Italian prelate; former Roman Catholic archbishop; papal diplomat; apostolic nuncio to the United States; Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Nuncio to Nigeria; Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe. Charged with schism by the Catholic Church and excommunicated (following in the footsteps of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre).
TLS - Typewritten Letter Signed, one page, 2012, as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. Sends a signed photograph to a collector (not included here). This is the first autograph we have ever offered of Viganó, making it rather uncommon.
If a 36-page entry in Wikipedia is any indication of notoriety, the former Archbishop Viganó fits the bill. During his tenure in the Governorate of Vatican City, he complained to Pope Benedict XVI about financial corruption. The unauthorized publication of two of his letters led to the Vatican leaks scandal, exposing financial mismanagement and wrongdoing. Over his objections, he was tranferred to the US in 2011 (get this man out of Dodge). Controversy continued. During a papal visit of Pope Francis to the apostolic delegation, Viganó arranged an impromptu encounter between the pope and former county clerk Kim Davis, known for her opposition to same-sex marriage. Taken quite by surprise, Francis was clearly not amused. Viganó's term as ambassador ended the following year.
Two years later, Viganó published an 11-page letter accusing Pope Francis and numerous other church leaders of concealing allegations of sexual misconduct against the former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Viganó stated that Benedict XVI imposed sanctions against McCarrick but that Pope Francis refused to enforce them and made McCarrick an important advisor. Viganó called upon Francis to resign. Following the publication of his letter, Vignó continued to issue public statements which aligned him with political positions of the far right and conspiracy theories. He has rejected the Second Vatican Council and the Mass of Pope Paul VI. In December 2023, Viganó announced plans to establish a traditiionalist seminary out side of the church's jurisdiction. In 2024, Viganó was charged with schism and, after refusing to appear at a church trial, was excommunicated.
More recently, Viganó has been embroiled in a bitter lawsuit involving a priest-brother in Illinois, and a family estate estimated to be worth more than $22 million dollars. A Milan court recently ordered Viganó to pay his priest-brother the sum of $2 million.