Confused by His Actions, California Catholic Daily, September 14, 2011

“Confused by His Actions”

California Catholic Daily
September 14, 2011

http://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=2e31ab87-8044-4b62-9dc2-f5cd62815c15

Effective yesterday, Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life and one of the most adamant voices against abortion in the country, was suspended by his bishop from any ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, where Fr. Pavone was incardinated in 2005.

In a Sept. 9 letter to all the bishops of the US, Amarillo Bishop Patrick Zurek wrote: “I have decided to suspend Father Frank A. Pavone from public ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo to take effect September 13, 2011. For an indefinite period, I am withdrawing my permission to him to minister outside our Diocese and am calling him back to spend time in prayer and reflection. My decision is the result of deep concerns regarding his stewardship of the finances of the Priests for Life (PFL) organization.”

The Priests for Life website describes Fr. Pavone this way: “Fr. Frank Pavone is one of the most prominent pro-life leaders in the world. Originally from New York, he was ordained in 1988 by Cardinal John O’Connor. He is a priest of the Amarillo Diocese and serves full-time in pro-life leadership with his bishop’s permission. In 1993 he became National Director of Priests for Life. He is also the President of the National Pro-life Religious Council, and the National Pastoral Director of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign and of Rachel’s Vineyard, the world’s largest ministry of healing after abortion. He travels throughout the country, to an average of four states every week, preaching and teaching against abortion. He produces programs regularly for religious and secular radio and television networks.”

Priests for life is headquartered in Staten Island, New York.

Fr. Pavone’s suspension could not have come at a worse time for Priests for Life, which just this week launched a “Vote Pro-life Coalition” in anticipation of the 2012 elections. The coalition, organized by Priests for Life, includes more than three dozen national groups with plans for “Voter Registration Sundays” on May 27, July 1 and Sept. 9.

On Sept. 12, Priest for Life announced that it had formed an international private association of the faithful called the Gospel of Life Association. “Priests for Life has for some time now been a family of ministries,” said Fr. Pavone in a prepared statement. “As we have grown and diversified, the work of these ministries has also increasingly become international. Twenty years ago, Priests for Life was established as a Private Association here in the United States. Now we felt it was appropriate to establish the same kind of association internationally, and to have our various branch ministries formally ratify their intent to be such an association.”

The ministries making up the new Gospel of Life Association include Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, Rachel's Vineyard, Silent No More Awareness Campaign, Seminarian Life Link, Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, Life on the Line, Prayer Campaign, Deacons for Life, Hispanic Outreach, African American Outreach, Political Responsibility and Stand True Youth Outreach, said the Priests for Life news release.

Bishop Zurek’s letter was particularly critical of Fr. Pavone with regard to obedience. “It seems that his fame has caused him to see priestly obedience as an inconvenience to his unique status and an obstacle to the possible international scope of his ministry,” Bishop Zurek told his fellow bishops.

The bishop went so far as to suggest that his fellow bishops “inform the Christian faithful under your care to consider withholding donations to the PFL until the issues and concerns are settled.”

Priests for Life provided a statement to California Catholic Daily by Fr. Pavone in response to Bishop Zurek’s decision, saying he was “very perplexed by this demand” and that “Priests for Life is above reproach in its financial management and the stewardship of the monies it receives from dedicated pro-lifers.”

“For the past several years, my Ordinary, the Most Reverend Patrick Zurek, Bishop of Amarillo, has given me permission to do the full-time pro-life work that I have done since 1993,” said Fr. Pavone. “In 2005, I made a public promise in a Church ceremony in Amarillo, presided over by a Vatican Cardinal, that this full-time pro-life work would be a lifetime commitment. That’s a commitment I promise to fulfill without wavering.”

“This past week, however, I received a letter from the Bishop insisting that I report to the Diocese this Tuesday, September 13 and, for the time being, remain only there,” continued Fr. Pavone. “I am very perplexed by this demand. Despite that, because I am a priest of the diocese of Amarillo, I will be obedient and report there on the appointed date, putting the other commitments that are on my calendar on hold until I get more clarity as to what the bishop wants and for how long. Meanwhile, I continue to retain all my priestly faculties and continue to be a priest in ‘good standing’ in the Church. The bishop does not dispute this fact. Rather, he has said that he thinks I am giving too much priority to my pro-life work, and that this makes me disobedient to him. He also has claimed that I haven’t given him enough financial information.”

