Posted on 09/13/2011 2:13:58 PM PDT by NYer
STATEN ISLAND, NY – Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, has issued the following statement: “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. 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. “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. 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. “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.”
Another announcement from Priests for Life.
September 12, 2011
The Pastoral Team of Priests for Life announced today that it has formed an International Private Association of the Faithful called the Gospel of Life Association. Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, explained, “Priests for Life has for some time now been a family of ministries. 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 benefit of an association is that the groups work with a more deliberate emphasis on the fact that pro-life is a spirituality, not simply a cause. The Association is guided by special bylaws that express the cohesion of the ministries as a family of believers.
Along with Priests for Life, the ministries are 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.
Good for Fr. Pavone, being obedient to his Bishop, as he should be, even though he may be confused by the order, given previous understandings to the contrary.
Note: Read Fr. Pavone’s complete statement regarding the decision to suspend him from public ministry here.
Your Eminences and Your Excellencies,
I have decided to suspend Father Frank A. Pavone from public ministry outside of the Diocese of Amarillo to take effect on 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 Priest For Life (PFL) organization. The PFL has become a business that is quite lucrative which provides Father Pavone with financial independence from all legitimate ecclesiastical oversight. There have been persistent question and concerns by clergy and laity regarding the transactions of millions of dollars of donations to the PFL from whom the donors have a rightful expectation that the monies are being used prudently. These financial questions and concerns have persisted with no clear and adequate answers since the time when Father Pavone was under two previous bishop ordinaries. Since he has consistently refused to subject the PFL to a transparent and complete auditing of all expenditures, I have reasons to be alarmed at the potential financial scandal that might arise if it were the result of my failure to correct Father Pavone’s incorrigible defiance to my legitimate authority as his Bishop.
Additionally, the PFL financial resources have afforded Father Pavone with a formidable civil and canonical counsel which he utilized to rebuff my every attempt at calling for financial transparency. Thus, my decision to intervene and to call him to accountability is meant to express the dire need to safeguard his priestly ministry to which I am obligated as his father and to help the Church avoid any scandal due to the national scope of the PFL’s work. At a certain point, for me to hold all this knowledge about the PFL and to turn a blind eye would increase my culpability and quote possibly amount to material cooperation.
In his relationship to his bishop ordinaries, Father Pavone has gradually lost his need to show appropriate obedience to his Bishop. 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. I would venture to say that the supreme importance that he has attributed to his PFL ministry and the reductionist attitude toward the diocesan priesthood has inflated his ego with a sense of self-importance and self-determination. This attitude has strained his relationship with me and has give me the impression that I cannot invoke obedience with him because he is famous. It is my desire to help him readjust his priestly bearing through spiritual and theological renewal in order to recapture that essential priestly hallmark of respect and obedience. It is also my desire to strengthen Father Pavone’s sense of communio sacramentalis with me so that he may be fortified with a healthy zeal to live in an authentic way his sacramental gift and mystery as a priest of Jesus Christ.
If you judged it to be prudent, I would like to ask that you would inform the Christian faithful under your care to consider withholding donations to the PFL until the issues and concerns are settled.
Taking this opportunity to express my esteem and to ask for your prayers, I am,
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Patrick J. Zurek, STL, DD
Bishop of Amarillo
I suspect the Bishop is not getting what he thinks is he appropriate “cut.”
Follow the Money?
Has Fr. Pavone not been sharing with the diocese?
That’s a no-no.
Another Bishop with the wrong priorities.
Jealousy... envy is a capital sin. I think the bishop might be a wee bit envious of Father Frank’s popularity among prolife Catholics nationwide.
Patrick Zurek sounds like a real PIA...and a thug. he expects his 10% vigorish, just like a Mafia don!
What I’m seeing from Fr. Frank isn’t reflective of what I’m seeing in the letter from the diocese of Amarillo.
I would think that anyone who is disrespectful to their ordinary, wouldn’t be suspending his activities with Priests for Life, and wouldn’t be returning to Amarillo.
Anyways, here’s hope that Fr. Frank will be upheld by the Vatican. The letter from the diocese of Amarillo indicates that there’s unlikely to be a settlement between the two. Seems like the relationship is strained.
Rachels Vineyrad doesn’t even get to spend their own donations it goes into Janets assistant Control in PFL HQ Money Pot.. they had a Big Fundraiser in Philly it was 1st and last Fundraisers.
Bishop Burbidge while in Philly attempted t0 Block an Insert in Diocese Paper of PFl.
One of The Priest for Life priest spoke at a Mass about Abortion and Politics and a Democrat in the Congregation Called the NYT and USA Today. Then all Pastors in 2004 election at Cardinal Rigalis insistence forbade the Handing out USCB Pro Life Voter Guide..
Not necessarily. While I have not been following Father Coropi (ph), it is my understanding his order suspended him. Some priests get famous and do forget they are Priests. Let’s see how the facts fall out before we pass judgment.
Thank you for posting this. It is fascinating to be able to read both Fr. Pavone’s statement above and Bishop Zurek’s statement below. Bishop Zurek clearly brought a knife to a public relations gunfight! He comes across as a small man trying to deceitfully extort money from his subordinate’s charity. His statement is little more than a petty public indictment of Priests for Life and a personal attack against Fr. Pavone. This is completely unbecoming of a bishop’s supposed stature. Fr. Pavone’s response comes across as a sincere and loving reply which completely refutes the few potentially verifiable points the bishop made. My sympathies are with everyone in the Diocese of Amarillo for having to endure this embarrassment. Praying for Bishop Zurek and Fr. Pavone.
Have you EVER heard of any Catholic ministry “sharing” its hard won funds with a diocese it doesn’t belong to just because one of its priests works for it?
I did not care for this Priests letter. In military parlance, the use of “With all due respect”, before leveling criticism, only goes so far. It does not excuse insubordination, no matter how much the subordinate thinks they are in the right.
And this is doubly so in a public forum. When he appears before his bishop, it would not be out of order for the bishop to “lock his heels” before giving him a dressing down on the subject of decorum.
Likewise, this is known to the Vatican as well, and his intention to “jump the chain of command” might very well get a cold reception.
When Fr. Corapi brouhaha broke out I began to suspect that Fr. Pavone will be next. I was not mistaken.
This reminds me of how close the Bishops keep an eye on the ‘Catholic Colleges’ in their diocese.
Pro-Life bump
Father Pavone has done some great work. On the other hand, this does not mean there could not be financial disarray of some sort. I hope it can all be sorted out with good will from everyone.
The bishops’ own charity, Campaign for Human for Development, has been funding abortion for years. Leave Priests for Life alone!
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