{"id":409657,"date":"2026-08-18T09:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/409657\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T09:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:38:11","slug":"san-antonio-priest-laicized-excommunicated-after-calling-popes-francis-and-leo-usurpers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/409657\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio priest laicized, excommunicated after calling Popes Francis and Leo \u2018usurpers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t57<\/p>\n

(OSV News) \u2014 A priest of the Archdiocese of San Antonio who was \u201cfound guilty of schism\u201d has been removed from the clerical state and excommunicated, according to the archbishop of the archdiocese.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Gustavo Garc\u00eda-Siller announced<\/a> Aug. 14 that a tribunal of canon lawyers authorized by the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith found John Mary Foster guilty of \u201ca crime against the faith for his refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the letter announcing the April 20 sentence, the archbishop said, \u201cMr. Foster has chosen to reject the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church by his words and actions. He has publicly referred to Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV as \u2018usurpers.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster was ordained a priest in 1987 for the Congregation of St. John, an international religious community based in France. In 2001, he founded an organization called Mission of Divine Mercy. Based in Canyon Lake, Texas, the group has offered retreats and sacramental ministry, with a lay branch called Amici Christi. In 2009, Foster was incardinated in the San Antonio diocese after ministering in Laredo, Texas.<\/p>\n

Problematic alleged \u2018messages\u2019<\/p>\n

In 2010, Archbishop Gustavo Garc\u00eda-Siller\u2019s predecessor, Archbishop Jos\u00e9 H. G\u00f3mez, who oversaw the San Antonio Archdiocese from 2005-2010 before taking leadership of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, granted the Mission of Divine Mercy the status of an approved Catholic apostolate. Foster was granted a special assignment to serve as its director. The apostolate, which claims six current members, was not a canonically erected religious community.<\/p>\n

The Mission of Divine Mercy\u2019s members include Sister Maria Amapola de Jes\u00fas, who claimed to receive messages from God and Mary beginning in 2016. Prior to the message\u2019s first publication in 2024, Archbishop Garc\u00eda-Siller said he had been supportive of the group\u2019s efforts and had \u201cenjoyed a positive relationship\u201d with Foster and the Mission of Divine Mercy members.<\/p>\n

In a March 2024 letter<\/a> to the faithful, Archbishop Garc\u00eda-Siller explained he had asked the group \u201cto refrain from publishing any alleged prophetic message until they were reviewed to ensure they were not harmful to the people of God\u201d because they \u201cinclude many scandalous claims and false teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2024, the group began publishing messages online without the archbishop\u2019s approval. Archbishop Garc\u00eda-Siller met with Foster after the first published message and requested that the group remove it from its website, but the group did not comply and proceeded to publish others. The archbishop\u2019s March 2024 letter notified the archdiocese that he had removed Foster\u2019s faculties for public ministry. He also suppressed the Mission of Divine Mercy\u2019s apostolate status.<\/p>\n

Refused obedience to bishop<\/p>\n

The group continued to post alleged messages through at least July 2026. Foster said to Archbishop Garc\u00eda-Siller in an email sent before a March 6, 2024 posting, \u201cAfter prayerful discernment with our little community, we believe we are called to continue publishing the messages we believe God is giving us for the good of His Children. We deeply regret the pain that this will cause you, and how it will be perceived.\u00a0 We are doing it out of a desire to obey God and serve His Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message posted March 6, 2024, was addressed to Catholic bishops and said, \u201cYou have not only let the smoke of Satan infiltrate into My Sanctuary; but you have allowed a whole army of demons to take your places. And you have allowed the usurper to sit on the chair of My Peter.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Aug. 14, 2026, letter, Archbishop Garc\u00eda-Siller noted that Foster\u2019s excommunication was \u201clatae sententiae,\u201d meaning he automatically incurred it through his own schismatic acts.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite being offered countless opportunities to repent and to cease his schismatic actions and teachings, Mr. Foster has chosen the path of disobedience. I have prohibited him from publicly celebrating Mass, yet he continues to do so,\u201d the archbishop said.<\/p>\n

When celebrating Mass, Foster \u201cintentionally omits the name of Pope Leo XIV, as he did with Pope Francis, from the Eucharistic Prayer. In doing so, he publicly manifests his separation with the Church and the successor of Saint Peter,\u201d the archbishop explained.<\/p>\n

Faithful prohibited from association with group<\/p>\n

Archbishop Garc\u00eda-Siller addressed the faithful directly, saying, \u201cIn my fraternal care for you as your shepherd, I encourage you to guard your heart and mind against those who seek to separate you from the Catholic Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he is prohibiting \u201call Catholics from attending any Mass or any liturgical activity or event\u201d held by Foster or at the suppressed group\u2019s location, and warned the faithful that participating in such \u201cis a formal act of disobedience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The archbishop also urged the faithful not to financially support Foster or the Mission of Divine Mercy. He implored them to join him in praying for Foster, \u201cthat he will repent and seek reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church and be able to once again receive the sacraments of the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simone Orendain is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"57 (OSV News) \u2014 A priest of the Archdiocese of San Antonio who was \u201cfound guilty of schism\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-409657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}