Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese headline WNBA All-Star team that will face US Olympic squad

NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese will team up on the WNBA All-Star team to play against the U.S. Olympic team led by A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.

The pair of remarkable rookies were selected Tuesday by a combination of votes from the media, players and fans as well as the league's 12 coaches to play in the game in Phoenix on July 20. It's the 20th All-Star Game in the league's history.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been her teammate before, even at USA Basketball. I know people will be really excited about it, but I hope it doesn't take away from everyone else,” Clark said. “This is a huge accomplishment for everybody on Team USA and everyone on Team WNBA. They all deserve the same praise. I don't want it to take away from any of that and be the focal point of All-Star weekend because that's not fair to them."

Clark was the leading vote-getter from the fans, receiving 700,735 with her Indiana teammate Aliyah Boston finishing second 72,000 votes behind. Reese was fifth with 381,518 votes. Wilson and Stewart were third and fourth. Wilson garnered 607,300 votes and Stewart had 424,135.

Clark and Reese have been a boon for the WNBA in ratings, merchandise sales and attendance. They are also playing well on the court with Clark third in assists with 6.9 and Reese leading the WNBA in rebounds at 11.4.

“They just told me I’m an All-Star. I’m just so happy,” an emotional Reese said after her Sky beat the Atlanta Dream. “I know the work I’ve put in. Coming into this league so many people doubted me and didn’t think my game would translate and I wouldn’t be the player I was in college, or better, or would be worse, or wouldn’t be where I am right now. But I trust the process and I’m thankful I dropped to No. 7 (pick in the draft) and was able to come to Chicago."

It's the eighth time that two rookies have been on the team. The last was Shoni Schimmel and Chiney Ogwumike in 2014.

Joining the rookies on the WNBA team were DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones of Connecticut, Allisha Gray of Atlanta, Dearica Hamby of Los Angeles, Jonquel Jones of New York, Kayla McBride of Minnesota, Kelsey Mitchell of Indiana, Nneka Ogwumike of Seattle and Arike Ogunbowale of Dallas.

Ogunbowale was the MVP of the 2021 All-Star game which featured the same format of the U.S. team playing a league All-Star team. The WNBA team won that game.

“She's had an incredible season to this point," Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said of McBride. "She's doing everything for us, so deserving of this All-Star nod.”

The U.S. team, which will be going for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris later this month, also features Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi. The pair of Phoenix players will get a chance to play in front of their home crowd in the exhibition game. Taurasi will be vying for a record sixth Olympic gold medal.

Three of Wilson's Las Vegas teammates — Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young — are on the U.S. team. Gray was on the Tokyo Olympic squad while Plum and Young both helped the Americans win the inaugural 3-on-3 gold medal.

Other returners from the Tokyo Games include Napheesa Collier and Jewell Loyd. Several first-time Olympians will join the team with Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper. All three played on the American team that won the World Cup in Australia in 2022.

Every player chosen for either the U.S. team or the WNBA squad is considered an All-Star making this Taurasi's 11th time in the game. She's now alone in second behind Sue Bird for most all time. Bird was a 13-time All-Star.

The league will have a 3-point challenge and skill contest the night before the All-Star game.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) and Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) chase after a rebound during the first half of an WNBA basketball game Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) defends against Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) during the first half of an WNBA basketball game Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) is fouled by Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) during the second half of an WNBA basketball game Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) and guard Marina Mabrey (4) battle Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston (7) and forward NaLyssa Smith (1) for a rebound during a WNBA basketball game, Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Chicago. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune via AP)

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) is defended by Phoenix Mercury guards Sophie Cunningham (9) and Sug Sutton (1) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

ROME (AP) — The Vatican has excommunicated its former ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, after finding him guilty of schism, an inevitable end for the firebrand conservative who became one of Pope Francis ' most ardent critics and a symbol of the polarized Catholic Church in the U.S. and beyond.

The Vatican's doctrine office imposed the penalty after a meeting of its members on Thursday and informed Vigano of its decision Friday, a press statement said.

It cited Vigano's “refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council.”

The Vatican excommunication means that Vigano is formally outside the church, and cannot celebrate or receive its sacraments, for having committed one of the gravest crimes in canon law: schism. A schism occurs when someone withdraws submission to the pope or from the communion of Catholics who are subject to him.

