It is more concern for the spirituality of Fr. Pavone that is one aspect. If Father Frank allows his spiritual life to decay, then that would mean trouble for the pro-life movement. Has he? In my opinion yes.
On the other hand, Monsignor Reilly constantly focuses on his spirituality. And it is Monsignor Reilly who wants Pro-Lifers to focus on prayer.
In 2001, Cardinal Egan recalled Father Frank Pavone back to Parish life. There was some discussion about this, and basically it centered around Father Frank Pavone continuing to work with Priests for Life and yet help the Archdiocese of New York.
A compromise was arrived at: Father Frank Pavone could continue to work at Priests for Life. The only condition was that if Father Pavone was in New York City for the weekend, he said masses at a Parish (St. Roch's) on the weekend.
That ended when it was announced about the relationship with the Diocese of Amarillo, Priests for Life and Father Frank Pavone.
But Father Frank Pavone does not have a Parish associated with him. I have driven Father Frank to the airport on a number of occasions. There is one point where a Catholic church is passed. I would often make the sign of the cross in passing. I never saw Father Frank ever acknowledge that this was a Catholic Church we were passing or see him acknowledge the True Presence of Jesus in the Church.
I have received a blessing from Monsignor Reilly (correct spelling) on a number of occasions. It is his habit to bless the pro-lifers at the abortion clinic when he goes there (any abortion clinic).
Even though I drove Father Frank to the airport at very odd hours and did a number of other tasks outside work, I never remember Father Frank ever blessing me or other Pro-Lifers except at the end of a Mass that he said that was attended by the employees of Priests for Life.
However, Father Frank Pavone is an excellent leader and probably the greatest Pro-Life leader in the United States.
It is my concern for his spirituality that I wanted to express.
Another example was something the media pointed out at the time of the death of Terri Schiavo: the media said that Father Frank should have been a peace maker.
In retrospect, because of the heated emotions of the Terri Shiavo case, maybe Father Pavone should have tried to be a peace maker and yet point out that in memory of Terri Schiavo people should strive to avoid such situations in the future. It might have been easier, in retrospect, on the Schindler family, to have buried the grudge with Michael Schiavo as soon as possible.
This would have brought Bob and Mary Schindler to peace sooner. Unfortunately, the Schindlers were pressed to talk to the media and others after the death of Terri. The Schindlers were invited to speak at the Atlanta Eucharistic Conference just a couple of months after the death of Terri.
If I were Father Frank Pavone, I would have advised the Schindlers NOT to make the conference and try to get on with healing. That would have given the Schindlers more time to express their grief in private.
topher,
Sometimes Father Pavone is off the mark when it comes to Catholic teaching. He seems more political than religious and it's okay to debate/discuss that.
But it does seem like you posted this to spite him and cause scandal. It would've been better to let Father Pavone know your objections directly or at least let him know what you consider public perception to be and leave it at that. Catholics can judge his work for themselves.
As for the little time allotted to praying on the job, I'm sure that you weren't hired to pray - in fact, you were probably hired to work. Those who want to pray full-time usually join a religious order or they retire from work and spend time praying. Still others work full-time and pray on their own time.
In short, the 2 priests have different charisms. I'd like to see Father Pavone refine his approach; but unless one is defecting a criminal organization, it is not honorable to cause scandal like this, especially under a pseudonym.
For those who are interested, there is a beautiful article on Msgr. Reilly at http://clmagazine.org/backissues/2006janfeb_27-29meetthehelpers.pdf
QM2