Another bombshell concerning former Priest Frank Pavone

 Sexual Misconduct Allegations against Frank Pavone

(OSV News) — Embattled former priest and pro-life activist Frank Pavone is facing accusations of sexual misconduct that took place prior to his laicization in November 2022.

Pavone, national director of the nonprofit Priests for Life, was the subject of at least two reports sent to the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, “during or before 2010,” according to a Jan. 24 article in The Pillar, an online outlet that covers the Catholic Church. The Pillar’s article cited allegations of inappropriate behavior by Pavone toward several Priests for Life employees.

The Pillar noted reports also were submitted to the Archdiocese of New York, for which Pavone was ordained in 1988 and where he served as a priest until he transferred to the Diocese of Amarillo in 2005, where he was incardinated.

Due to what he called years of “disobedience and scandalous behavior,” Amarillo Bishop Patrick J. Zurek moved in 2017 to have Pavone dismissed from the clerical state, a process that was finalized Nov. 9, 2022.

Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York, told OSV News by telephone Jan. 25 that with respect to the sexual harassment allegations, “any information we may have received regarding (then-Father) Pavone would have been shared with the diocese where he was incardinated.”

The Pillar said it was “not clear” how the diocese “handled the allegations against the priest,” who was officially a priest for Amarillo from 2005 until his 2022 laicization. A call from OSV News to the Diocese of Amarillo has not yet been returned.

Calls and emails placed by OSV News to Priests for Life requesting comment on the allegations also have not yet been returned. Priest for Life communications director Leslie Palma told The Pillar that “any complaints Father Frank was made aware of were handled with respect for all involved and under the supervision of the bishop of Amarillo, and were resolved satisfactorily.”

A detailed account of Pavone’s alleged misconduct in one case was provided to The Pillar by a woman who had filed a report in 2009. The Pillar stated it had obtained a copy of a 2009 report, written by a diocesan employee, that summarized the woman’s complaint. In addition, The Pillar sought additional comments from the woman in an interview.

In a telephone interview with OSV News Jan. 25, former Priests for Life employee Father Stephen Imbarrato gave an account of how, while he was working at the nonprofit from 2015 to 2018, he had counseled one staffer for more than two years over sexual harassment she had allegedly experienced from Pavone.

“She made it clear she was not comfortable with his inappropriate advances,” the priest said. “It did not stop, and I actually personally confronted (then-Father) Frank about the situation, and it still did not stop. And she was eventually forced to quit.”

Father Imbarrato told OSV News that the Priests for Life colleague he had counseled was “subsequently compensated” after her resignation, adding he did not know the terms of that compensation or whether the woman was satisfied by the settlement.

The woman interviewed by The Pillar, who as a 20-year-old in the 1990s was employed as Pavone’s assistant, said she had been subjected to numerous physical advances, some of which took place in the presence of fellow employees at the office and in public locations.

She also told The Pillar her experiences with Pavone had left emotional and spiritual scars, making employment, relationships and the practice of her faith difficult.

Speaking to OSV News at the National March for Life — prior to The Pillar’s publication of these allegations — Pavone said he had “the full support” of the Priests for Life board and team to continue his pro-life activities.

Pavone said he and his supporters are also “working within the church to get (his) priestly faculties reinstated,” and that he was “confident” of a successful outcome.

Gina Christian is a national reporter for OSV News. Kate Scanlon, OSV News national reporter covering Washington, also contributed to this report.

A Pro-Life video from Frank Pavone listed simply as Pro-Life leader

 On Christmas this video was released by Frank Pavone with the title of "Father" very much not evident.  He simply refers now to himself as a Pro-Life leader, even more specifically he adds, an anti-abortion leader.

Here is the video:

A Christmas Eve Message from Pro-Life Leader, Frank Pavone - YouTube

A lesson on laicization, being defrocked or removal from the clerical state

 

What does it mean to be laicized, defrocked, or dismissed from the clerical state?