“Now, although Bishop Zurek is my Ordinary, he is not the bishop of Priests for Life,” said Fr. Pavone. “Each of our staff priests has his own Ordinary, and the organization has an entire Board of Bishops. We keep them all informed of our activities, and of our financial audits.”

The rest of Fr. Pavone’s statement follows below (emphasis in original):

“I want to say very clearly that Priests for Life is above reproach in its financial management and the stewardship of the monies it receives from dedicated pro-lifers, raised primarily through direct mail at the grassroots level. To this end, Priests for Life has consistently provided every financial document requested by Bishop Zurek, including annual financial audits, quarterly reports, management documents -- even entire check registers! In fact, on June 20, 2011, Priests for Life received the results of its independent audit examination for the year ended December 31, 2010. The organization's auditors issued an unqualified audit opinion indicating that the financial statements ‘present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Priests for Life, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.’ This marks the tenth consecutive year that the organization's auditors have provided a 'clean' audit opinion, when reporting on the respective year's financial statements. Priests for Life has been completely transparent with Bishop Zurek and any other bishops who have requested information regarding our management and finances. Indeed, we have 21 bishops and cardinals who sit on our Advisory Board, and they are kept fully informed about our finances.

“Therefore, in the interest of preserving my good reputation as well as protecting the valuable work done by the Priests for Life organization, I have begun a process of appeal to the Vatican. This process aims to correct any mistaken decisions of the bishop in my regard and to protect my commitment to full-time pro-life activity for my whole life. We are very confident that the Vatican will resolve this matter in a just and equitable fashion. Because of this confidence, we are not currently making any changes in any positions at Priests for Life, or in any of our projects and plans.

“I also want to point out that, according to the canon law of the Catholic Church, because I have begun this process of appeal to Rome, the Bishop’s order that I return to Amarillo has been effectively suspended. Nevertheless, because of my great respect for this Bishop and my commitment to be fully obedient at all times, I am reporting to Amarillo this Tuesday, in hopes that I can sort this problem out with the Bishop in a mutually agreeable and amicable way.

“I would like to note that, unlike other organizations, which have sometimes been critical of the Church hierarchy or other institutions within the Church, Priests for Life has always remained 100% supportive of the Bishops, never criticizing any Church official, and always acting as a megaphone for the Bishops’ pro-life statements. Moreover, we serve dioceses and their priests and laity without asking for any speakers’ fees, and distribute millions of pieces of pro-life literature to dioceses completely free of charge. We do not seek parish collections, and we work to reinforce in each diocese the local pastoral plan which the bishop wants to implement for pro-life activities.

“We are committed to going forward with that same spirit, regardless of the recent action taken by Bishop Zurek.

“In the interest of full transparency, I would like to make it known that I do not receive any salary or financial remuneration from either the Diocese of Amarillo or from Priests for Life. Priests for Life, as a Private Association of the Christian Faithful, does provide for my residence and the expenses associated with the ministry, but these expenses are very small. Though, as a diocesan priest, I have never taken a vow of poverty, I have basically chosen to live in that fashion in solidarity with the pre-born children we are trying to protect -- who are the poorest of the poor.

“I want to be clear that I do not harbor any ill will towards the Bishop of Amarillo, nor do I foster suspicions about his motives. I am merely confused by his actions. It is impossible for me to believe that there is no place in the Church for priests to exercise full-time ministry in the service of the unborn. We do it for the sick, the poor, the hungry, and the imprisoned. But where in the Church is the place where a priest can exercise the same kind of full-time ministry for the children in the womb? That is the question that is at the heart of my own calling.

“I am confident that we will be able to resolve this difficulty soon, without any harm to either my own reputation and without any slowdown of the valuable pro-life work we do at Priests for Life.”