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	Decision "Unlikely" to Be Reversed By Russell Anglin Amarillo Globe-News September 15, 2011 http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2011-09-14/decision-unlikely-be-reversed#.TnJZMV0TpDU A suspended Roman Catholic priest’s appeal to Rome could lead to his move to another diocese but likely will not bring a reversal of an Amarillo bishop’s move to rein in his clergyman, religion professors said Wednesday. The Vatican, in fact, lacks the authority to reverse directly Bishop Patrick J. Zurek’s decision to order the Rev. Frank Pavone, a nationally known abortion opponent, to return to Amarillo and suspend his public ministry outside the diocese. “Even the pope does not have the authority to tell the bishop in the diocese that he has to do something else,” said Dennis Doyle, University of Dayton religious studies professor. “(Pavone) could appeal to him, and the pope would actually have the power, if he wanted, to transfer the bishop to Saskatchewan … but insofar as he remains the bishop in that diocese, the pope does not have direct authority. The bishop is the head of the diocese.” Zurek set off a mini-firestorm with the order, announced in a Sept. 9 letter to bishops across the country. He said the move was driven by concerns about the management of millions of dollars in donations to Pavone’s Priests for Life, an anti-abortion charity based in Staten Island, N.Y. Pavone’s work in the pro-life movement led him in 2005 to Amarillo, where he transferred from the Archdiocese of New York with plans to open a $130-million campus devoted to training people to combat legalized abortion. Those plans fizzled, but Pavone’s high-profile work continued — mostly outside Amarillo — leading up to the clash with Zurek. Following Zurek’s announcement, Pavone said that he would comply with the bishop’s order, but he had already appealed to the Vatican. That move could lead to a hearing, University of Dallas associate professor of theology Christopher Malloy said. “My guess is he’s appealed to the Congregation for the Clergy, and they will hear his case, and he probably has a canon lawyer that he’ll talk with. The bishop may well have his canon lawyer or lawyers. There will probably be some hearing or decision rendered on the appeal,” Malloy said. Short of transferring Zurek, the Vatican does not have authority to reverse the bishop’s decision, Doyle said. Pavone likely will find another diocese, Doyle said. “That’s probably how this will shake out,” Doyle said. “Probably he’ll find some bishop who is going to take him in, and I don’t know the fine points of how they work that out and what the rights of the bishop in Texas would be insofar if he wanted to oppose that, but that’s probably where it’s going to go, and this priest is going to say, ‘Look, I’m incardinated into that diocese and I don’t live there’ and having lived there a long time it’s just a formality, a technicality, if he can become a priest in another diocese.” But incardination, the process whereby priests become affiliated with a diocese, can take time and it requires cooperation between bishops in both places, canon lawyer Thomas A. Moran said. Moran said at this point it is hard to speculate how the conflict between Pavone and Zurek might play out because the details of the bishop’s trouble with Pavone are not known. The pitting of two influential church figures against each other adds intrigue: Bishops such as Zurek carry significant authority, and Pavone is a well-known figure in the Roman Catholic and pro-life communities, Doyle said. “(Zurek) believes this priest is not sufficiently coming clean to him about his finances and how he lives and what’s going on in this multimillion dollar organization, and so he’s calling him home,” Doyle said. “He’s putting the lid on this person. This person probably has enough power, influence out there in the world that he’s going to do everything he can to get out from under the authority of this bishop.” Malloy said Pavone’s willful return to Amarillo was a wise move that might influence how church figures perceive him. “Being obedient here, it’s following the proper duty of a Catholic priest,” Malloy said. “For the priest to do that is very difficult but I’m sure in the lighter providence of things it will be a fruitful act for him to be obedient and see what the decision is.” Barring any findings of serious wrongdoing on Pavone’s part, Malloy said the Holy See would normally respect a bishop’s command in a situation like this. “I have no idea what that decision would be,” Malloy said. “My guess, though, is that typically Rome (will) not want to interfere with a bishop’s decision.” russell.anglin@amarillo.com
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