By CNA Staff

Denver, Colo., Dec 22, 2022 / 06:43 am

On Nov. 9, Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung Sik, prefect for the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy, laicized Father Frank Pavone from the priesthood for “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop.” But what does it mean to be “laicized,” “defrocked,” or “dismissed from the clerical state”?

Ordination, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “confers a gift of the Holy Spirit that permits the exercise of a ‘sacred power’ which can come only from Christ himself through his Church.”

The Church says ordination marks a person with an irremovable imprint, a character, which “configures them to Christ.” Ordination, in Catholic theology, makes a permanent change that the Church has no power to reverse.

“You are a priest forever,” the Letter to the Hebrews says.

This change is referred to as an ontological change, or a change in being itself.

In addition to making an ontological change, ordination also makes a legal change in a person’s status in the Church. By ordination, a person becomes in canon law a “cleric.” The word “cleric” is derived from the Greek word for “casting lots,” a process of selection similar to drawing straws or rolling dice, because in Acts 1:26, Matthias is added to the 11 remaining apostles after lots are drawn to select the right person.

A cleric, or a sacred minister in the Church, is an ordained man who is permitted by the Church to exercise sacred ministry. A cleric is bound to certain obligations, among them is usually celibacy in the Latin Catholic Church, and he possesses certain rights, among them is the right to be appointed to pastoral leadership positions in the Church. Clerics have the right to be financially supported by the Church and are bound by obedience to the pope and to local Church authorities.

While ordination can never be lost — no power on earth can erase the sacramental imprint of ordination — a person can lose the legal status of being a cleric; this is what is referred to as “laicization.”

When a person loses the clerical state, he no longer has the right to exercise sacred ministry in the Church, except the extreme situation of encountering someone who is in immediate danger of death.

Someone who has lost the clerical state also no longer has the canonical right to be financially supported by the Church.

Often, a man who is laicized is also dispensed from the obligation of celibacy and permitted to marry — but this is not always the case, especially when someone has been involuntarily removed from the clerical state.

Ordinarily, the Church does not permit a person who has been dismissed from the clerical state to teach, as a layman, in a Catholic college or school, to be a lector or extraordinary ministry of holy Communion, or to exercise other functions in the name of the Church. This is determined on an individual basis, and exceptions and dispensations can be made.

A person can lose the clerical state because he has requested it through a special petition to the pope personally, or he can lose it as a penalty for committing an ecclesiastical crime. There are even provisions that allow for a priest or deacon who has abandoned his ministry to be removed from the clerical state after a protracted period of time, and through a specified canonical process.

Losing the clerical state as a penalty comes after a person has committed some crime. But it is not the case that everyone who has been laicized has done something wrong — the Church does not suggest that it is immoral for a priest or deacon to request laicization, and there are many legitimate reasons a priest might do so, though these are often deeply personal.

A laicized priest is no longer referred to as “Father,” or by any other honorary title given to clerics.

After Pavone was laicized, the Church will no longer have responsibility to provide him with housing, medical care, or any other financial benefits. He will not be permitted to celebrate Mass or any other sacraments, except in situations he is unlikely to encounter, such as being with a person in danger of death.

It is not yet known whether Pavone, who continues to refer to himself as Father Pavone, will resume saying Mass in defiance of the Vatican decree. In a statement addressed to Church leaders and posted on his organization’s website Saturday, Pavone vowed to continue his ministry despite his dismissal from the clerical state without specifying if he is referring to his pro-life or priestly ministry.

Pavone expects to be excommunicated

 

Defrocked pro-life Catholic priest predicts church will move to excommunicate him

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times - Thursday, December 22, 2022

Defrocked Catholic priest Frank Pavone, one of the most prominent pro-life activists in the U.S., predicted Thursday that the dispute with his superiors that led to his dismissal as a cleric last week will likely end with his excommunication from the church.

The Vatican informed U.S. bishops in a letter last week that the American priest had been dismissed, with “no possibility of appeal” for “blasphemous communications on social media” and for disobeying his bishop.

That’s probably just the beginning, Mr. Pavone told The Washington Times.

