Cardinal Robert Sarah.(Credit: CNS/Crux Now) Just hours after the publication of a controversial open letter, one of the signatories – the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments – said he did not sign it.
Cardinal Robert Sarah denied signing the letter, titled ‘Appeal for the Church and the World’, which says the coronavirus has been exaggerated to foster widespread panic and establish a “one-world government”.
He tweeted: “I share on a personal basis some of the questions or concerns raised with regard to restrictions on fundamental freedoms, but I have not signed this petition.
“I explicitly asked [sic] the authors of the petition titled ‘Appeal for the Church and for the World’ not to mention me.”
The cardinal was listed as a signatory of the letter when it was published last week by the National Catholic Register, LifeSiteNews and other websites.
However, Cardinal Sarah’s denial raises questions about the legitimacy of other reported signatories to the letter.
Jeanette DeMelo, editor of the National Catholic Register, said the principal author of the letter is Archbishop Carlo Vigano, a former Papal Emissary to the US.
DeMelo said that Vigano had vouched for the authenticity of Sarah’s signature.
“The Register contacted Archbishop Vigano, the principal author, and asked him specifically about the authenticity of the signature of Cardinal Sarah and he said ‘I can confirm 100% that Cardinal Sarah signed it’,” DeMelo said.
The letter argued that the pandemic has been sensationalised and exploited to impede civil rights and exact government control over individuals and families.
“We have reason to believe [sic] that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements,” read the letter.
Among the letter’s reported signatories were four cardinals: Cardinal Sarah, Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Cardinal Joseph Zen and Cardinal Janis Pujats.
Along with several bishops and priests, the letter’s reported signatories also included academics, journalists and scientists.
Vatican journalists Marco Tosatti and Robert Moynihan, Lifesitenews editor John-Henry Westen, Population Research Institute president Stephen Mosher and pro-life group leaders were among those listed.
In the letter, they encouraged Catholics to “assess the current situation in a way consistent with the teaching of the Gospel. This means taking a stand: either with Christ or against Christ”.