Viganò: Has the Pope now ‘disavowed’ being Vicar of Christ and declare himself 'absolute monarch?

Life Site Apr 4, 2020

Former papal nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has called the dropping of Pope Francis’ essential title “Vicar of Christ” from the 2020 Pontifical Yearbook an act that appears to “officially alter the Papacy,” such that the Pope “no longer recognizes himself as guardian.”

“This change in the layout and content of an official text of the Catholic Church cannot be ignored, nor is it possible to attribute it to a gesture of humility on the part of Francis, which is not in keeping with his name being so prominently featured,” wrote Viganò in a statement he sent to LifeSiteNews (read full statement below). 

“Instead, it seems possible to see in it the admission — passed over in silence — of a sort of usurpation, whereby it is not the “Servus servorum Dei” [The Servant of the Servants of God] who reigns, but the person of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has officially disavowed being the Vicar of Christ, the Successor of the Prince of the Apostles and the Supreme Pontiff, as if they were annoying trappings of the past: only mere ‘historical titles,’” he added. 

LifeSite reported April 2 that  Pope Francis, in a surprise move, dropped the historic and essential title “Vicar of Christ” from the 2020 Pontifical Yearbook, the Holy See’s annual directory, relegating the title to a footnote, calling it a “historical title.”

While previous yearbooks listed the title “Vicar of Christ” and the name of the reigning Pope under that title, this year’s annual directory simply lists the name “Jorge Mario Bergoglio,” the name of the man who became Pope Francis in 2013. The title “Vicar of Jesus Christ” stems from Holy Scripture where Jesus granted St. Peter the power of the keys in the Church.

Archbishop Viganò said it’s as if Pope Francis now views himself as becoming “master of the Church, free to demolish it from within without having to answer to anyone.”

 

“In short, a tyrant,” he said.