[7] At the close of his mission to Nigeria in 1998, he was assigned to functions within the Secretariat of State as delegate for Pontifical Representations, making him the personnel chief for the Roman curia in addition to Vatican diplomats.

Viganò, formerly the second ranked Vatican administrator to the Pope, requested not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions in higher contract prices.

After careful examination of the contents of the two letters, the President of the Governorate sees it as its duty to publicly declare that those assertions are the result of erroneous assessments, or fears based on unsubstantiated evidence, even openly contradicted by the main characters invoked as witnesses.

Viganò said he welcomed the appointment and said that being Apostolic Nuncio to the United States is an "important, vast and delicate" task; he was grateful to Pope Benedict for entrusting him with the mission and he felt called to renew his "trust in the Lord, who asks me to set out again."

"[23] Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, commented that the revelation of Viganò's complaints about corruption and cronyism in Vatican finances "in a way...enhances his credibility as someone who does not look upon the internal workings of the Holy See with rose-colored glasses, but is well aware of difficulties there.

"[16][24] In 2014, Viganò allegedly ordered officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to end an investigation into sexual misconduct on the part of Archbishop John Nienstedt, who was found innocent by police authorities.

[28] Griffith's memo was leaked to the National Catholic Reporter in July 2016 and alleged that Viganò had ordered the archdiocese's two auxiliary bishops, Lee A. Piché and Andrew H. Cozzens, to cease the investigation and carry out the destruction of evidence.

[25][29][30] However, Nienstedt resigned in June 2015 after it was announced that a Minnesota prosecutor was bringing criminal charges and initiating a civil suit against the archdiocese for failing to protect children from sexual abuse.

[34] On 5 June 2019, Viganò was reported to have received, together with other influential U.S. Catholic leaders, substantial monetary gifts from West Virginia bishop Michael J. Bransfield, who had resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct.

"[51] Francis convened a Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church from 21 to 24 February 2019,[52] which led to his issuing the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi, which specified the responsibility of bishops in handling cases and in reporting.

[44][50] The New York Times stated that Viganò's letter contained "unsubstantiated allegations and personal attacks," and described it as "an extraordinary public declaration of war against Francis' papacy at perhaps its most vulnerable moment."

[62] Journalists at the time of the appointments of both Cupich and Tobin reported that McCarrick had recommended both for their positions as archbishop of Chicago and Newark, respectively, as consistent with the statement made in Viganò's testimony.

"[68] Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, released a statement declaring that Viganò's letter raised questions which "deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence.

[91] Morlino also expressed disappointment that Pope Francis had not given a direct response when asked about this matter, and accused the National Catholic Reporter of "leading the charge in a campaign of vilification against (former) Archbishop Viganò.

"[94] Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, said the language of the letter seemed political: "It was so scattershot that it was hard to read if it was ideological in some ways, or it was payback to others for personal slights that he had because there were some people who in his past he felt had mistreated him.

After the document was completed, Tosatti located publications that were willing to publish the letter: the Italian daily La Verità, the English-language National Catholic Register and LifeSiteNews, and the Spanish website InfoVaticana.

[120] He said that "foreign powers" and "shady interests" were interfering in domestic affairs and were part of a "plot to create a world government" that "would result in the permanent imposition of unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms".

[121] In his June 7, 2020 letter to then-President Donald Trump, which was published on LifeSiteNews,[122] Viganò made "apocalyptic claims about a looming spiritual battle and a globalist conspiracy pursuing a one-world government", according to the Catholic News Agency.

Viganò said in the October 30 letter that then-President Trump represented the "final garrison against the world dictatorship" and that the United States represented a "defending wall" in a "war" against globalists, such as the President of the United States Joe Biden, Pope Francis (whom Viganò addresses as simply Jorge Mario Bergoglio), Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, France's President Emmanuel Macron, and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

[123] On October 23, 2021, Viganò addressed an open letter to the then President of the United States Conference of Bishops José Horacio Gómez, citing scientific papers for supporting his conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, since an experimental drug according to international standards can only be authorised in the absence of other alternatives, the health authorities had deliberately ignored low-cost and 'proven effective' treatment methods such as hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and Dr Giuseppe De Donno's hyperimmune plasma, which rendered "the similar exorbitantly expensive, laboratory-produced monoclonal cell therapy useless".

Finally, a theme taken up by conspiracy sites, it states that the presence of graphene in the doses administered, reported by numerous laboratories that have analysed their content, suggests that the forcible use of so-called vaccines – at the same time as the systematic boycott of existing cures with proven efficacy – serves to track the remote contacts of all vaccinated human beings worldwide, who will be or are already now connected to the Internet of Things by a quantum link of pulsating microwave frequencies of 2.4  GHz or higher from cellular towers and satellites.

[143] Following the enactment of Fiducia Supplicans, which allows priests to bless same-sex attracted individuals under certain conditions, Viganò described Pope Francis as a "false prophet" and a "servant of Satan".

"[149] Viganò also promoted the COVID-19 conspiracy theories (referring to the pandemic as a "farce conducted with criminal methods") and claimed that George Soros, Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates had "deliberately provoked" the Russia-Ukraine war "with the aim of destroying the social and economic fabric of nations, decimating the world population, [and] concentrating control in the hands of an oligarchy"; he also claimed that this was connected to conspiracies to prevent Donald Trump from being re-elected in 2020 and force Pope Benedict XVI to resign in 2013.

Mike Lewis, managing editor of the progressive Catholic website Where Peter Is, described the letter as "the most astounding and bizarre public document created by this deeply troubled man to date".

[150] In July 2023, Viganò established the association Exsurge Domine to provide support to clergy, laity and religious who have been suspended, laicized and or sanctioned by the Catholic hierarchy due to their traditionalist positions.

[151] In his December 2023 newsletter, Viganò announced the establishment of a traditionalist Catholic seminary called Collegium Traditionis in Viterbo, providing training to seminarians not willing to accept "the errors of the Second Vatican Council or the deviations of Bergoglio".

The insults referred to the fact that Bishop Powers had celebrated a Mass in the Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior, Wisconsin, which featured four Ojibwe women engaging in traditional dance while accompanied by Indigenous drumming.

[162] Commenting on the affair, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said that "Viganò has taken some attitudes and some actions for which he must answer"; he also told journalists "I am very sorry because I always appreciated him as a great worker, very faithful to the Holy See, someone who was, in a certain sense, also an example.

[163][164] Several days later, Viganò accused Pope Francis of heresy and schism, calling for his removal from the Chair of Saint Peter "which he has unworthily occupied for over 11 years"; he also reiterated his rejection of the Second Vatican Council.