However, less than two hours later, at 9:53 a.m., the Secretariat of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household forwarded me the ticket for the audience.
– Shortly thereafter, at 10:14 a.m., the same Secretariat informed me that the audience had been canceled.
– Following these contradictory communications, I called Msgr. Sapienza to understand the reason for the cancellation. Ostensibly embarrassed, he offered unbelievable excuses but assured me that he would communicate a new date as soon as possible, quoting Leo’s words: “We have to reschedule the audience: I listen to everyone!”
– Having received no communication from the Prefecture, on January 12, 2026, I wrote again to Msgr. Sapienza, receiving no response to my email.
– Since the path to the Prefecture was now closed to me, on the following January 21, I decided to telephone the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Card. Giovanni Battista Re, with whom I had collaborated for decades—in the Secretariat of State and in my subsequent functions—asking him to make every effort to secure an audience with Leo. I received an immediate enthusiastic response from the Cardinal, the transcript of which is provided below: “I am so happy, but very… I was very keen to hear your voice and I would also be happy to meet you wherever you want… I would be very happy to meet you…” Then the Cardinal added: “The essential problem is that it would be the Pope himself to receive you with all that has happened. In my opinion, the Pope is having difficulty receiving you: it’s not a problem of time or appointments. The Pope has some doubts about being the one to receive you… without there being any sign of change on your part. In any case, I will take care and I will happily let you know… Because we must be children of the Church and as children of the Church we must be united with the Pope and follow the Pope’s directives. What we must care about is the salvation of the soul, but to save the soul we must remain within the Church. Within the Church, therefore, remain in union with the Pope. In any case, know that from a personal point of view I am close to you, always available to help you, if I can help in any way, so that we can serve the Church together… We must also know how to forget the past and also know how to forgive…”
– On January 27, 2026, I met with the Cardinal Dean at the Nunciature in Italy. The conversation lasted over an hour. Despite his good-natured demeanor and displays of affection, the Cardinal proved incapable of listening to my arguments, so much so that he even refused to receive a letter I had to deliver to Leo and other sensitive documents I wanted to inform the Cardinal of. As I took my leave, he repeated: “We must obey the Pope even if the Pope does not obey the Lord.”
– On January 28, 2026, I sent this letter of mine to Leo via Vatican Post, addressing it to his personal secretary. This letter—the content of which I will soon disclose—also remains unanswered.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
Viterbo, 19 March MMXXVI
S. Joseph Sponsi B.M.V. Confessoris
Letter from the Prefecture of the Papal Household dated September 20, 2025, confirming my audience for December 11:
Letter from the Prefecture of the Papal Household dated December 9, 2025, canceling the audience scheduled for December 11:
Audience ticket from the Prefecture of the Papal Household:
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