“They are going to send me, at some point in the future, a decree of excommunication altogether — and they didn’t excommunicate me, they just told me I can’t function as a priest — they will excommunicate me and not because of anything I’m going to do. They will make up an excuse, they will find an excuse.”

The Associated Press reported that Mr. Pavone, 63, the national director of Priests for Life, a group of clerics dedicated to supporting the pro-life movement, had been investigated by the diocese of Amarillo, Texas — his most recent assignment — for having placed an aborted fetus on an altar and posting a video of it on two social media sites in 2016. 

“They are going to send me, at some point in the future, a decree of excommunication altogether — and they didn’t excommunicate me, they just told me I can’t function as a priest — they will excommunicate me and not because of anything I’m going to do. They will make up an excuse, they will find an excuse.”

The Associated Press reported that Mr. Pavone, 63, the national director of Priests for Life, a group of clerics dedicated to supporting the pro-life movement, had been investigated by the diocese of Amarillo, Texas — his most recent assignment — for having placed an aborted fetus on an altar and posting a video of it on two social media sites in 2016. 

Some perspective on Pavone and on Bishops whose credibility is "tattered"

 

The Vatican’s action against Frank Pavone: overdue yet unexplained

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 19, 2022

     

Yes, there are other priests—many others, really—whose conduct has been far more egregious, whose public statements have been far more injurious to the faith. Yes, it is painful to see a leading figure in the American pro-life movement disciplined, while others who undermine Church moral teaching are showered with Vatican honors. Yes, many thousands of loyal Catholics have lost confidence in their bishops, and they see a blatant double standard in the handling of disciplinary cases.

Nevertheless the laicization of Frank Pavone is not an injustice. In fact it should not be a surprise.

“What took so long?” Those are the words of Pavone himself, in his response to the announcement that he had been defrocked. His bishop had warned him, long ago, about the exactly that possibility. After nearly fifteen years of fighting against episcopal authority—years in which he refused to accept his bishop’s directives—Pavone could not have been surprised by this weekend’s news.

If it is true (and I have no reason to doubt it) that Pavone first heard the news from a CNA reporter a few days ago—although the Vatican order for his laicization was issued on November 9—that can only be because he had broken off communications with his bishop. “Father Pavone was given ample opportunity to defend himself in the canonical proceedings, and he was also given multiple opportunities to submit himself to the authority of his diocesan bishop,” wrote Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the US. By his own account Pavone had been very actively involved in canonical appeals for years. Finally the appeals ran out.

Father Pavone was certainly not the first priest to fall into an adversarial relationship with his diocesan bishop. But other unhappy clerics recognize that on the day of their ordination to the priesthood, when they promised obedience to the ordaining bishop and his successors, they gave away all the high cards in their hand. In a battle with his bishop, the diocesan priest inevitably loses.

And frankly, despite all the problems that are so sadly evident in the Catholic hierarchy today, that is as it should be. A Catholic priest must be subject to some hierarchical control; otherwise he is a loose cannon: a minister who represents the Church but does not accept the Church’s authority.

In defending himself against his bishop, Pavone has consistently taken the line that he has been persecuted for his pro-life advocacy. “They just don’t like the work I’m doing for these babies,” he told CNA. That argument is disingenuous at best. Many other priests have been outspoken in their defense of the unborn, without causing any such conflicts with their superiors. His conflicts with his bishops—first with Cardinal Edward Egan in New York, then with Bishops John Yanta and Patrick Zurek in Amarillo, Texas—have revolved around his role in the secular corporation that he founded: Priests for Life.

Full-time work for a secular corporation?

Priests for Life (PFL) is a large activist organization, with an annual budget of about $10 million—more than the budget for the Amarillo diocese where he served. The group has its own board of directors, its own professional staff, its own headquarters in Florida. Yet Pavone is the unquestioned leader, the figurehead, the public spokesman, the decision-maker for PFL. So a question naturally arises: can a diocesan priest devote his full-time attention to a secular organization? Can he set his policies for that organization, disregarding input from his bishop?

