An Italian priest, has been excommunicated after publicly declaring that Pope Francis is an “antipope” and that Benedict XVI never truly renounced the papacy.

Fr Natale Santonocito, who was ordained in 2023, made the claims in several videos posted online which led to him being investigated by the diocese. 

“The Pope is not the Pope,” he says in one of them. “He never was.”

The Diocese of Tivoli and Palestrina launched an investigation into the 61-year-old's claims which were deemed incompatible with the sacred ministry.

A statement from the diocese said: “Having ascertained the culpability of the offender and finding the dissemination of such statements incompatible with the exercise of sacred ministry, in the name of the Catholic Church, the bishop has declared his excommunication.”

He said that in accordance with canons 751 and 1364 §1 of the Code of Canon Law the priest has “incurred ipso facto in excommunication latae sententiae, with the effects and consequences set forth in Can. 1331 of the Code of Canon Law”.

Santonocito’s excommunication follows similar actions taken against other priests in Italy for making heretical statements about Pope Francis’ papacy.