A Canyon Lake Catholic priest who considers Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis usurpers was officially stripped of his clergy status and excommunicated after a church tribunal found him guilty of “schism” on April 26, the San Antonio Archdiocese said in a statement Friday.
The former Rev. John Mary Foster, head of the nonprofit Mission of Divine Mercy (MDM), 1531 Indian Chief Trail, New Braunfels, can no longer celebrate Mass and Catholics are banned from attending his services, participating in retreat activities, or supporting the mission financially.
The Catholic retreat and contemplative center, also known as an apostolate, is located on 130 acres and worth millions of dollars, according to the Comal County Appraisal District.
San Antonio Archbishop Rev. Gustavo Garcia-Siller said Foster waived his right to appeal.
“Mr. Foster has chosen to reject the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church by his words and actions,” he said in the statement. “He has publicly referred to Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV as ‘usurpers’. 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.'”
According to Silere non possum, an international news outlet covering the Catholic Church and the Vatican, trouble began in 2024 when MDM published alleged revelations received by a religious sister within the community, Sister Amapola, who said her messages came from God, Jesus and the Blessed Virgin.
A 2025 message from the nun warned: “The one who sits on the throne of Peter is not mine.”
In a statement Saturday, Foster called his sentence unjust, adding MDM is not guilty of schism and has no intention of leaving the Catholic Church.
In his homily today, the former priest said he is grateful for the sacrifices people made to attend his Mass and is not bitter about Garcia-Siller’s decision.
“I think this was very hard for him,” Foster said. “I don’t think he did this because he wanted to; I think he felt he was doing what he had to do. I just wish that there had been more of a serious discernment on the archdiocese’s part over these many years. We shared the messages with them, had made an effort to discern. I won’t go on about that today. We published a long statement. Many of you are aware of that, and so let’s focus today on this gospel that we have.”
The Rev. Steven Gamez, pastor of New Braunfels Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, described Garcia-Siller’s announcement as sad.
Foster once lived at the parish and formed many close relationships there.
“I ask all of us to resist the temptation to speculate, to take sides, to assign motives, or to allow fear, anger, or division to enter our hearts,” Gamez said. “In moments such as these, there will naturally be questions, and there may be things that we do not fully understand. But as people of faith, we are called to look beyond the circumstances of the moment and recognize the deeper spiritual reality before us. At its heart, what the Church is asking of us concerns something essential to our Catholic faith, communion and obedience. It asks us whether, especially when something is difficult or painful, we will entrust ourselves to Christ and remain united to the Church.”
Silere non possum said Foster’s excommunication is part of a growing “broader phenomenon” of communities and individual priests relying on alleged private revelations to challenge the legitimacy of popes since 2013.