What was this Priest thinking? Now married and stripped of his Priesthood

 

Disgraced Alabama priest, 30, who fled to Italy to marry 18-year-old he 'groomed' has his priesthood STRIPPED by Pope Francis at Vatican

A disgraced priest from Alabama has been stripped of his priesthood by the Pope after he fled to Italy and married a teenager.

The Archdiocese of Mobile 'received notice that the laicization of Alex Crow is complete, effective immediately.'

Crow, 30, had previously requested he be removed from the priesthood. The request was recently granted by Pope Francis.

Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi supported Crow's laicization, which is the process of formally removing a Catholic church figure from service.

Crow no longer possesses any 'privileges or responsibilities of the priesthood.' The former clergyman did not appeal during his removal process.

Crow met his now-wife while she was in high school at McGill-Toolen High in Mobile, where he frequently visited to deliver guest lectures to the students.

The Archdiocese became aware of Crow's questionable courtship when local law enforcement got their hands on Valentine's Day love letters the priest had sent to the teen.

'First things first: I love you, and I thank Jesus for you every day. You have made my life both astronomically more complicated and incredibly better at the same time. You are his gift to me,' read part of his letter to the teen.

Archbishop Rodi condemned the relationship at the time, calling Crow's behavior 'totally unbecoming of a priest.' Among other issues, priests in the Catholic Church are ordered to maintain a state of celibacy.

He then said that the recently ordained clergyman 'may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor to tell people he is a priest, nor to dress as a priest.'

Last summer, Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said he believes there was 'some grooming that's gone on,' between Crow and his teenage wife. 'You've got a much older adult interacting with teenage girls in an inappropriate way.'

Prior to the sheriff's statement, Crow had fled to Europe with his young lover. He'd told people he was headed across the Atlantic to perform exorcisms across Europe.

Crow has reportedly long had a fascination with demonology.

When the pair returned from abroad, they got married in Alabama.

Crow married the Mobile teen on November 17, according to a notarized Alabama Marriage Certificate from the Judge of Probate's office. 

According to the findings of local law enforcement, Crow, who claims to have been exorcised as a child, had told his lover that Jesus instructed him to leave with her.

Ultimately, the Mobile County District Attorney's Office explained that prosecutors interviewed 30 witnesses and reviewed 'thousands of pages of documents' provided by the Archdiocese but would not seek charges over the 'private relationship between two now-adults.'

'When the young lady and Priest returned, we subpoenaed the young lady to meet with our office to determine what had occurred, and whether there was any criminal action,' read a statement from the office.

'She appeared in seemingly good health and said that she is safe.

'However, she brought an attorney with her to the meeting, and together they declined to answer any questions about the circumstances surrounding her July disappearance, or indeed any other questions.

'Without being able to speak with the young lady about these events, we do not have sufficient admissible evidence to charge a crime at this time. Therefore, this investigation is currently closed.'

Church bosses said they found out he was back through the media as shamed priest had not been in contact with them since his suspension.

'While Crow's behavior has been scandalous, the Archdiocese does not have any information to indicate that Crow has committed any crime,' a statement said.

'To the extent law enforcement is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding Crow's behavior, the Archdiocese will continue to cooperate fully.

'If law enforcement has closed their investigation of Crow, the Archdiocese thanks them for their thorough and thoughtful attention to this matter.

'Crow's sudden departure created scandal, hurt, and confusion within the Archdiocese. We continue to pray for God's grace to bring healing to this situation for everyone.'

The couple's return came after a lawyer for the girl's family claimed Crow cut off her contact with them while in Rome.

The lawyer, Christine Hernandez, said that he had 'limited' the girl's communication to the outside world.

She also said other parents reported disturbing instances involving Crow and their children during school and church trips, including claims he paid some students to attend his confessions, where they'd share details of their sins with him.

The defrocked clergy member, who was initially ordained in 2021, previously attended Sant' Anselmo in Rome, Italy where he received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and studied demons and exorcisms. 

A retired Bishop decides to marry in a civil ceremony. Words fail.

 

BISHOP HUBBARD MARRIES IN CIVIL CEREMONY

Vatican turned down his request to be laicized; Bishop Scharfenberger calls the news 'unexpected'

Retired Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., is seen in this 2013 file photo. (CNS photo/courtesy Nate Whitchurch via Diocese of Albany) (Courtesy photo of Nathan Whitchurch)

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After his request to be laicized was turned down by the Vatican earlier this year, Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard of the Diocese of Albany announced in a statement Aug. 1 that he was married in a civil ceremony.

“Last fall, after prayerful consideration and consultation, I applied to the Vatican to be returned to the lay state and to be relieved of my clerical obligations. In March, I received notice from the Vatican that my request had been denied,” Bishop Hubbard said in the statement titled, ‘A Letter to My Dear Colleagues and Friends.’ "I was encouraged to wait patiently and prayerfully and to continue to abstain from public ministry until seven civil lawsuits against me alleging sexual misconduct had been adjudicated.

“Shortly thereafter, the Diocese of Albany declared bankruptcy, as have six of the eight other Dioceses in New York State. I have been advised that it may be several years before the Albany bankruptcy case is settled and all of the Child Victims Act civil lawsuits adjudicated. Presently, I am 84 years of age and will turn 85 in October. I could be 91 or 92 before these legal matters are concluded.

