Yeah, you read that right, it’s not fiction set in the Middle Ages: there are still hermits in the Catholic Church, and the Church on Christmas Day excommunicated the Westray Hermits–for branding the current pope a heretic (https://www.complicitclergy.com/2019/12/25/catholic-hermits-excommunicated-on-christmas-day/).
They didn’t mince words. In an article called The Declaration (see news link above), the hermits said Pope Francis I “has thrown the whole Church into confusion” and “by his utterances, his behaviour, his teachings and his actions, has shown himself to be indeed a great heretic.” They excoriated the pope for teaching that there is no Hell, for vacillating on sexual morality, and for suggesting that all religions are equally fine with God.
(Do you know any Catholics who are happy with this pope? I don’t.)
The hermits also denounced Catholic bishops collectively for their silence and inaction.
The bishop in whose jurisdiction the Westray hermits are based has declined to comment on the matter.