Priests For Life Cleared

I'm not sure if you heard the news, but in case you didn't, just a note: the Holy See has issued its conclusions following its visitation of Priest for Life and its examination of Fr Frank Pavone. 

You may remember that he and the organisation were in some strive recently and Fr Pavone's bishop and even the Archbishop of New York were none too pleased with him. Accusations of financial mismanagement were being hurled about and demands for independent audits were being made. Fr Pavone rejected the first accusation and answered the second by insisting that independent audits of the association's accounts were made every year and all this information was available. Fr Pavone mused on whether this was an issue of control rather than irregularities in his organisation. He was suspended by his bishop and sent to live with a contemplative community in what many saw as an exile. That exile was suddenly lifted and he was restored to ministry but no light as been shed as to why the decision was reversed.

Well the Holy See has found that Priests for Life are completely above board on the financial issues, they have found that there are no substance to the allegations and that Fr Pavone is directing a work which is of great benefit to the pro-life cause and the Church: a ringing endorsement. Here is the text of the letter from the Holy See:

Dear Father Pavone,

In response to your recent update about your many activities, I wish to encourage you and your team to continue the fruitful work that Priests for Life is doing.

You have every reason to proceed with confidence, because you have welcomed the assistance of the Church to strengthen your ministry as it continues to grow around the world. At the inception of Priests for Life in 1991, when it was given recognition as a Catholic Association of the Faithful, it was a relatively small apostolate focused within the United States on assisting priests to proclaim the Gospel of Life.

Since then it has grown and diversified into an entire family of ministries, and an international apostolate. While continuing to be faithful to your original vision of assisting and training the clergy, you have sought to follow the Spirit’s lead and respond to the needs of the pro-life movement, and therefore have integrated into your ministry the work of Rachel’s Vineyard, Silent No More, the Youth Outreach of Stand True, outreach to Hispanic and African-American communities, and much more.

Of particular note, you have integrated into your family of ministries the international work of Marie Smith and the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues, assisting lawmakers in many other countries to defend the most vulnerable human lives. You have also become an NGO at the United Nations and continue to assist the Holy See Mission.
As you do all of this, the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy has encouraged you to update your statuses so that they reflect this tremendous growth and development. As the Congregation has indicated, if you eventually want to apply to the Vatican for recognition as an international Association of the Faithful, then those revised statutes can be presented to the competent authority.

In the meantime, however, the value of your apostolate continues to be recognized. As the Visitation Report from the Congregation for the Clergy states:

PFL is present in more than 50 nations, and its work benefits the Church both in the United States and beyond … Without doubt, PFL has offered to the Church a great service in the Pro-Life movement. By all indications, Father Pavone is a truly charismatic leader who has led PFL to significant heights … [The work and finances of PFL are in order … The Association has been well administered financially … [The administrative costs of PFL are in keeping with other groups receiving similar funding in the United States.” (Visitation Report, Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, November 2013).

Moreover, as the Congregation has indicated in a subsequent letter, “there is nothing to prevent ‘Priests for Life, Inc’, together with its numerous affiliated agencies, from continuing to labor on behalf of the pro-life movement,”  with “the many excellent works which Priests for Life continues to do in promoting respect  for the sanctity of human life.” (Letter of His Eminence, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, Prefect, Sacred Congregation for the Clergy to Fr. Pavone , February 6, 2015, Prot. N. 20150367). Please know, then, of my continued support as an ecclesiastical advisor and friend. I encourage all the supporters of Priests for Life to increase that support and work harder than ever to build on the progress you have already made in bringing about a Culture of Life.

Sincerely,
Yours,
Renato R. Card. Martino

Sadly the whole fiasco did a lot of damage to Priests for Life and to the pro-life cause. As to why the accusations were made against Fr Pavone and the organisation is unclear, and I imagine it will remain so. We will see if his bishop or the Archbishop of New York make any statement to clarify things, and perhaps offer an explanation as to why they were so insistent in their accusations and why New York cut off all contact with the organisation. 