That question becomes more pressing when, as in this case, the priest refuses to open the organization’s financial books to his diocesan superiors. In September 2011—yes, more than a decade ago—Bishop Zurek intervened because of his “deep concerns regarding [Pavone’s] stewardship of the finances of the Priests for Life (PFL) organization.” As I reported at the time:

Father Pavone says that he has answered every question the bishop asked about the finances of PFL. Bishop Zurek disputes that point, charging that PFL has managed to “rebuff my every attempt at calling for financial transparency.”

Later, in an effort to mediate the disagreement, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York suggested an independent audit of PFL, and the appointment of a few representatives of the hierarchy to the group’s board. Again Pavone refused.

In 2005, Father Pavone had moved to establish a religious order, called the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, which he saw as an arm of Priests for Life. That plan posed a novel challenge to the normal working plan of the Catholic hierarchy: a religious order that would be controlled by a secular corporation. The nascent religious order was quietly disbanded a few years later, amid complaints that its young members were being used as fundraisers for PFL.

The blasphemy charge

In announcing Pavone’s laicization to the American bishops, Archbishop Pierre said that the priest was disciplined for his “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as his “persistent disobedience.” The charge of disobedience is easy to understand; Pavone had insisted that he could not accept Bishop Zurek’s order to work in the Amarillo diocese. He explained that the late Cardinal John O’Connor, who ordained him, had approved his work with PFL. But it seems highly unlikely that Cardinal O’Connor gave him carte blanche to define his own priestly mission. And in any case, at ordination a priest promised obedience to his bishop and that bishop’s successors. When Cardinal Egan sought to put some restraints on his PFL involvement, Father Pavone arranged to transfer to the Amarillo diocese. But the problems with obedience followed him to Texas.

But what about those “blasphemous communications”? The apostolic nuncio did not explain the charge, but Father Pavone had often pushed the boundaries of taste in his condemnations of the abortion industry and its supporters. During the 2020 presidential campaign he wrote on Twitter about “supporters of this goddam loser Biden and his morally corrupt, America-hating, God-hating Democratic party.” Can we agree that sort of language is inappropriate for a man of the cloth?

Pavone’s heavy involvement in partisan politics was a concern, certainly. (He made few friends among the American bishops when he took a high-profile stand in support of Donald Trump’s campaign.) But his willingness to use religious occasions for political purposes—even for purposes as worthy as the pro-life movement—also made bishops uneasy. Their concern reached new heights in 2016, when he put the body of an aborted fetus on an altar, and posted a video of it on social media. Critics saw this action as a desecration of both the altar and the unborn child’s remains.

(Pavone has said that the fetal remains were placed not on an altar, but on a table, which he sometimes used as an altar. The distinction is obscure. What do you call a table on which a priest sometimes celebrates Mass? An altar.)

The bishops’ tattered credibility

Why are so many Catholics upset by Pavone’s laicization? Three reasons.

First, because loyal Catholics—especially those of us who have been active in the pro-life movement—are tired of hearing bishops play lip service to the Gospel of Life, while tolerating the scandalous behavior of prominent Catholics who support the slaughter of the unborn. Why is Pavone disciplined, and not Biden or Pelosi?

Second, because the scandals that have ripped through the Church in the past few decades have shredded the credibility of the hierarchy. A generation ago, a bishop who reined in a rebellious cleric could assume that loyal Catholics would accept his disciplinary action in good faith. No longer.

Third, while Pavone has spoken out frequently in his own defense, the voice of the hierarchy has been virtually silent. Archbishop Pierre offered only a sketchy explanation for the laicization, with no specific charges. Bishop Zurek and the Amarillo diocese had no comment. We have heard Pavone’s defenses, but we have not heard the charges against him. If the purpose of disciplinary action is to protect the Catholic faithful from being misled, in this case the action has failed.

Pavone still says has no reason for dismissal

 

Defrocked pro-life Catholic priest still has no reason for dismissal, aide says

Cleric has spent decades at forefront of opposition to abortion

By Mark A. Kellner - The Washington Times - Monday, December 19, 2022

An aide to Frank Pavone, a pro-life leader whose dismissal from the Roman Catholic priesthood became known Saturday, said Monday that the ex-priest still hasn’t received a formal notice of his removal from ministry.

