Archbishop Vigano’s Appeal Was Sharply Criticised by German Bishops

Thank God someone is responding to Vigano's growing fanaticism.

Vigano has so gone off the rails - if his followers-supporters do not recognize this fact, then they too are on the road to perdition - to use their private-revelation-style terminology.

Archbishop Vigano and his followers are pointing the finger at a left-wing, Socialist, Masonic conspiracy aimed at a Global takeover - a New World Order. The Vigano letter has a 'pernicious' tone, if you will.  It seemed to me it isn't that far off from referencing the dandy of conspiratorial, fabricated tropes: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In fact, surfing with the remote, I happened upon an Evangelical-type religious talk show, wherein  the quests were in process of discussing just that - and not in an objective way.

I'm grateful the German Bishops have rejected the COVID-19 conspiracy, laid out by Vigano.  Vigano has recently demonstrated his ability to spread disinformation and confusion, relying upon conspiracy theories and 'secrets' which are without credence, except in the right wing circles he seems to be accepted by.  Don't fall for their conspiracy theories - religious or secular in origin. Especially be wary of religious leaders who rely on dubious private revelation, old conspiratorial tropes sparking fear and distrust.  This stuff only leads to scapegoating cultural groups of people.

German Bishops Response

The German Bishops recently admitted they “made themselves complicit” in Nazi crimes in and through their support of "soldiers and the regime", albeit rejecting any agreement with Hitler's racist ideology. (Story here.)  Fortunately, their position on the Vigano statement demonstrates their eagerness not to make the same mistake in this crisis. 

Vigano’s appeal was sharply criticised on Facebook by the vicar general of Essen, Fr Klaus Pfeffer. “I am simply speechless as to what is being spread here about the Church and Christianity: crude conspiracy theories without facts or proof together with a right-wing populist militant rhetoric which sounds very frightening.”

His bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, recalled on Facebook at the weekend, that the Church could contribute to overcoming the pandemic by “practising solidarity as a clear sign of its commitment to the common good and to social justice."

That was exactly the opposite of the position taken by “the populists and other conspiracy theoreticians” and it was the Church’s duty clearly to contradict such theories “irrespective of who formulates them”, Overbeck said.

In an official statement Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg said he fully agreed with the statement by the conference president Bätzing.

Bishop Gebhard Fürstof Rottenburg-Stuttgart tweeted: “Whosoever reinterprets the efforts of politicians to save human lives from the pandemic into a dubious world conspiracy, is playing with fire.” - Source