Abp. Viganò, Cdl. Müller Slam Demotion of ‘Vicar of Christ’

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today!

VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - A recent revision in the 2020 Pontifical Yearbook is causing confusion and consternation among the faithful, including high-ranking prelates Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò and Cdl. Gerhard Müller.

The first page of Annuario Pontificio customarily begins with the title "vicar of Jesus Christ" ("Vicario di Gesù Cristo") written across the top of the page, indicating its primacy. This year, however, the secular name of Jorge Mario Bergoglio is written in capital letters across the top of the page and the title vicar of Christ is now footnoted along with other historic titles of the pope. 

Archbishop Viganò expressed his disapproval of the change in a letter issued on the Friday of Passion Week that began with Jesus' words on the evening before His Passion, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me" (Matthew 26:21). 

The former apostolic nuncio rebuked the change as a "usurpation" being "passed over in silence," whereby, he says, "Jorge Mario Bergoglio has officially disavowed being ... the successor of the prince of the Apostles and the supreme pontiff, as if they were annoying trappings of the past."

The act, he adds, 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," the whistleblower prelate said.

The archbishop got in front of any rebuttal that would attempt to see the change as "a typographical trifle," explaining that the placement of the pope's secular name across the top signifies that it is "not 'Servus servorum Dei' who reigns, but the person of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has officially disavowed being the vicar of Christ."

Cardinal Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, also weighed in on the change describing the revisions as a "theological barbarism" and saying they relegate the papal titles "successor of Peter, vicar of Christ and visible head of the whole Church" to mere ballasts of history.

The cardinal acknowledged the value of the historical significance of the title, but said it more accurately represents "essential elements of the petrine primacy, which goes back to the institution of Christ and is therefore divine and not just human-ecclesiastical right."

Criticizing the Vatican editors of the yearbook, the cardinal lamented that they did not look "at the texts of the Second Vatican Council on the binding Catholic teaching of the pope as the supreme shepherd of the Church," which would have saved them "the embarrassment of devaluing essential elements of the Catholic primate teaching as a mere historical accessory."

Referring to a principal document of the Second Vatican Council, Cdl. Müller explained, "It is the bishops who are successors of the Apostles 'who, together with the successor of Peter, the representative of Christ and the visible head of the whole Church, run the house of the living God together'" (Lumen gentium, 18). 

The German cardinal also referred to the burden the revised document places on the faithful, saying that "theological dilettantism" can only be "endured" with "much humor and irony," even if "it is touted with hypocrisy by the interested party as a sign of great humility."

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, defended the changes saying that "there has been no suppression" of a title.

"The definition of 'historic' in relation to the titles attributed to the pope on one of the pages dedicated to him in the Annuario Pontificio of 2020 seems to me to indicate the bond with the history of the papacy," said Bruni, adding that all the other titles "are understood to be tied historically to the title of bishop of Rome because at the moment he is designated by the conclave to guide the church of Rome, the one elected acquires the titles tied to this nomination."

Church Militant reported on this issue on April 2, when Italian journalist and renowned Vatican expert Marco Tosatti called the revisions an "unexpected surprise," adding,

To relegate [the title vicar of Christ] as merely the first of his historic titles implies that it is something that dates back to distant times but they may or may not have any significance in today's world. And in so doing it implicitly denies that there is any theological value to that definition.  

Prominent Italian journalist Aldo Maria Valli wrote about the right of the faithful to understand the reason for the change in his blog entry on April 5: 

A change of this kind certainly could not have happened unless at the request of the pope himself, so it would be interesting to know from him the reason for this novelty. Taking into account that we are talking about the pope's identity itself, I think that the Catholic faithful would have the right to know from the pope's own voice what pushed him to change.

Professor Armin Schwibach, the Rome correspondent for the Austrian website Kath.net, tweeted about the changes on April 1: "If it's not an April Fools' [joke], it seems that [Vatican operatives] continue to dismantle everything."

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.

We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.