Priests for Life spokeswoman Leslie Palma said Mr. Pavone has not received an explanation of which specific social media communications were “blasphemous,” as one of the charges against him stated.

Mr. Pavone also was charged with “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop.”

In an interview on Tim Constantine’s Capitol Hill Show, a podcast that is hosted by The Washington Times, the Priests for Life president said the disobedience charge wasn’t accurate.

He has been attached to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo since 2005. Bishop Patrick J. Zurek has clashed with Mr. Pavone numerous times since the bishop was appointed to lead the West Texas diocese in 2008.

“The vicar for clergy of the very diocese I’m incardinated into sent out a public letter years ago, saying Father Frank has complied with everything we’ve asked him to do,” Mr. Pavone told Mr. Constantine.

“If what they mean is that I have not complied with orders to shut up, to walk away from my pro-life work, to abandon the 50 people that I employ in this ministry and all my colleagues in the pro-life movement, who respect and follow my leadership — well, of course, I haven’t complied with that, because for me, that would be a sin,” Mr. Pavone said on Monday’s podcast.

Mr. Pavone has drawn flack for a 2016 election-year video in which the remains of an aborted fetus appeared to have been placed on a consecrated altar. He said the surface was not an altar, but a large table sometimes used in observances at the Priests for Life headquarters in Florida.

He also was criticized for using the word “Goddamned” in describing pro-choice politicians, but he later said he repented of this and had gone to confession over the matter.

Neither incident was specifically mentioned in the official communication about his dismissal.

A native of New York state, Mr. Pavone has spent decades in the pro-life movement, most of it as president of Priests for Life, a Florida-based group that receives between $10 million and $12 million a year in donations.

The organization is not formally a part of the Catholic Church, and a Vatican representative said any decisions about Mr. Pavone’s future with the group is not a church matter.

A Dec. 13 letter from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States, said the decision to remove Mr. Pavone from the clergy “with no possibility of appeal” was issued Nov. 9 by the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy.

“Father Pavone was given ample opportunity to defend himself in the canonical proceedings, and he was also given multiple opportunities to submit himself to the authority of his diocesan bishop,” a statement released with the letter said.

Requests for comment to the Diocese of Amarillo and to the office of Archbishop Pierre did not get a response.

Mr. Pavone, speaking to Mr. Constantine, said of Pope Francis that “if he closes the door, I’m standing there on the other side of the door … I’m gonna keep knocking.”

The Priests for Life president said Francis “has heard from some of his closest advisors that this was not a good idea; that there’s a better solution, which is to put me under the authority of a different bishop, because that bishop of Amarillo has been the cause of a lot of the trouble here.”

He said that “if I have to wait” for the next pope to reverse Francis’ decision, he’s willing to do so.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going away from the pro-life work. My staff, my board are with me 1,000%. The work is not even slowing down, much less stopping,” he said.

Frank Pavone remains steadfast; says let the next Pope reinstate me

 

Priests for Life's Frank Pavone: ‘The next pope can reinstate me’ to the priesthood

By Jonah McKeown, Shannon Mullen

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 19, 2022 / 17:05 pm

Pro-life activist Frank Pavone on Monday defiantly asserted that the Vatican’s decree removing him from the priesthood is not final, saying “the next pope can reinstate me.”

“This idea that any of this is permanent in terms of dismissal from the priesthood is simply incorrect, because we’re going to continue,” Pavone, the national director of the pro-life organization Priests for Life, said in a Dec. 19 interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network posted on YouTube.

“Then there will be a next pope, and the next pope can reinstate me,” he said.

CNA broke the news on Dec. 17 that the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, had informed the U.S. bishops in a letter dated Dec. 13 that the prefect for the Dicastery for the Clergy, Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung Sik, had removed Pavone from the priesthood on Nov. 9, without any possibility of appeal.

Pavone was found guilty in a canonical proceeding of “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,” Pierre wrote.

