Excommunication in Texas: Priest Called Francis and Leo XIV "Usurpers"
Fr. John Mary Foster founded the Mission of Divine Mercy in 2001, a small Catholic community in the Texas Hill Country. He was incardinated into the Archdiocese of San Antonio in November 2009.
In April 2026, a canonical tribunal found Foster guilty of schism, meaning refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff. The archdiocesan notice specifically describes this as “a crime against the faith.”
The tribunal held that Foster had incurred latae sententiae excommunication and dismissed him from the clerical state. The sentence was publicly announced by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, 69, of San Antonio on August 14, 2026.
The trial
The judicial process was authorized by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The tribunal consisted of three judges, a notary, a promoter of justice, and an advocate for Foster. The three judges were priests holding doctorates in canon law. The archbishop says their regular ministries were independent of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
The tribunal spent more than a year receiving and considering evidence.
The evidence included Foster's statements, homilies, teachings and actions, together with testimony from witnesses.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith was notified about the April sentence and acknowledged the tribunal's judicial authority to render the sentence.
The central dispute concerns Foster's rejection of the legitimacy of the recent popes.
No Mentioning of the pope in the Eucharist
Foster has publicly called both popes Francis and Leo XIV “usurpers.”
The archbishop says he had 2024 prohibited Foster from publicly celebrating Eucharists, but Foster continued doing so.
According to García-Siller, Foster deliberately omitted the reigning pope's name from the Eucharistic Prayer - first Francis, and subsequently Leo XIV.
Alleged Messages from God the Father
The archbishop says Foster and the Mission of Divine Mercy have published alleged messages from God, Jesus, and the Blessed Mother, received by a member of the community, Sister Amapola.
The messages reportedly maintain that Francis and Leo XIV were not the legitimate popes.
One alleged revelation, dated September 2, 2025 and attributed to God the Father, states: “The one who is seated on the throne of Peter is not Mine.”
An earlier message concerning Francis reportedly accused the bishops of allowing “the usurper to sit on the chair of My Peter.”
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