Solemnity Of SS Peter And Paul: A Spiritual Pilgrimage

A happy feast day to you all - the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles, SS Peter and Paul.  I love these days at the end of the June, they bring us right of the heart the Church in Rome as we reflect on the first beginnings and the persecution of the first martyrs there, among them SS Peter and Paul.   This is the "Quo Vadis" week really, when we immerse ourselves in the heroism of our brothers and sisters who shed their blood for Christ and sanctified the city we now look to as the See of our Holy Father, the successor of St Peter.

It is a time when we can do a spiritual pilgrimage to those holy places.  Starting at the Mamertine prison, beside the Roman Forum, down in the lower cell, dank and damp, where Peter and Paul were held in chains together awaiting their fate. 

The Mamertine Prison

Then the journey out the Via Appia (the Appian Way) to the Quo Vadis Church, stopping off at the Circus Maximus where many of the first martyrs died. 

The Circus Maximus

The Via Appia Antica

The "Quo Vadis" Church

The "footprints of Jesus"

After a prayer in the church, and having looked at the "footpints of Jesus", back into Rome with Peter renewed, to visit his tomb in St Peter's Basilica on the Vatican hill where he was crucified upside down and then buried in the cemetery nearby.

The Crucifixion of St Peter

St Peter's Tomb

Then on out to Tre Fontane, to the site of St Paul's beheading, taking a moment to reflect on the three fountains which may well indeed symbolise the waters of baptism being poured out all over the world on countless converts redeemed by the blood of Christ and won by the intercession of the blood of the Apostles.

The beheading of St Paul

Pillar on which St Paul was beheaded at the Monastery of Tre Fontane

Then the walk into the Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls to spend some time praying at his tomb, and perhaps some moments reading from his epistles.

The Tomb of St Paul

And finally back in to the city to the Basilica of St John Lateran, the Pope's cathedral, to pray for the Holy Father, and to venerate the heads of the two Apostles which are enshrined above the Papal Altar.

Reliquary busts containing the heads of SS Peter and Paul

above the Papal Altar in the Lateran Basilica

In news today: the US Catholic bishops have rejected the US Supreme Court's judgement on Obamacare.  An interesting analysis of the judgement on Fr Frank Pavone from Phil Lawlor.  And Scripture scholar, Fr Jerome Murphy-O'Connor believes Jesus had a nervous breakdown in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Fr Murphy-O'Connor has many interesting and insightful things to say on the Scriptures, but sometimes he just loses the run of himself, and I think he has done it again with this particular theory.  Another of his strange notions concerns St Paul's marital status.  Even though there is not a shred of evidence to suggest St Paul was married, Murphy-O'Connor maintains that he was but his wife and children probably died in a dreadful accident and so he could not bring himself to even refer to it when he gives his biography and lists his sufferings in his epistles.  It's one thing having a theory, but theories must be backed up with evidence, or at least a tradition however vague, but Murphy O'Connor offers no evidence, just fanciful notions. 

And finally Cardinal Dolan's reflections on the Venerable Fulton Sheen and the Venerable Angeline McCrory following the Holy Father's decrees yesterday.  You know something, the Saints keep us sane.  In the midst of the craziness of the world we can look to them and see that at every point in history there were people who "got it", who convince us that we are walking the right path to Christ and urge us to keep walking, and to get up when we fall.

Fr Pavone Vindicated

It seems Fr Frank Pavone of Priests for Life has been vindicated by the Vatican.  Fr Pavone had been "suspended" by his Ordinary, Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo, and not allowed to continue his work with Priests for Life, and sent to an isolated monastery in Texas to work as chaplain.

The Bishop alleged that there were financial irregularities in the charity and that the accounts had not been submitted to him.    The charity had responded, with evidence, proving that there were no financial irregularities and that the accounts had always been available and financial reports had been submitted.  The board of Priests for Life include a few bishops who were aware of the charity's financial situation.  In a letter to his fellow bishops, Bishop Zurek asked them to encourage their people not to support Priests for Life financially. It seems the bishops followed this advice and the pro-life charity has suffered.   Bishop Zurek also alleged that Fr Pavone had not shown him the proper respect and deference due to him as bishop.

Fr Pavone appealed to the Holy See, and on the 12 May 2012 a decision was made in the priest's favour: Priests for Life have issued a statement.  In its decision the Holy See recognised that a bishop has the right to assign a priest to whatever appointment he chooses. 

