Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano served as the No. 2 official in the Vatican from 2009 to 2011 and ambassador to the U.S. from 2011 to 2016. He gained fame as an ultraconservative, becoming so critical of the more liberal Pope Francis that it resulted in his excommunication earlier this year. A supporter of former President Donald Trump, he is now urging American Catholics not to vote for Harris, warning of apocalyptic results if she is elected.

Vigano wrote that the 2024 election is a choice “between a conservative President, who is paying with his very life for his fight against the deep state, and an infernal monster who obeys Satan.”

He added that Catholics can’t abstain from voting and that a vote for Harris would be contrary to their faith.

“For a Catholic, there can be no question: voting for Kamala Harris is morally inadmissible and constitutes a very grave sin. Nor is it morally possible to abstain, because in this war declaring oneself neutral means allying oneself with the enemy,” Vigano wrote.

“In this election you must choose between two radically opposed ways of conceiving the government of your Nation: you are called to choose between democracy and dictatorship, between freedom and slavery,” he said.

The letter contains a laundry list of conspiracy theories, including claims that the government controls the weather and purposefully unleashed hurricanes on the Southeast.

“Look at your country! Your cities have become dumps filled with derelicts and criminals, drug dealers and addicts, prostitutes and robbers,” Vigano wrote. “Your schools are dens of indoctrination and corruption from kindergarten onwards. In your courts, criminals are acquitted and innocents are imprisoned: new ideological crimes are prosecuted, while illegality is tolerated and encouraged. In your hospitals, multinational corporations rule, and you are their guinea pigs to be exterminated or made chronically ill so that you will be their perpetual clients.”

Vigano wrote a series of public letters to Trump in 2020, one of which the former president described as “incredible.” In a June 7, 2020, letter, Vigano suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic and riots over George Floyd’s death were the workings of nefarious elements as part of a wider spiritual battle.

Vigano has experienced a fall from grace within the Vatican since the height of his power in 2009-2011. He was a central figure in the so-called Vatileaks scandal when his letters expressing concerns about possible corruption to Pope Benedict XVI were leaked to the public.

Vigano’s position has further deteriorated over the past four years due to his promotion of a variety of conspiracy theories, criticism of positions taken by the Vatican on social matters, and support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His excommunication was announced on July 4.