Pope Francis Laicizes Schismatic Argentine Priest 

“With a supreme and definitive decision,” Pope Francis expelled from the clerical state for the crime of schism Fernando María Cornet, an Argentine who served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Sassari, Italy.

Cornet, 57, wrote a book titled “Habemus Antipapam?” (“Do We Have an Antipope?”), published in 2023 by the publishing house Edizioni del Faro, the Argentine newspaper La Nación reported. In his book, Cornet asserts that Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was invalid and, consequently, so was the election of Pope Francis.

In announcing the decision, the archbishop of Sassari, Gian Franco Saba, urged the community to pray for the unity of the Church.

“The members of Christ must not be in conflict with each other; all those who form his body must each fulfill their own office ... so that there may be no divisions,” he said.

The archdiocese also announced that the vicar of the Historic Urban Center Subzone, Father Antonino Canu, will serve as parish administrator of St. Donatus and St. Sixtus in Sassari. 

He will be assisted in his ministry by the priests of Cottolengo who already work in the Historic Center and other priests present in the pastoral district, the archdiocese added.

The statement, dated Nov. 13, is signed by the chancellor of the archdiocese, Father Antonio Spanu.

According to La Nación, in mid-May, a letter from the Vatican asked Cornet “to withdraw the book from circulation, to publicly declare that it had errors, to ask for forgiveness, and to recognize Pope Francis as the legitimate pope.”

However, the now former priest said he “couldn’t do so because that’s not how things are and also because no one from the DDF [Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith] was able to explain to me what the errors in my book are; no one ever gave me an argument.”

Cornet foresaw that he would incur this sentence and stated that for writing his book “he was going to be persecuted by someone who had illegitimately occupied a place that didn’t belong to him, throwing the Church into crisis with illegitimate decisions and illegitimate appointments of bishops.”

What is the crime of schism?

According to Canon 751 of the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, schism takes place when a baptized person refuses “submission to the supreme pontiff or communion with the members of the Church subject to him.”

“An apostate from the faith, a heretic or a schismatic incurs a ‘latae sententiae’ excommunication” (automatic), according to Canon 1364 of the Code of Canon Law, and can also be punished with other penalties including, in the case of priests, expulsion from the clerical state.