Carlo Maria Vigano, an Italian archbishop of the Catholic Church who once served as the Vatican's diplomatic representative to the U.S., has called on his fellow clergy to perform a "mass exorcism" on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, in order to quell Satan's "frenzy" during the coronavirus pandemic.
Vigano, who has opposed the shutting down of church services to slow the spread of the virus, wrote in a public letter, "In these modern times of terrible tribulation, when the pandemic has deprived Catholics of Holy Mass and the Sacraments, the Evil One has gone into a frenzy and multiplied his attacks to tempt souls into sin."
As such, he is asking Catholic clergy to help conduct a mass exorcism against Satan and the Apostate Angels at 3 p.m. on Saturday "so we can all fight together the common enemy of the whole human race."
He chose Saturday because "Holy Saturday is the day when we remember Our Lord Jesus Christ as He descended into Hell to free the souls of the Fathers from Satan's chains," he wrote.
Vigano posted a 1,735-word script for the exorcism in English and Latin online. In part, it reads, "We exorcise you, all malignant spirit, satanic power, attacks of the infernal adversary, legion, concentration and diabolical sect, in the Name and Virtue of Our Lord Jesus Christ... From now on, do not venture, most perfidious serpent, to deceive the elect and sift them like wheat."
He has asked all bishops and priests who will participate to "wear a stole, the sign of your Priestly power" and to bring Holy Water.
Vigano railed against the closing of Italy's Catholic churches due to coronavirus, stating his belief that the Catholic leaders had abandoned the church's followers, hidden behind walls and showed that "God is of no use" during the pandemic.
He also signed a petition calling for the "healing pools" at the French Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes to be reopened during the epidemic.
France closed the pools on March 1 to avoid a possible spread of coronavirus. However, Vigano supported a petition which read, "Whoever in Lourdes bathes in the same pool as a Coronavirus patient, would be certain to not be infected, because the pools of Lourdes are not places of sin, but places of faith, and it is faith, not medicine, that allows miracles."
Vigano is perhaps best known in America for his 11-page testimony issued on August 2018 calling for the resignation of reigning Pope Francis. In his testimony, Vigano claimed Francis and other senior church officials covered up accusations of sexual abuse against American Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.
Vigano not only claimed that he had personally informed Francis about McCarrick's abuses but that Francis overturned punitive sanctions placed on McCarrick by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI.
"In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church," Vigano wrote in a statement, "he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example to Cardinals and Bishops who covered up McCarrick's abuses and resign along with all of them."
McCarrick resigned from his position within the College of Cardinals, the global body for all cardinals in the Catholic church, in summer of 2018. A subsequent church investigation and trial found him guilty of sexual crimes against adults and minors and abuse of power. He was dismissed from the Catholic clergy in February 2019.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