Bishop Zurek has also issued a statement confirming the Vatican decision and indicating that Fr Pavone will remain in the monastery as chaplain for the time being.  He has indicated that he will consider, on a case by case basis, any request Fr Pavone may make to participate in certain pro-life activities, providing he (the bishop) decides on what Fr Pavone's role and function in those activities may be.  NCR has an interesting article on the decision here.

On one level this is all very strange, and there may be more going on beneath the surface.  We do know that the Holy See rarely makes a decision against a bishop, even innocent priests tend to lose out so the Vatican may not be seen to be undermining a bishop - priests must accept the sacrifice in a Christ-like way.  Whenever the Vatican does make a decision against a bishop it will do so very carefully and I think that is what is going on here.   My reading of this decision is that the Holy See has said that Fr Pavone was right and unjustly treated, but it is being careful not to hang Bishop Zurek out to dry and so confirmed that as the priest's superior he may reassign him whenever he likes.

Perhaps there has also been a word in the bishop's ear, and perhaps a move might be on the cards in the near future, who knows.  At the moment Fr Pavone, now vindicated, must be obedient to his bishop, and wait on the Lord.  If God wants him for the service of the pro-life cause, then things will happen to ensure that.  In the meantime we must keep Fr Pavone, Bishop Zurek, Priests for Life and the pro-life cause in our prayers. 

This debacle has seriously damaged the cause for life in the US and given fuel to the pro-abortion lobby as they have danced on Fr Pavone's reputation, and the good work of Priests for Life has been damaged and hampered.  Let's hope things will get back on track for them and donations will come in once again for the fine work the charity is engaged in.

The Case of the Kangaroo in the Nightclub

The media here in Ireland have been devoting a good bit of time over the last couple of days to a situation in which a kangaroo (or wallaby) was brought into a Dublin nightclub during a birthday party and made fun of on the dance floor.  Unconfirmed reports claim that the poor creature died from shock afterwards.  Cruelty to animals is horrendous, we really reveal our inhumanity when we abuse those creatures God meant us to look after and care for as stewards of his creation.

That said, I was a little miffed at the coverage it got: not that it was reported - it needed to be to expose where we in Ireland find ourselves today, but that an item dealing with cruelty to animals received so much time when the media conveniently ignores the wilful murder of millions of innocent children each year, or if it covers the issue of abortion and embryonic harvesting and manipulation, it does so in order to defend and promote it.  Or, as we saw last year, when the murder of a pro-life activist, Jim Pouillon, simply for silently praying at a pro-life event, was ignored by most of the media, the same media that made banner headlines over the equally inexcusable murder of an abortion doctor by people who claimed to be pro-life.   Again it is another indication that the modern world has lost the plot. 

In case this post turns into another rant, and you, dear readers, will be referring to me as the fuming priest on a roll again, we should look at the positive.  Instead of complaining, what can we do?  Well, I always turn to Fr Frank Pavone, a colleague at EWTN, and he inspires me to do what I can for the pro-life cause.  Our paths have never crossed in the network, we are there at different times, but his presence is discernable through he work he has devoted his life to.  God knows how he keeps his sanity and patience working in the area he does: he has a huge dose of charity.   His organisation Priests for Life, does great work, as does Rachel's Vineyard, which he advises.  It would be a good idea to support him in his work, but also all those who devote themselves to the pro-life cause.  Word of caution: avoid the crazies - they do us more harm that good.   Of course, my friends in the US will know that they devote the entire month of October to the pro-life cause, and refer to it as Respect Life Month.

Now I know there will be those who condemn me, say I am condoning the act of cruelty to an animal - I think I have established that I do not, I just happen to be more consistent in this issue than many who fight for the rights of animals but then repeat the inane slogan that it is a woman's right to choose: the devil said that to Eve in the garden, and see where we ended up!  It is ironic to note that, it is because we defend abortion that such dreadful acts take place. After all, if we can kill our own in the womb, then acts of violence against innocent creatures should not surprise us: if we do not respect human life, then animal life will not even register on the radar.