Prolife hero Father Frank Pavone has been dismissed from the clerical state by the Vatican for ‘‘blasphemous communications on social media and persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop’’.
The information was made available in a leaked letter dating to December 13th, stating: ‘‘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. It was determined that Father Pavone had no reasonable justification for his actions’’.
Pavone has said that he was unaware of the decision and in fact only learned about it from reporting on CNA.
Pavone had served as part of the Trump campaign in 2016, leading to criticism that he had been too political
Around this time, he had also broadcast a video wherein an aborted child was present on the altar, given a proper burial afterwards.
Central to all of these criticisms was Pavone’s relationship with his bishop, to whom Pavone is accused of disobedience.
The decision has largely divided Catholics on Twitter. Some pointed out the issue of obedience.
Others suggested that this was an effort to placate President Biden.
One thing is certain, the USA’s issue with balancing political and religious affiliation is something that the Catholic Church is going to have to grapple with for the next decade.
Hopefully it can manage better than Ireland, where supporters of the Synod are openly discussing the government’s corrupted Citizen’s Assembly rigging and where prelates related to the dominant Fine Gael party are allowed to regularly support referendums and politicians at odds with church teaching.
