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A Conversation with Fr. Frank Pavone — Part 3 — How Bishop Zurek (Amarillo) Abused Priests for Life While the Vatican Supported UsIn the previous interview, you told us that you and your fulltime pro-life ministry received a rather cold reception from Bishop Patrick Zurek when he came to Amarillo in 2008. Did things improve as time went on? No, they got worse, although with the wider Church, our support grew stronger than ever.But regarding Bishop Zurek, let me give you the example of when we saved Baby Joseph in Canada in 2011. You can see www.BabyJosephCentral.com for details, but...

ROME, ITALY, July 2, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life has not been suspended, said the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy in May, but his bishop has the right to assign him duties outside his pro-life ministry, according to the Diocese of Amarillo. Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. Amarillo Bishop Patrick Zurek reported that the Vatican body granted at least a partial victory for the Priests for Life leader, who had petitioned Rome for clarification after Zurek announced that he had “suspended” Fr. Pavone last September. According to...

The Priests for Life website is now showing Father Frank Pavone attending the March for Life -- in Washington, DC as well as the West Coast event as well. His tentative travel schedule consists of about 10 or more trips between now and June regarding Priests for Life.

Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo, Texas, has requested that Father Frank Pavone, founder of Priests for Life, not engage in public ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo, effective September 13, 2011. Bishop Zurek has also asked that Catholics throughout the United States withhold financial support for Priests for Life until further notice. In bringing this to your attention, we are grateful to those who comply with Bishop Zurek's request.

"Why should the Knights of Columbus mediate/intervene in this crisis?"

No one questions whether Bishop Patrick Zurek had the authority to place Father Frank Pavone on forced hiatus.Good people do question whether the bishop’s decision was warranted.That dispute aside, the bishop certainly must have realized that to abruptly and without warning bar Father Pavone from fulfilling his pro-life speaking obligations for an undefined period would create havoc among churches and pro-life groups planning and publicizing those events.It seems to me a compassionate spiritual leader would attempt to mitigate the damage his decision caused to innocent bystanders.One important event caught in the crossfire was the International Pro-Life Youth Conference, scheduled...

As someone who has worked for Priests for Life, I have a perspective of the current situation that few people enjoy. Currently, there are reports of IRS problems with Priests for Life as well as debt problems with this non-profit organization. The current crisis has been brought to a climax by a recent letter issued by Bishop Zurek of Amarillo to all bishops of the USCCB asking them [and their flocks] not to contribute to Priests for Life. Additionally, Bishop Zurek has recalled Father Frank Pavone to only work inside the Diocese of Amarillo -- with no travel outside the...

In a 1,883-word plea for donations, the Rev. Frank Pavone warns of “heralds of the culture of death who seek to ... use my current situation to mislead people into thinking that they are wasting their precious pro-life dollars by entrusting them to Priests for Life.” The anti- abortion charity based in Staten Island, N.Y., over the last decade has channeled more than $1.4 million to its nonprofit affiliates, spent $2.4 million on a ministry that soon went defunct and shelled out more than $250,000 in loans to an employee and a check to an entity in Europe. Over the...

... Father Pavone’s bishop, Patrick Zurek of the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, has issued an administrative decree “suspend[ing] Father Frank A. Pavone from public ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo.” In a letter dated September 9, which he sent to the entire American episcopate to justify his decision in the court of public opinion, Zurek reveals his real intention: to destroy Father Pavone’s reputation and sink Priests for Life. Professing a desire to “strengthen Father Pavone’s sense of communicatio sacramentalis,” Zurek combines vicious public insults with outright calumny.... Bishop Zurek’s power play against Father Pavone is a prime example of...

Many, many people were fervently praying for a good outcome to yesterday’s meeting between Fr. Pavone, who had expressed his desire to meet with his superior in Amarillo, and Bp. Zurek, who last week offered a personal meeting to Pavone with ample notice. Those petitions were dashed, however, when (to what I think must have been the universal surprise of observers) Pavone simply failed to appear. Now, a “private meeting” between a bishop and one of his priests “to discuss his spiritual progress” poses (for reasons I can elaborate, if useful) zero canonical risk to a priest in disciplinary contention...

Since this is a PDF, the link is given here: http://www.amarillodiocese.org/pictures/Bishop/Public-Statement-regarding-Fr.jpg There will be a meeting on October 13, 2011 between Bishop Zurek and Father Pavone about spiritual issues. Bishop Zurek, in the statement, is asking for prayer for a fruitful dialogue between himself and Father Pavone.

More than three years ago, readers on this site received fair warning that Father Frank Pavone was cruising toward a showdown with officials in the Diocese of Amarillo. Read the comment by Diogenes from August 2008, and you will find the simmering conflict neatly summarized, many months before it boiled over into full public view. Diogenes concluded his analysis this way: The question isn't whether or not the Church will support pro-life work. The question is whether priests and religious, when they engage in pro-life work, remain subject to ecclesiastical discipline. The answer, by the way, is Yes. You can...

Above is a picture of Bishop Zurek with all priests of the Diocese of Amarillo General Information Born: August 17, 1948 - Sealy, TX Parents: Arnold (Deceased) and Victoria (Bohac) Zurek Siblings: Lawrence Zurek & Dennis Zurek (Deceased) Ordained Priest by Pope Paul VI June 29, 1975 St. Peter's Basilica - Rome, Italy Age: 26 Ordained Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio by Archbishop Patrick F. Flores/Titular Bishop of Tamugadi February 16, 1998 San Antonio, TX Age: 49 Installed Bishop of Amarillo by Archbishop Gomez February 22, 2008 Amarillo, TX Age: 60 Speaks the following languages:English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and...

Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, has said that if his bishop does not allow him to return to full-time pro-life work, he will consider being incardinated in a different diocese or founding a religious order to continue his pro-life ministry. The well-known pro-life priest also said that he had been actively talking with Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo, Texas for months about spending more time in the diocese before the bishop forbid him from ministry outside of the diocese. In an interview with CNA, Fr. Pavone said that he arrived in Amarillo on Sept. 13,...

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...

Father Pavone (CNS file) By Dennis SadowskiCatholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Father Frank Pavone, one of the country's most visible and vocal opponents of abortion, has been suspended from active ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, over financial questions about his operation of Priests for Life. The suspension was made public in a Sept. 9 letter from Amarillo Bishop Patrick J. Zurek to his fellow bishops across the country, but Father Pavone told Catholic News Service that he was returning to Amarillo and planned to continue functioning as a priest there. "My decision is the result of...

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...