Posted on 09/15/2011 5:42:23 AM PDT by NYer
Note: This document will be updated with new information about Fr. Pavone’s situation as it becomes available. It is arranged in chronological order from newest to oldest.
9/14 - On his blog - In the Light of the Law - famed canonist Ed Peters comments on the Bishop Zurek letter noting that the Bishop “should not have used the term ‘suspend’ in regard to Pavone, for ‘suspension’ is a canonical penalty for crime (c. 1333), and Pavone has not been accused of any crime.” He adds however that the Bishop “is within his authority to recall Pavone to Amarillo in virtue of Pavone’s promise of obedience (c. 273) and may revoke the permission required for any secular cleric to be outside his diocese of incardination for a notable period (c. 283).”
9/14 - In Catholic News Service article, Bishop Zurek now says that he is recalling Fr. Pavone because he needs him to do other work in the diocese.
“Msgr. Waldow told Catholic News Service Sept. 13 that Bishop Patrick J. Zurek only suspended Father Pavone’s ministry outside of the diocese because the well-known pro-life priest is needed for work in Amarillo.”
9/14 - Fr. Pavone releases a second statement. (Read the full statement here.)
“I am now in Amarillo – as obedience requires—for my temporary visit as matters with my bishop are worked out. The expression of support from pro-life leaders and activists has been constant and strong…”
9/14 - Letter from Fr. Pavone to all U.S. bishops made public.
9/14 - Priests for life publicly releases full 2010 independent audit opinion sent to all its 21 bishop advisors.
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.
9/14 - Pro-Life Action League Founder Joe Scheidler releases a statement (Read complete statement here).
Scheidler says he has worked with Pavone for more than 20 years. “I have never met a more dedicated, passionate and hard-working pro-lifer, priest or layman… I know for a fact that Fr. Pavone never charges a dime for a speaking engagement.”
9/14 - Life Issues Institute Executive Director Brad Mattes releases a statement (Read complete statement here.)
I have known Father Frank for twenty years and know them to be counter to how he has led his life—both personally and professionally… unborn babies will be better served if our boycott efforts are directed at corporations that fund Planned Parenthood, Komen and March of Dimes, not our fellow pro-life allies.
9/14 Executive Dir of Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network Bobby Schindler releases a statement. (Read the complete statement here.)
“Our family has come to know Fr. Pavone in both our public and private struggles. We recognize and share with the millions of his supporters around the globe that Father’s voice and his endless determination to protect the sacredness of life, is vital to the pro-life cause…”
9/14 Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, Administrator of Archdiocese of Baltimore, makes a statement to the media. (Read the statement here)
Archbishop O’Brien said he has known Father Pavone for many years, having taught him as a student at St. Joseph Seminary in Dunwoodie, N.Y., before his ordination as a priest.
“I appreciate Bishop Patrick Zurek’s statement and would hope that Father Pavone would adhere fully to the requests of his bishop,” Archbishop O’Brien told The Catholic Review. ”Bishop Zurek has been so very patient and thorough in dealing with this matter over many months. I appreciate his decision and support it completely.”
9/13 - The letter from Fr. Pavone’s bishop, Bishop Patrick Zurek, restricting Fr. Pavone from active ministry outside his diocese, is made public. (Read the complete letter here.)
“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.”
9/13 - Fr. Pavone releases a statement in response to the order from his bishop, Bishop Patrick Zurek, to restrict his active ministry to his own diocese. (Read the complete statement here.)
“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.”
Ping!
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Canon Lawyer Ed Peters’ entire blog post:
http://canonlawblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/initial-remarks-on-zurek-pavone-dispute.html
Would have been nice if such authority could have been used on Fr. Jenkins at Notre Dame!
In the Bishop's letter, he states “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 PrL until the Issues and concerns are settled.
taking this opportunity to express my esteem and to ask for your prayers, I am”
This is a serious accusation of financial mismanagement that was answered by Fr Pavone that all financial statements and audits were provided to the Bishop.
Bishop Zurek has a responsibility to respond directly and immediately to the discrepancy in his statements.
I would also remind all parties to this dispute (if that's the right word) that "THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR".
Thanks NYer,Father Pavone has my full support.Prayers for him and Bishop Zurek.Also everyone please pray for my daughter Mary who’s due date was the 11th of Sept.We await baby Gavin,her first child.
See vid:
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=11751
Catholic Culture’s reporting this,
Snip:
Father Frank Pavone told reporters that he will seek incardination in another diocese following Bishop Patrick Zurek’s decision to end the priest’s ministry outside his diocese.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=11751
I messaged them on where they got the info. I called Texas to ask PFL, they knew nothing about Fr. Pavone seeking another diocese. I must have missed something.
I also called Amarillo to talk to whomever handles questions re: the bishop this morning. Office closed due to a memorial Mass today and should be back in the office by now. Will get back to you.
Sounds more and more like a vindictive bishop.
I am sure that Fr Pavone has not been sufficiently tethered to his dioscese through his Bishop. We’ll see what happens.
It looks to me like a vindictive bishop, who acted and spoke foolishly.
The earlier post said that a substantial number of priests had to be removed because of bad behavior, and that quite a few parishes lacked priests to say the Mass. I suspect that this bishop is desperate for priests to serve in the parishes under him.
And I suspect that all that hanky panky was probably due to the fault or negligence of earlier bishops, while this one now has the job of straightening out the mess he inherited.
Still, he should NEVER have spoken in those terms.
