Italian priest struck off for calling Francis an ‘anti-pope usurper’

Priest in Tuscany compares Francis unfavourably with Pope Benedict in New Year’s Eve address shared online

An Italian priest has been struck off after calling Pope Francis an “anti-pope usurper” in his New Year’s Eve homily.

Father Ramon Guidetti’s speech to the congregation at St Ranieri church in Guasticce, a hamlet in the Tuscan province of Livorno, was a tribute marking the first anniversary of the death of Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI.

In a video of the homily, which lasted more than 20 minutes and was shared online, Guidetti refers to the Argentinian pontiff – whose former name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio – as simply “Mr Bergoglio”, before describing him as “a Jesuit Freemason linked to world powers, an anti-pope usurper”.

Guidetti went on to say that Francis had a “cadaverous gaze, into nothingness”, unlike “good Benedict”.

He was reportedly applauded by some of his flock. His excommunication, however, came swiftly. Simone Giusti, the bishop of Livorno, issued a decree saying Guidetti had “publicly committed an act of a schismatic nature” and ordered him to be “removed from the office of parish priest of St Ranieri in Guasticce”. The bishop warned other priests “not to participate in any of his celebrations or other cult practices” as that would incur “the very serious penalty of excommunication”.

Guidetti, who was known locally to have made previous anti-Francis remarks, said he was proud to have been excommunicated, adding it was “a mark of pride to be out of this church, which is a tyranny”.

“I am calm,” he told Radio Domina Nostra, a radio show hosted by Alessandro Minutella, another priest who was excommunicated after attacking Pope Francis. “But astonished at the speed at which the guillotine came down. I will frame the decree and hang it on the wall – it will be something I will boast about.”

Francis was elected pope after Benedict resigned in March 2013.

His papacy has been embraced by progressives, but he has endured battles with a deeply conservative faction of the church, who are irked by the attention he has given to issues such as social inequality, the climate crisis and refugees. In December, he approved a ruling allowing priests to bless unmarried and same-sex couples in a significant change of position for the Catholic church.

Some of the pontiff’s detractors believe his appointment was invalid because of Benedict’s resignation.

Francis has been blighted by ill health in recent years, and has often alluded to his own future resignation. When asked about his health in an interview in September, he quipped: “Still alive … although some want me dead.”

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