BREAKING: San Antonio archbishop laicizes priest over messages calling Francis and Leo ‘usurpers’ - LifeSite

Fri Aug 14, 2026 - 5:48 pm EDT (LifeSiteNews) — 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 …