As I said earlier, I’ve been supporting Priests for Life for years. They’ve been doing the job that many of the bishops have neglected. And I’ve seen nothing to suggest that Fr. Pavone is guilty of anything but doing a great job in the mission to which God called him.
I once heard him give a sermon, and he was most impressive. And extremely caring and kind toward women who may have had abortions in the past out of ignorance.
Look folks I’m going to be very frank here.
no one is charged with wrong doing. The facts are simple.
1. Fr. Pavone belongs to the Diocese of Amarillo.
2. Fr. Pavone works outside of the diocese.
3. Fr. Pavone is the CEO of a corporation that is not owned by the Catholic Church.
4. When priests, brothes, sisters or nuns are in such a situation any question by donors, the IRS, or anyone else can come back to bite the priest, his bishop and diocese.
5. The bishop has a right to recall his priest and ask for explanations.
6. He has a duty to the other bishops whose faithful support PFL to inform them that there are questions and that Father is going back to answer them.
7. This is not new. It’s called accountability.
8. The proof that there is no inapproprite behavior on Father Pavone’s part is that he has not been suspended. His faculties to funciton outside of his diocese have been suspended. Well, very few diocesan priests have faculties to function outside of their diocese. This privilege is reserved for priests who are members of exempt orders such as the Jesuits. They can function anywhere Other priests can only function in their diocese (if they are diocesan) or in their (province, if they are religious).
9. Once the bishop is satisfied with the answers, he can give Fr. Pavone permission to return to Staten Island. He does not have to do so. The disadvantage of being a diocesan priest is that you’re married to the diocese. You can’t leave it without the permmission of the bishop. You can’t incardinate into another dioceses without an agreement by both bishops. The only way that a diocesan priest can get out of his diocese without the bishop’s permmission is to become a religious. However, if he becomes a religious, the chances of being assigned to PFL in perpetuity are slim to none. Religious assignments are reviewed annually, plus religious superiors are not in office as long as bishops are in office.
10. Father Pavone cannot request re-incardination into the NY Archdiocese until the matter is closed in his favor. While your superior or bishop has questions for you, you cannot ask for a move. You are totally in the hands of the bishop..
11. As to putting out a financial statement for donors to see, no non-profit has to do this. Only organizations that are part of the Catholic Church have to do this. The Church requires it. Your parish has to do this. Hospitals and schools must have these available for people who ask to see them. Private corporations operate according to civil law, not ecclesial law. The individual priest, religious and laity are bound to follow Church law, but not the corporation.
If I worked for PFL, I have to comply with Church law in all things related to me. The corporation can have its own policieis and procedures. I have to comply with them, unless they are in conflict with Church Law. Since not everyone who works for PFL is Catholic, the non Catholic are not bound .
Even though PFL is housed in NY, it does not answer to the Archbishop. It is a private corporation as is EWTN, Catholic Answers, St. Michael’s Media, many of oiur colleges and high schools. The bishop can prohibit the use of the name Catholic. But that would be an extreme violation of moral law or heresy. They have not been accussed of either.
The turth is that there are no accusations, civil or ecclesial on the table. There is a concern, because there is a priest at the head of this and there is a lot of money. The bishop has a right to check to make sure that his priest is behaving.
As much as we all love Father Pavone and his work, he is a hot head. Bishops are not going to take well a simple answer, “Everything is OK, now leave me alone.” I don’t know if that’s what he said, but I’m using that as an example.
Let’s not speculate and insert what is not there.
Got that?
SOUTH BEND, Indiana, May 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following is an alphabetical list of bishops who have so far expressed disapproval of the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama to give the commencement speech and receive an honorary law degree May 17. Included are links to the original source as well as LifeSiteNews.com coverage.
Current count: 77 bishops
Got that? >>
yes, i do get it, this is the most sensible synopsis i have read so far.
9/15 - Fr. Pavone: “I do not foresee myself staying incardinated in Amarillo.” “It’s a sensitive issue,” he added. “We’re working it out behind the scenes. But I say that in light of the bishop’s apparent unwillingness to let me do pro-life work full time, I will seek that elsewhere.”
Sounds like Father Frank must be shopping for a new Diocese to be a part of, or trying to get the Vatican to intervene.
The phrase incardinated in Amarillo means that he is a priest of the Diocese of Amarillo (and that he is not incarcerated in Amarillo).
The Archdiocese of New York did not work out. The Diocese of Amarillo did not work out. Maybe he should shop for a Diocese in Calcutta, India, to work out of...
I think Father Frank should not have made the remark above.
It makes me lose even more respect for for him!
If a person were to ask me why I quit PFL, the honest (and embarrassing answer) was that I could no longer answer the question that Father Frank was a good priest. I had doubt and confusion in my mind on aspects of Father Frank as a priest.
But these were my doubts!
There was a good friend of Father Frank at that time who said that he/she did not want Father Frank around a member of their family that was close to being ordained a priest. The person still liked Father Frank Pavone, but had issues with his actions (only speaking to that person could this be rectified).
It is my person opinion that Father Frank indicating that the situation in Amarillo is at a point that it cannot be reversed is very premature on his part.
I think if I were a Bishop/Archbishop/Cardinal I would be reluctant to give Father Frank the title/office of Monsignor for this reason. He seems to be immature in his dealings with the hierarchy of the Church.
The most instructive thing here is the fact that Fr. Pavone’s past bishop is on the list... however his current bishop is nowhere to be found.
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