ROME (AP) — The Vatican has excommunicated its former ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, after finding him guilty of schism, an inevitable end for the firebrand conservative who became one of Pope Francis’ most ardent critics.

The Vatican’s doctrine office imposed the penalty after a meeting of its members on Thursday, a press statement said Friday.

It cited Viganò’s “refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council.”

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