Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano has refused to obey a summons to the Vatican, and has restated that he does not recognize Pope Francis as the head of the Catholic Church, the Catholic News Agency reported on Friday.

"As I stated in my Communiqué of June 20, I do not recognize the authority of the tribunal that claims to judge me, nor of its Prefect, nor of the one who appointed him. This decision of mine, which is certainly painful, is not the result of haste or a spirit of rebellion; but rather is dictated by the moral necessity which, as Bishop and Successor of the Apostles, obliges me in conscience to bear witness to the Truth, that is, to God Himself, to Our Lord Jesus Christ," Vigano's statement begins.

Vigano is facing charges of schism due to his denial of the legitimacy of Francis as the Pontiff and rejection of the doctrines set forth during the Second Vatican Council. 

Schism is a crime within the church. The Code of Canon Law defines "schism" as "the withdrawal of submission to the supreme Pontiff or from communion with the members of the church subject to him."

The archbishop has accused the Pope of "heresy and schism" over his endorsement of COVID-19 vaccines, the "promotion of sodomy and gender ideology," and the "climate fraud," which Vigano describes as "a mad neo-Malthusian superstition engendered by those who, hating the Creator, cannot help but also detest creation, and man along with it, who is made in the image and likeness of God."

Vigano was the papal envoy in Washington from 2011-2016 and went into hiding in 2018 after he alleged that Pope Francis had known for years about sexual misconduct by American cardinal Theodore McCarrick and did nothing about it.

Vigano said he has "no reason to consider myself separate from communion with the holy church and with the papacy, which I have always served with filial devotion and fidelity."

"I maintain that the errors and heresies to which [Francis] adhered before, during, and after his election, along with the intention he held in his apparent acceptance of the papacy, render his elevation to the throne null and void," Vigano wrote.

• Archbishop Viganò Refutes Attendance Claim at Vatican 'Schism' Trial
• Pope Targets Conservative Archbishop Vigano, Wants Trial