Pavone on Dec. 17 claimed to not know about the Vatican’s action, saying, “How did CNA learn about this before I did?” 

On Monday, Priests for Life released a statement saying Pavone has yet to receive any formal notification of the Vatican’s decree.

A spokeswoman for the organization also told CNA that Pavone was most recently incardinated — meaning formally attached to a diocese — in the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas. 

In addition, she confirmed that Pavone participated in the canonical process that led to his dismissal from the clerical state.

“His canonical team was involved in trying to resolve this situation and to fight back against the ongoing persecution of Father Frank from his bishop,” the spokeswoman said. “The canonical team also was working on Father Frank’s attempt to be incardinated into another diocese. Our canonical team is not at liberty to discuss these subjects now, and we are not releasing the name of the bishop or diocese into which he was hoping to incardinate.”

The statement provides some additional context surrounding the Vatican’s stunning decree removing the well-known Pavone from the priesthood while leaving other important questions still unanswered. 

Among them: What specific communications did Pavone make that were deemed “blasphemous”? Who is the bishop that Pavone disobeyed? And what of the Masses and other sacraments Pavone has celebrated in the more than five weeks that have passed since the Vatican rendered its judgment?

Pavone says he’s being ‘aborted’

Pavone, 63, who was ordained in the Archdiocese of New York, is known for his sometimes profanity-laced social media posts and provocative pro-life activism, which included a live-streamed endorsement of Trump in 2016 during which Pavone placed an aborted baby on a table he also used for Mass. 

Pavone hosted the television show “Defending Life” on EWTN for many years until Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo revoked his permission to appear on the network. EWTN is the parent organization of CNA.

On both his Twitter and Facebook pages, Pavone continues to present himself as a priest. A laicized priest is forbidden to celebrate the sacraments, except for hearing confessions and absolving a sinner in danger of death, Father Gerald E. Murray, a canon lawyer, told CNA in an interview Sunday.

"Any other sacramental celebration is unlawful and thus an act of disobedience," Murray said.

Pavone was still saying Masses online as recently as last week, according to videos posted online. The spokeswoman said Priests for Life would not comment on whether Pavone will continue to do so. 

In interviews and social media posts, Pavone has framed the judgment against him as retaliation for his outspokenness on the pro-life issue, rather than an indictment of his conduct.

In a Dec. 17 tweet, Pavone stated that he was being “aborted.”

“[I]n every profession, including the priesthood, if you defend the #unborn, you will be treated like them! The only difference is that when we are ‘aborted,’ we continue to speak, loud and clear,” Pavone wrote. He later tweeted the words “Ecclesiastical #abortion.”

Pavone also claims that his removal from the priesthood stems from a yearslong effort by Amarillo Bishop Patrick J. Zurek and others in the Catholic hierarchy to discredit and silence him.

In his interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Pavone called Zurek “one of the ringleaders in all of this.”

“The process has been a one-sided narrative,” he told CBN. “It’s a one-sided effort to just cancel out what we are trying to do.”

Pierre’s letter to the bishops, however, included a clear statement that the Vatican’s decree has no bearing on Pavone’s involvement in Priests for Life.

“Since Priests for Life, Inc. is not a Catholic organization, Mr. Pavone's continuing role in it as a layperson would be entirely up to the leadership of that organization,” the statement said.

In a tweet Monday morning, Pavone said his board, pastoral team, and staff at Priests for Life are “1000% united with me in moving forward with our work.”

“We will not slow down. My vocation is to be a priest and a #prolife leader and I will not walk away from either one of those!” Pavone wrote. 

Which bishop did he disobey?

Pierre’s letter, obtained and verified by CNA, does not elaborate on the specific “blasphemous communications” at issue. 

Canon 1369 of the Code of Canon Law states, “A person who in a public show or speech, in published writing, or in other uses of the instruments of social communication utters blasphemy, gravely injures good morals, expresses insults, or excites hatred or contempt against religion or the Church is to be punished with a just penalty.”

Incardinated in Amarillo in 2005, Pavone has been in a running battle there with Zurek, who became the diocese's bishop in 2008. 

