CNA Newsroom, Apr 6, 2024 / 11:00 am
A Wisconsin bishop has publicly rebuked the former apostolic nuncio to the United States, accusing him of defamation and a possibly illicit ordination.
The clash between Bishop James Powers of the Diocese of Superior and Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò stems from a March 22 post on X in which the controversial former Vatican official criticized what he called a “shamanic ceremony” at the start of the Superior Diocese’s 2024 chrism Mass.
The March 19 Mass at its outset featured four Ojibwe women engaging in traditional dance while accompanied by Indigenous drumming. Viganò in his post called the ritual “a very serious sacrilege,” describing Powers as “a squalid official of the ecumenical religion” and “not a successor of the apostles but a servant of Freemasonry.” You can watch the beginning of the Mass in the diocese’s video here.
Powers responded in a sharply worded letter dated April 5, accusing Viganò of a “violation of my right to a good name and reputation.” The diocese posted the letter on its Facebook page.