A top Roman Catholic leader is calling for a fast to support people in jail due to charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2001, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former apostolic nuncio to the U.S., said he will hold a three-day fast from Tuesday through Thursday to commemorate the second anniversary of the attack.
"I hope that this initiative will find many adherents, in a spirit of true reparation of the innumerable sins and grave betrayals committed," Vigano said in a letter exclusively obtained by Human Events.
"I can only encourage and bless this commendable gesture of penance, to be accompanied by prayer — above all, the Holy Rosary — for the beloved Nation which I had the privilege of knowing during my office as Apostolic Nuncio."
A total of 964 people have been charged, and 465 pleaded guilty to crimes, many of them misdemeanors, related to the Capitol attack. Hundreds remain in jails in the Washington, D.C., area while awaiting trial, Human Events said.
Vigano made his call for fasting in a letter to attorney Joseph McBride, who defends many Jan. 6 defendants.
"My job as an American Catholic Civil Rights Attorney is to defend the persecuted Christ every January Sixer in the most devoted and intelligent way possible," McBride said.
"Archbishop Vigano's example of outspoken leadership and piety has deeply influenced my personal life and professional work. As such, I could think of no better person to contact for support during this crucial time."
Vigano made news in 2018 when he alleged that Pope Francis, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, and a number of the Vatican's most powerful officials covered up the case of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington, D.C.
McCarrick, once one of the most powerful men in the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, was expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood in February 2019 after he was found guilty of sexual crimes against minors and adults.
In 2022, Vigano said President Joe Biden was a "self-styled Catholic," and the cardinal also has been a critic of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
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