“The true Church is now eclipsed.” —Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 80, in a declaration he released today. In the declaration, Viganò, who continues to live quietly in hiding, comments on an upcoming May 6-8 conference to be held in the Vatican (link) on the use of stem cells in medical treatments (link), hosted by a Vatican dicastery (the Pontifical Council for Culture), which will be attended by dozens of influential Americans (here is a complete list, with names and photos). The invitees ranging from rock stars like Joe Perry of Aerosmith to people with prominent political connections, like Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, to model and actress Cindy Crawford, to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been continually in the public eye as a key White House science advisor during the Covid crisis. All are scheduled to come to Rome in early May. The conference organizers do rightly argue in favor of the use of adult stem cells rather than embryonic stem cells in new medical procedures (because the use of embryonic stem cells means the killing of the embryo, that is, abortion, while adult stem cells do not require the killing of an embryo). Yet Viganò argues that, among the speakers and attendees invited, the organizers have included many who are “supporters of abortion, of the use of fetal material in research, of demographic decline, of the pan-sexual LGBT agenda, and last but not least, of the narrative of Covid and the so-called vaccines.” The archbishop argues that this is highly inappropriate at the very heart of the Church. He concludes: “This conference… is the scandalous confirmation of a disturbing departure of the current Hierarchy, and in particular its highest Roman members, from Catholic orthodoxy.”
Letter #16, 2021, Tuesday, April 20: Viganò Declaration
Today, April 20, I received a text from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.