Vatican Source: "the news of Archbishop Viganò has hit the Curia like an atomic bomb" - Former Nunciature Official: "Viganò said the truth."

Carlo Maria Viganò

Only hours after the release of former nuncio Carlo Maria Viganò's statement implicating Pope Francis in the Cardinal McCarrick sex-abuse cover up, more and more sources are confirming its believability.

Among other things Viganò related the "stormy conversation" between then-nuncio Petrio Sambi and Cardinal McCarrick in 2011 when McCarrick was informed that Pope Benedict XVI had imposed sanctions on him:

Monsignor Jean-François Lantheaume, then first Counsellor of the Nunciature in Washington and Chargé d'Affaires ad interim after the unexpected death of Nuncio Sambi in Baltimore, told me when I arrived in Washington — and he is ready to testify to it — about a stormy conversation, lasting over an hour, that Nuncio Sambi had with Cardinal McCarrick whom he had summoned to the Nunciature. Monsignor Lantheaume told me that "the Nuncio’s voice could be heard all the way out in the corridor."

Catholic News Agency contacted Msgr. Lantheaume:

[We] requested an interview with him to discuss the account attributed to him by Archbishop Viganò. Lantheaume, who has now left the Vatican diplomatic corps and serves in priestly ministry in France, declined to give an interview, and said he had no intentions of speaking further on the matter.

“Viganò said the truth. That’s all,” he wrote to CNA.

The internationally known Fr. Carlos Martins of the Companions of the Cross and the head of Treasures of the Church sacred relics ministry wrote on his Facebook page:

I just spent the last two hours on the phone with a friend in the Vatican Curia. He said that the news of Archbishop Viganò has hit the Curia like an atomic bomb. Two things are universally noted regarding Viganò: 1) He is highly respected as a professional, and 2) His Curial positions gave him clear access to the damning information he reported. In other words, he is not a hack, and he is not relying on rumor. This makes his report absolutely worthy of belief...

In the words of the Curial official I spoke with this afternoon, what Viganò has reported “makes the Borgia popes look like saints.” The feeling in the Curia right now is that the response of Viganò’s enemies will to try to discredit him personally, both because of the impeccability of Viganò’s character and the impossibility of his having interpreted the facts incorrectly. Their only hope will be to try to take energy away from the perversion and corruption that he uncovered. They will likely state that he is a bitter man who is seeking personal aggrandizement after having been exiled from Rome. When this occurs, don’t buy into it. Viganò is retired. He has nothing personally to gain from this [h/t Vox Cantoris].

Rod Dreher tweeted a few hours ago:

US Catholic priest e-mails re: Pope Francis: "He's dead to me. A total fraud now. All these years he has been hammering priests and bishops and now he is shown to be a hypocrite. ... I'm hearing from Rome that Vigano's letter is absolutely credible. No doubts."

And against the attempts by Cardinal Cupich (who Viganò claimed owes his red hat to McCarrick) and others to cast doubt on the very existence of the sanctions against McCarrick, the moderate to liberal Catholic academic and commentator C. C. Pecknold tweeted:

I’ve been hearing all day from reliable sources claiming high-ranking prelates and Vatican officials have confidentially confirmed that private sanctions were in place against McCarrick. It now appears that the Vatican will not dispute this if they go on record.

The response from Francis and his allies to Viganò's statement has been in hindsight predictable, tracking the strategy employed against the dubia and the dubia cardinals. He cannot confirm the claims, obviously, since that would be tantamount to admitting grave crimes that Francis himself has strongly and repeatedly condemned.

Indeed, a few commentators (including this mischivious one) noted how Viganò's bombshell document was released only a few hours after the scatologically-prone Bergoglio had publicly referred to those who covered up clerical sex-abuse as "caca".

But any denials run the risk of being exposed as lies.

Thus, the "no comment" of yesterday's papal plane interview.

But at the same time, Bergoglio's minions are going after Viganò with verve and viciousness:

Massimo Faggioli: Viganò is a "terrorist".

Austin Ivereigh: Viganò is engaged in a "crude putsch" for "Team Burke".

National Catholic Reporter's Michael Sean Winters: Viganò is the conservative Catholic Oliver Stone (!) - "a trafficker in conspiracy theories who mixes fact, fiction and venom..."

And so on.

I hope they're terrified.

Twenty-four hours ago, I judged that Francis could easily survive this. He didn't rise to the top for nothing. Now I am not so sure.

"Beautiful Morning," Hilary White wrote, attaching a video: "Ding Dong the Witch is dead."

She hope she's right.