It is considered particularly dangerous to the faith because it threatens the unity of the church, which is built on obedience to the pope. And Vigano had created a following of like-minded conservatives and traditionalists over the years as he delved deeper and deeper into conspiracy theories about everything from the coronavirus pandemic, to what he called the “Great Reset” and other fringe ideas.

His dire pronunciations about the current state of the Catholic Church, amplified on Catholic social media sites and by ideologically friendly bloggers on both sides of the Atlantic, were an exaggerated version of the chasm between U.S. ultra-conservatives and Francis. While the Italian prelate enjoyed mainstream support among conservative bishops early in his public career, many distanced themselves as his ideas became more and more extreme.

Vigano, who hasn't been seen publicly since before 2018, knew the schism declaration was coming after the Vatican informed him that it was launching a penal process against him last month. He defiantly called it “an honor” and refused to appear in person or in writing to defend himself.

Vigano issued a lengthy public statement last month justifying his conduct and refusing to recognize the authority of the Vatican's doctrinal office “that claims to judge me, nor of its prefect, nor of the one who appointed him.”

But he didn’t directly respond to the schism declaration Friday on X, his usual forum. About an hour before the Vatican decree was made public, he announced he would be celebrating a Mass on Friday for those who have been supporting him and asked for donations.

Vigano first burst into the public's awareness in 2012, during the first Vatileaks scandal, when Pope Benedict XVI’s butler leaked the pontiff’s private papers to an Italian journalist to try to draw attention to corruption in the Holy See.

In some of the leaked letters Vigano, then the No. 2 in the Vatican City State administration, begged the pope not to be transferred after exposing corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts that cost the Holy See millions of euros (dollars).

The entreaties didn’t work: By the time the letters were published, Benedict had transferred Vigano to be the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, certainly a prestigious post but one that took him far from Rome and out of the running to one day be a cardinal.

Vigano reappeared on the scene during Francis’ 2015 visit to the United States, which as nuncio Vigano helped organize. Everything was going fine until Vigano arranged for Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk at the center of the U.S. gay marriage debate, to be among a small group of people at the Vatican residence to greet Francis.

Davis had risen to prominence for refusing to issue all marriage licenses rather than be compelled to issue licenses to same-sex couples. She became a hero to the conservative right in the U.S., with whom Vigano had increasingly identified during U.S. culture wars over gay marriage and religious liberty issues.

After the visit ended, Davis and her lawyers claimed the encounter with Francis amounted to an affirmation of her cause. The Vatican later turned that claim on its head when it released footage of what it said was the “only” private audience Francis had in Washington: with a small group of people that included a gay couple.

Vigano’s deception in inviting Davis to meet the pope, who had wanted to steer clear of the U.S. culture wars during his visit, appeared to put the two on what would become a collision course that exploded in August 2018.

At the time, the U.S. church was reeling from a new chapter in its clergy sex abuse scandal: One of the most senior U.S. churchmen, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, had been accused of molesting a minor and a Pennsylvania grand jury had issued a devastating investigation into decades of abuse and cover-up.

As Francis was wrapping up a tense visit to Ireland, Vigano published an 11-page screed accusing him and decades of U.S. and Vatican officials of covering for McCarrick. Specifically, Vigano accused Francis of rehabilitating McCarrick from sanctions imposed by Benedict, and called on him to resign.

The accusations were explosive and helped create the greatest crisis of Francis’ then-young pontificate.

Francis quickly authorized an in-house investigation to determine who knew what and when about McCarrick’s penchant for sleeping with his seminarians.

The report, released in 2020, confirmed that a generation of church officials, including Pope John Paul II, had turned a blind eye to McCarrick’s misconduct. It largely spared Francis who eventually defrocked the churchman.

But the report also faulted Vigano for not looking into new claims against McCarrick or enforcing Vatican restrictions on him when specifically ordered to do so by the Vatican.

At that point, Vigano’s claims against Francis began to become more unhinged. He endorsed conspiracy theories about the coronavirus vaccines, appeared at far-right political rallies in the U.S., backed Russia in its war and, eventually, refused to recognize Francis as pope.

FILE - Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., listens to remarks at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall meeting in Baltimore, Nov. 16, 2015. The Vatican has excommunicated its former ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, after finding him guilty of schism, an inevitable end for the firebrand conservative who became one of Pope Francis' most ardent critics. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)