“In the meantime, I have fallen in love with a wonderful woman who has helped and cared for me and who believes in me. She has been a loving and supportive companion on this journey. After much prayerful reflection, we decided to marry and did so in July in a civil ceremony.”

Shortly after Bishop Hubbard released his statement, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Diocese of Albany responded with his own statement to the faithful on the marriage.

“This certainly is unexpected news and like many of you, I am just now beginning to process it. While he is not permitted to represent himself as a priest or perform the sacraments in public, Bishop Hubbard remains a retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church does not acknowledge his marriage as valid,” Bishop Scharfenberger said in the statement.

“I urge you to pray for all survivors of sexual abuse and their families. Pray for all of the faithful in the diocese. Pray for our priests, deacons, the men and women religious, many of whom depended on Bishop Hubbard for their vocations. Also pray for Bishop Hubbard and all in his close circle, that they can help to guide him to act in accordance with God's will.

“This is a challenging time for many, but we are not alone. Let us remember that through the turmoil, the one constant for all of us is the comforting presence of Jesus, who shepherds us with the promise of everlasting life. Let us journey together, as a people of faith, believing that with God, in God and through God, healing is possible.

It is an extremely rare move for a bishop to ask the Vatican to be laicized, be turned down, and then get married in a civil ceremony. If a bishop or priest is laicized, it is usually for their mishandling or complicity in the clergy abuse crisis, most notably former Cardinal and Bishop Theodore McCarrick, who was laicized in 2019. Bishop Janusz Wiesław Kaleta, of Poland, was laicized by the Vatican in 2016 after it was discovered he had a relationship with a woman and had frozen several embryos. All of the sacraments that Bishop Hubbard had previously celebrated over the decades are valid prior to his marriage.

In the close of his statement, Bishop Hubbard said he hoped and prayed for four things.

“As I look to the future, I hope and pray for four things: (1) That survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their families will find the peace, healing and reconciliation to which they are entitled; (2) That I will have the opportunity to prove my innocence to the allegations against me before a court of law, (3) That with whatever time God continues to grant me on this Earth, our marriage will be one of fidelity, love and service, and (4) that the Vatican will eventually grant me laicization and recognize our marriage.

“I want to express my profound gratitude to my friends and colleagues and the people of our Diocese for the love, care and concern you have shown me in my nearly 60 years of priestly service, 46 as a bishop, and for the wonderful fraternal bond I have enjoyed with my brother bishops and priests, deacons and the religious women and men who have served in our Diocese, the laity and the interfaith and civic leaders with whom I was privileged to serve. As I enter this new phase of my life as a retired private person, I humbly ask that the news media and others respect our privacy as a couple. My life on the public stage has come to an end. To all of you, I thank you with the words of my episcopal motto, ‘Rejoice, we are God’s people.’

“God bless you all.”

The Evangelist reported on Nov. 18, 2022 that Hubbard had asked the Vatican to be returned “to the lay state.”

“Recently, I asked the Vatican for relief from my obligations as a priest and permission to return to the lay state. In whatever time I have left on this Earth, I hope to be able to serve God and the people of our community as a lay person,” Bishop Hubbard said at the time. “I also will continue to vigorously defend myself against the allegations against me. Resolution of these civil cases takes a very long time. I hope and pray I will live long enough to see my name cleared once and for all.”

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, laicization is “the process by which a priest is returned to the lay state. It is sometimes used as a penalty for a serious crime or scandal, but more often it comes at the request of the priest. A laicized priest is barred from all priestly ministry with one exception: He may give absolution to someone in immediate danger of death.”

Bishop Hubbard, who was Bishop of the Diocese of Albany from 1977-2014, has been accused of alleged sexual abuse and has been named in seven civil lawsuits under the Child Victims Act (CVA). Bishop Hubbard has vehemently denied he abused anyone saying in 2019 after he was named in a second lawsuit that “I have never sexually abused anyone of any age at any time.”

In March 2022, as first reported in the Times Union, in deposition testimony that was made public that month, Hubbard - who was involved in a car accident July 19, 2022, in which it was determined that he suffered a stroke - was questioned by an attorney representing people who had filed claims of abuse against the Diocese of Albany under the CVA. Asked why he did not report a suspected case of child sexual abuse to law enforcement when he was bishop after a priest allegedly admitted to him that he had abused a child, Hubbard replied, “Because I was not a mandated reporter. I don’t think the law then or even now requires me to do it. Would I do it now? Yes. But did I do it then? No.”

In 2019, Pope Francis issued the motu proprio "Vos Estis Lux Mundi" ("You are the light of the world"), which was a mechanism for how the church should deal with the abuse crisis, which included the investigations of bishops. In 2021, the Diocese of Albany confirmed to Catholic News Agency that Hubbard would be investigated under “Vos Estis.” The investigation was done by the Archdiocese of New York and Cardinal Timothy Dolan. In 2022, it was reported by The Pillar, a news website that focuses on the Catholic Church, and the Times Union that attorneys representing a plaintiff who filed a civil suit against Hubbard wanted access to the more than 1,400-page report but the Archdiocese of New York claimed in court that the records of the investigation are protected by the First Amendment.

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. 

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.