Excommunication is typically not a badge of honor, I agree with this. He's being compared to St. Athanasius who was unjustly excommunicated by Pope Liberius though; the reality is in history, sometimes things get messy. St. Joan of Arc was mistakenly burned at the stake for heresy. During the Western Schism, there were two antipopes and a pope, and confusion for 40 years if there was a pope at all or who the pope was among the claimants; Catholics following one or the other weren't considered as schismatics for simply being mistaken. I believe Vigano and sedevacantists and those who believe Vatican 2 is Catholic (we do not) probably all kind of qualify for being lumped in under a heading of "Catholic" to varying degrees, regardless if Francis is a pope or not.
Vigano is in something of schism if Francis is pope. A bunch of us do not think Francis is a Catholic nor is a pope (and hold the sedevacantist view), so Vigano should have cut ties with Francis a while ago before being "excommunicated". His actions are inconsistent - he is indeed rebelling against the person he believes is "pope", which is arguably a position at odds with Catholic tradition associated with Lefebvre / SSPX / the "recognize and resist" position (sedeplenism?). This makes us suspect he is actually working for the modernists like Francis, to create confusion, as he doesn't promote a clear sedevacantist view (as we think he should), while making statements that seem to basically support sedevacantism.
I am hoping this leads to a widespread rejection of Vatican 2 and election of a Catholic pope, as the Vatican seems to be "doubtfully Catholic, and therefore not Catholic" at present (the principle "a doubtful pope is no pope").
Excommunication is typically not a badge of honor, I agree with this. He's being compared to St. Athanasius who was unjustly excommunicated by Pope Liberius though; the reality is in history, sometimes things get messy. St. Joan of Arc was mistakenly burned at the stake for heresy. During the Western Schism, there were two antipopes and a pope, and confusion for 40 years if there was a pope at all or who the pope was among the claimants; Catholics following one or the other weren't considered as schismatics for simply being mistaken. I believe Vigano and sedevacantists and those who believe Vatican 2 is Catholic (we do not) probably all kind of qualify for being lumped in under a heading of "Catholic" to varying degrees, regardless if Francis is a pope or not.
Vigano is in something of schism if Francis is pope. A bunch of us do not think Francis is a Catholic nor is a pope (and hold the sedevacantist view), so Vigano should have cut ties with Francis a while ago before being "excommunicated". His actions are inconsistent - he is indeed rebelling against the person he believes is "pope", which is arguably a position at odds with Catholic tradition associated with Lefebvre / SSPX / the "recognize and resist" position (sedeplenism?). This makes us suspect he is actually working for the modernists like Francis, to create confusion, as he doesn't promote a clear sedevacantist view (as we think he should), while making statements that seem to basically support sedevacantism.
I am hoping this leads to a widespread rejection of Vatican 2 and election of a Catholic pope, as the Vatican seems to be "doubtfully Catholic, and therefore not Catholic" at present (the principle "a doubtful pope is no pope").