Pope Hildebrand Revokes Archbishop Thuc's Excommunication
An Interview with Brother Bugnolo
On May 31, 2026, the Sedesapostolica.info published this anouncement:
“Notice of the Withdrawal of the March 12, 1983 Decree of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Secretariate of State gives notice that the March 12, 1983 Decree of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, published in L’Osservatore Romano, April 18, p. 12, of the same year, and signed by HE Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria Consolatrice in Tibertino, and former Archbishop of Archbishop of München und Freising, in his capacity as Prefect of the same, and by Fr. Jérôme Hamer, OP, Titular Archbishop of Lorium, in his capacity as Secretary of the same, is hereby withdrawn, on grounds of the defect of matter applicable under Canon 2195 §1 of the 1917 Codex Iuris Canonicis.”
(Source)
It referred to the March 12, 1983 Decree of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith whereby Archbishop Thuc was excommunicated, along with the Bishops he consecrated, that they consecrated, and priests he ordained since 1981, along with those priests who assisted. That anouncement stated:
“His Excellency Mons. Ngô-dinh-Thuc, since the year 1981, has again ordained other priests contrary to the terms of canon 955. Moreover, what is still more serious, in the same year, disregarding canon 953, without pontifical mandate and canonical provision, he conferred episcopal ordination on the religious priest, M.-L. Guérard des Lauriers, O.P., of France, and on the priests Moises Carmona and Adolfo Zamora, of Mexican origin. Subsequently Moises Carmona in his turn conferred episcopal ordination on the Mexican priests Benigno Bravo and Roberto Martínez, and also on the American priest George Musey.
Moreover, His Excellency Ngô-dinh-Thuc wished to prove the legitimacy of his actions especially by the public declaration made by him in Munich on 25 February 1982 in which he asserted that “the See of the Catholic Church at Rome was vacant” and therefore he as a bishop “was doing everything so that the Catholic Church of Rome would continue for the eternal salvation of souls”.
After duly pondering the seriousness of these crimes and erroneous assertions, the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, by special mandate of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, deems it necessary to renew the prescripts of its decree of 17 September 1976, which in this case is applied fully, namely.
1) Bishops who ordained other bishops, as well as the bishops ordained, besides the sanctions mentioned in canons 2370 and 2373, 1 and 3, of the Code of Canon Law, incurred also, ipso facto, excommunication most specially reserved to the Apostolic See as stated in the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office of 9 April 1951 (AAS XLIII, 1951, p. 217 f.) The penalty contained in canon 2370 applies also to assisting priests, should any have been present.
2) In accordance with canon 2374 priests illicitly ordained in this way are ipso facto suspended from the order received, and they are also irregular should they exercise the order (canon 985, 7).
3) Finally, as regards those who have already received ordination in this illicit manner, or who will perhaps receive ordination from them, whatever about the validity of the orders, the Church does not nor shall it recognize their ordination, and as regards all juridical effects, it considers them in the state which each one had previously, and the above-mentioned penal sanctions remain in forceuntil repentance.
Moreover, this Sacred Congregation deems it its duly earnestly to warn the faithful not to take part in or support in any way liturgical activities or initiatives and works of another kind which are promoted by those mentioned above.”
(Source)
We asked Brother Bugnolo, Legate a latere of Pope Hildebrand-elect a few questions to clarify this act of the Secretary of State.
Has the excommunication of Archbishop Thuc been lifted?
Brother Bugnolo: No, the notice does not mean that an excommunication is lifted. It means that the Secretariate of State will regard the 1983 act as never having been published, proclaimed, posited, or promulgated.
Why has Pope Hildebrand decided to do this?
