Editor’s note: The interview excerpts in the following piece were given by Archbishop Viganò to Italian journalist and author Marco Tosatti as a follow-up to his Washington Post interview and were published over the weekend in Italian at Tosatti’s website. With our thanks to Giuseppe Pellegrino for the translation and Marco Tosatti for allowing us to share them, we now present the full article and in English for our audience.
VIGANÒ: I Speak Only About What I Have Seen Personally. This Is How the Gay Mafia In The Church Operates.
The interview given by Archbishop Viganò to the Washington Post, in which he reiterates his testimony about McCarrick and declares that the Pope is lying in order to cover up evildoing, has understandably aroused great interest. This is also due to the fact that his declarations have always been confirmed, for nearly a year at this point, by the documents and other testimonies which have come to light, most recently the “Figuereido Report” written by McCarrick’s former secretary. And even the anti-Viganò tirade of Cardinal Marc Ouellet contained confirmations. Even if the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops ought to now explain why he never made mention of the letter which his predecessor Cardinal Re had written to McCarrick and which both the Nuncio and the Archbishop of Washington were aware of. And naturally, Ouellet himself [also ought to explain]; however he has not mentioned it, as in his attack on Viganò. Perhaps in the hope – since he is at the end of his term as Prefect – of obtaining a prolonged tenure in his assignment, which according to several sources is going to be given to the Secretary of the Congregation, Jesus de Ilson Montanari, a very close friend of the Pope’s private secretary, Fabian Pedacchio.
In the meantime the Bransfield case exploded, the bishop who had lavished monetary gifts on many people, among whom was also the Nuncio [Archbishop Viganò]. Speaking of the homosexual mafia, Archbishop Viganò now explains that:
My comment was not abstract, but based on what I know personally, for example about McCarrick. I never received any accusation, verbal or written, against Bishop Bransfield, during my term as Nuncio in the United States. What I know about him comes from what I have read in the newspapers. Given this fact, it seems to me that what has emerged shows that Bishop Bransfield is a perfect example of what I was referring to. It is important to note that, before being named a bishop, Bransfield was rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, and was president of the Board of Directors of the Papal Foundation, both of which are linked to McCarrick and Cardinal Wuerl. In effect, his successor as the rector of the Basilica, Msgr. Walter Rossi, was named to that position by McCarrick in the same year that Bransfield was named a bishop. Msgr. Rossi is, without a doubt, a member of the ‘gay mafia.’ You can read about him online on The American Spectator website. I can say that while I was Nuncio in the United States I received documentation which affirms that Msgr. Rossi had sexually molested male students at The Catholic University of America. The Vatican, and in particular Cardinal Parolin, is well aware of the situation with Msgr. Rossi, as is Cardinal Wuerl. Finally I can testify that Rossi’s name was proposed to my predecessor Archbishop Pietro Sambi for promotion to bishop; Sambi blocked his advancement. These facts demonstrate clearly how the ‘gay mafia’ operates.
Archbishop Viganò recalls that it was the custom of the American bishops to send a gift to the new Nuncio when he began his service:
In truth I do not recall all of the names of those who were sending me these gifts, because I was not paying attention to the name of the donor on the check, because this was irrelevant for me, because I had no intention of doing favors for anyone. As I said before, my staff explained to me that this was the custom in the United States, and not accepting these gifts would have been an affront to the donors. Thus, after I had received these gifts, I immediately spent this money in my charity account. I can attach several examples of proofs of how I used my personal money together with the money from these various donations.
Some of the names I recall are Cardinal Dolan, Bishop DiMarzio, former Cardinal McCarrick, Cardinal Wuerl, but I am certain that there were also others.
I would also like to add that I recall with certainty one of these gifts made immediately after it was announced that I would be sent as Nuncio to the United States, but before I arrived in the United States. It was a gift from ex-cardinal McCarrick in the amount of $1000.
A question has arisen from the fact that several members of the faithful from West Virginia maintain that they sent a letter to the Nuncio complaining about the extravagant lifestyle of Bishop Bransfield in 2013:
Unfortunately, I do not recall having received any letter of this nature, which I would certainly remember and which I would have followed up on. That being said, the Nunciature receives many complaints every single day about all sorts of things, and it is probable enough that unfortunately this letter was not considered to be serious enough to be brought to my attention. However, the letter, if it was received, is probably filed in the archives of Nunciature, thus it may be verified.
For more on the Msgr. Rossi story, see this report today from Church Militant.
Originally published at Marcotosatti.com. Translated by Giuseppe Pellegrino and reprinted with permission. This post has been edited to fit with our formatting.
