Bishop James Powers of Superior, Wisconsin, has charged that Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former apostolic nuncio to the United States, illicitly ordained a man to the priesthood and sent him to minister in his diocese.
Bishop Powers cautioned that those who seek sacraments from Bryan (“Father Ambrose”) Walman of the Hermitage of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are “not receiving valid sacraments in communion with the Most Holy Roman Catholic Church.”
Bishop Powers also charged Archbishop Viganò with defamation after Viganò said that Powers was responsible for “a very serious sacrilege” after a Native American ceremony took place in his cathedral.
“In fact, this tradition was carried out at my own installation as Bishop of Superior,” Powers countered. “Archbishop Viganò was present for that ceremony and has never in the last eight years expressed any concerns about that ceremony in which he participated as apostolic nuncio.”