-LifeSiteNews: San Antonio archbishop laicizes priest over messages calling Francis and Leo ‘usurpers’
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller announced today that a canonical tribunal found Fr. John Mary Foster guilty of schism, declared him under latae sententiae excommunication, and dismissed him from the clerical state.
The tribunal decision was issued April 20 but only revealed today.
The archdiocese simultaneously prohibited all Catholics from attending Masses or activities at the Mission of Divine Mercy (MDM) in Canyon Lake and urged an end to financial support.
In the notice dated August 14, García-Siller emphasized that Foster “has publicly referred to Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV as ‘usurpers’” and that, “in publishing messages allegedly received from God, Jesus, and the Blessed Mother by a member of the Mission of Divine Mercy, for which John Mary Foster serves as the de facto leader, he has repeatedly and consistently claimed that Pope Leo XIV ‘is also a usurper and not a true pope.’”
The archbishop added that the priest continues to celebrate Mass while deliberately omitting the Pope’s name from the Eucharistic Prayer, and he declared attendance at MDM events “a formal act of disobedience.”
In a response issued on the MDM website, Fr. Foster noted that while they would have canonical grounds to appeal the decision, they are not doing so because “the practical realities of the current Vatican and hierarchy, so deeply infiltrated by the enemy, weigh heavily against a successful appeal.
For example, we would be appealing to Victor Manuel Fernandez at the Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith, who bears significant responsibility for many of the most troubling actions of the current Vatican, including authoring Fiducia Supplicans.
And any ultimate decision would rest with Robert Prevost (Leo), who the Lord has said is a usurper working to undermine His Church.”
Central to the case — and prominently highlighted by both the archdiocese and MDM — is the series of alleged private revelations received by a member of Foster’s community (Sister Amapola).
These messages, which MDM began publishing publicly in February 2024 after years of silence at the archbishop’s request, explicitly warn that Jorge Bergoglio (Francis) was an illegitimate occupant of the Chair of Peter.
One early message, addressed to bishops, stated, “You 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 – he who is carrying out the Great Treason that will leave My Church desolate.” Subsequent messages extended the same judgment to Robert Prevost (Leo XIV), with God the Father declaring on September 2, 2025: “The one who is seated on the throne of Peter is not Mine.”
LifeSite interviewed Fr. Foster at the time of the first public revelations asking him about concerns of punishment from Rome for making the alleged messages public.
The leader of the MDM told LifeSite that the community felt heaven was asking them to make the sacrifice in order to warn the Church about the crisis of the papacy.