San Antonio Priest John Mary Foster Laicized and Excommunicated for Rejecting Papal Authority
John Mary Foster, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, has been removed from the clerical state and excommunicated. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller announced that a tribunal of canon lawyers, authorized by the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, found Foster guilty of 'a crime against the faith for his refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff.' Foster publicly referred to Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV as 'usurpers.' Foster, ordained in 1987, founded the Mission of Divine Mercy in Canyon Lake, Texas, in 2001. The group, which offered retreats and sacramental ministry, began publishing alleged prophetic messages online in February 2024 without the archbishop's approval, despite requests to refrain. These messages included 'scandalous claims and false teachings.' Consequently, Archbishop García-Siller removed Foster's faculties for public ministry and suppressed the apostolate status of the Mission of Divine Mercy. 