Zurek suspended Pavone in 2011, a decision the Vatican overruled in 2012 after Pavone appealed. Zurek also stated in 2016 that Priests for Life, now based in Florida, is “not a Catholic institution, but a civil organization, and it is not under the control or supervision of the Diocese of Amarillo.”

Pavone’s political activism reached a crescendo in recent years in his public embrace of Donald Trump. He served on official Trump campaign outreach positions in 2016 and was originally a co-chair of Trump’s 2020 pro-life coalition, as well as an advisory board member of Catholics for Trump. He eventually stepped down from those 2020 posts. Canon law forbids clerics from having an active role in political parties unless they receive the permission of their bishop. 

In 2020, the Amarillo Diocese chastised Pavone for profanity-laced Twitter posts denouncing then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Pavone also implied that he would withhold absolution from someone he felt was not repentant for supporting the Democratic Party and its pro-abortion policies.

Neither the Diocese of Amarillo nor the office of the apostolic nuncio in Washington, D.C., have responded to CNA’s requests for comment.

Priests for Life’s statement Monday that Pavone most recently was incardinated in Amarillo clarifies a different statement posted on the organization’s website, which says Pavone received permission from the Vatican in 2019 to transfer away from Amarillo but does not say where. 

In 2020, Pavone told CNA he was seeking a transfer to the Diocese of Colorado Springs. On Monday, Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs issued a statement saying that Pavone was never incardinated there.

Golka, who took the helm in Colorado Springs in June 2021, said Pavone has referred to a “supposed 2019 agreement to transfer to the Diocese of Colorado Springs under my predecessor, the late Bishop Michael Sheridan, that was blocked by the Vatican.”

“I regret that, in the time that elapsed between my arrival in Colorado Springs and Bishop Sheridan’s death, I did not have the opportunity to speak with him about many of the things that occurred during his tenure, including this matter. Therefore, I am unable to comment on Mr. Pavone’s assertion other than to say that he has never been incardinated in the diocese,” Golka stated.

Dismissed from Priesthood by the Vatican, Fr. Pavone fights back

 

Frank Pavone cancels Mass but vows legal action after Vatican dismisses him from priesthood

By Zelda Caldwell, Katie Yoder

Washington D.C., Dec 18, 2022 / 11:29 am

The national director of Priests for Life, Frank Pavone, canceled a scheduled livestreamed Mass today, one day after CNA published a report that he was continuing to celebrate Mass after the Vatican had removed him from the priesthood.

In a defiant statement addressed to Church leaders and posted on his organization’s website Saturday, Pavone vowed to continue his ministry despite his dismissal from the clerical state.

“It’s about the millions of supporters of the movement I help to lead and will continue to lead,” he wrote, adding that he would respond by taking “all appropriate canonical and civil action as well as public communications to the Faithful.”

In a Dec. 13 letter to U.S. bishops obtained by CNA and confirmed by multiple sources as authentic, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, wrote that the prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy issued the decision on Nov. 9, adding that there was “no possibility of appeal.”

The letter indicated that Pavone has been dismissed from the clerical state for “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,” CNA reported yesterday. The communication from Pierre does not specify the actions that led to Pavone’s dismissal or name the bishop he disobeyed.

“Father Pavone was given ample opportunity to defend himself in the canonical proceedings, and he was also given multiple opportunities to submit himself to the authority of his diocesan bishop,” explains a separate statement attached to Pierre’s letter. “It was determined that Father Pavone had no reasonable justification for his actions.”

The statement refers to Pavone as “Mr. Pavone” and calls him “a lay person,” underscoring the dramatic and immediate nature of the Vatican’s action. 

Pavone remains defiant, calls himself ‘Father’

Pavone has continued to celebrate Mass since the Vatican's communication, including a Mass streamed online Saturday. The Priests for Life website states that Pavone “is a Catholic priest in good standing, and exercises his ministry in full communion with the Catholic Church.” 

In an email to CNA on Saturday, Pavone said that he was not aware of the Vatican’s action.