Brother Bugnolo: The Church’s power to impose punishments is from Christ for the sake of correcting erring members and restoring the order of justice and truth. But when a superior objectively acts in a scandalous manner, imposing punishments on inferiors who are scandalized and who act to protect the Body of Christ from the harm induced by superiors’ actions, is a horrible abuse of authority and the worse kind of spiritual abuse. So the Holy Father directed his Secretary of State to issue this notice, even now, though he is not yet consecrated a Bishop, since this notice removes the scandal pertaining to an act of the Roman Curia, an institution already fully under his authority according to the Bull of Nicholas II, and which is superior in law to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, because of its greater proximity to His own office. — And while we should never take scandal, when scandal is given, it pertains to the correct use of paternal authority in charity, to remove obstacles to reconciliation, and to unlock doors to children, who have been refused a place at the table for no just reason.
Is it assumed then that Archbishop Thuc had good will with the consecrations he carried out?
Brother Bugnolo: It is not based on the lack of malice or error or crime on the part of the persons mentioned, but on the fact that it cannot be held to be a crime as per the definition of the Canon in the code of 1917, to act to preserve the Faith, when superiors endanger or destroy the faith, since in such a case the superior has no moral right to punish the inferior, but has rather a duty to correct himself. For this reason, because of the special circumstance of a subordinate acting without the faculty of a superior, when the superior refuses the faculty to all in the Church, the actions of an inferior are not conformable to an crime which merits to be punished.
What is the purpose of this for those living today?
Brother Bugnolo: The notice has importance today, because the 1983 decree declares that none of the consecrations of bishops or priests will ever be regarded as valid by the Apostolic See. With the Secretariate of State’s notice, this decision is withdrawn.
The purpose therefore, of the Secretary of State notice, is not so much as regards men who are dead, but men who are living. It’s a way of saying, “The Holy Father is willing to talk, take you back, and grant you faculties”. Because with the Orthodox who for 1000 years have been doing the same as those with faculties from Archbishop Thuc, how can the Apostolic See hold that Thuc sacraments are invalid, but Orthodox are valid? It’s contradictatory. It’s also contrary to the principles of Sacramental Theology. It’s just plain wrong.
It also separates tens of thousands of the Faithful, who are lay people. And the Holy Father must always have in mind the salvation of the greatest number possible.
In fact, historically one can see that the 1983 act was published in the L’Osservatore Romano just a few weeks before girls started disappearing from the streets of Rome, sex trafficked by a Vatican policeman to the highest levels of authority in the Vatican. Now place both facts and events side by side and the discrepancy grows all the more.
John of Rochester Commentary
Brother Bugnolo is referring here to the disappearance of Mirella Gregori on May 7, 1983 and Emanuela Orlandi on June 22, 1983, just 8 and 13 weeks respectively after the excommunication of Archbishop Thuc. The evidence suggests that Pope John Paul II was implicated in Orlandi’s disappearance and death. Once this particular scandal is fully exposed, it may very well “shake the faith if millions of Catholics”, as AJ Baalman from Ordo Militaris Radio TV put it, and who made this excellent 6 part series of videos that discussed all the details (HERE for Emanuela Orlandi, and HERE for Mirella Gregori) FromRome.info also posted various articles on the Orlandi case which can be found HERE.
This ruling by Pope Hildebrand is a great act of justice. To my knowledge no Pope has attempted to invite those Catholics who do not recognise him to a conversation. In the past 60 years unity with noncatholics has taken priority. But in January, Pope Hildebrand published prerequisites for Clergy who claim to have always intended to be in communion with the Apostolic See, but the document also included prerequisites for Christian Clergy of any Rite or Tradition who have NOT been in communion with the Apostolic See ever, or for any period of time (see HERE). So this small step is actually a very large one, in that it provides the precedent and an invitation to true unity in the Church, a call he made in his very first address only one month after his election, in his Christmas 2025 Urbi et Orbi. The Holy Father is correcting past wrongs and offering an olive branch to those who have been scandalised and scattered since the Second Vatican Council.
Let us pray that those who have goodwill, eyes to see and ears to hear, that they may use them to discern the true Pope from false ones, that they may ignore those who wish them to recognise a false Pope just to resist him, and instead do the truly Catholic thing which is to recognise the true Pope, adhere to him and obey him.