“How did CNA learn about this before I did?” he asked. In a subsequent email, he added that CNA’s inquiry was “the very first communication that came to me about this.”

Saturday evening he posted a defiant statement to his followers, in which he addressed statements to Pope Francis, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, and the U.S. bishops. 

The statement was signed “Fr. Frank Pavone” in spite of the Vatican’s announcement that he is no longer a priest.

Addressing Pope Francis, Pavone wrote: “Your Holiness, I want to continue serving as a faithful priest and full-time pro-life leader. You can allow me to do so under a supportive bishop, and many of the faithful understand that this is the most reasonable solution.”

To Archbishop Pierre, the apostolic nuncio, he wrote: “Your Excellency, your communication to the bishops dated December 13th contains serious errors and omissions. But that has marked this process all along, so there is no surprise there, and those errors will be addressed separately and thoroughly.

“But in particular, when you say there is ‘no possibility of appeal’ to this decision, you speak only in a very narrow legal sense, and completely ignore the appeal that is being made to the People of God themselves. This is not just about me; it’s about the millions of supporters of the movement I help to lead and will continue to lead, and of the work that the People of God have already evaluated and judged worthy of their ongoing support,” Pavone wrote.

He then vowed to take legal action and make a direct appeal to his supporters.

“To those of you who have been part of this travesty publicly or in the shadows, we will be taking all appropriate canonical and civil action as well as public communications to the Faithful,” Pavone wrote.

It is not clear in what diocese Pavone, 63, is incardinated as a priest. On the Priests for Life website, it says he received permission from the Vatican in 2019 to transfer from the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, where he was incardinated in 2005, to another, unnamed diocese.

Pavone hosted the show “Defending Life” on EWTN for many years until the bishop of Amarillo, Texas, revoked Pavone’s permission to appear on the network. EWTN is the parent organization of CNA.

A history of clashes with hierarchy

Originally based in Staten Island, New York, Priests for Life is now headquartered in Titusville, Florida, within the Diocese of Orlando. That diocese, also, did not respond to CNA’s request for comment Saturday.

Pavone has served as the pro-life organization’s national director since 1993.

In that role he has a long history of conflicts with bishops, beginning more than 20 years ago with the late Cardinal Edward Egan of the Archdiocese of New York. Egan succeeded the late Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who ordained Pavone in 1988 and encouraged his pro-life work.

In his email, Pavone directed CNA to a document posted on his personal website titled “Summary of How Fr. Frank and Priests for Life Have Been Treated by Some in the Hierarchy.”

“We all expect that the pro-abortion groups, like Planned Parenthood, will target, harass and try to intimidate us. And they do try,” he wrote.

“But when such treatment comes from bishops and other Church authorities — which it increasingly does — it’s particularly deplorable,” he added. “Instead of supporting and encouraging the pro-life work of the Church, some of these men try to obstruct and hinder it, and abuse their authority to try to intimidate priests and laity who make ending abortion the top priority of our lives.”

Pavone has been at odds with Bishop Patrick J. Zurek in Amarillo since the latter became bishop there in 2008. In 2011, Zurek publicly suspended Pavone, though Pavone later had the suspension overruled by the Vatican. The Amarillo Diocese did not respond to CNA’s requests for comment prior to publication.

Pavone’s political activism played a role in his problems in Amarillo.

An outspoken supporter of former president Donald Trump, Pavone served on official Trump campaign outreach positions in 2016 and was originally a co-chair of Trump’s 2020 pro-life coalition as well as an advisory board member of Catholics for Trump. Canon law forbids clerics from having an active role in political parties unless they receive the permission of their bishop. 

In November 2016, Pavone filmed a video at the Priests for Life headquarters, urging support for Trump. The video was staged with the body of an aborted baby laid before Pavone on what appeared to be an altar. 

Zurek said soon after the video’s release that he would open an investigation into the incident, calling it “against the dignity of human life” and “a desecration of the altar,” adding that “the action and presentation of Father Pavone in this video is not consistent with the beliefs of the Catholic Church.”