When CNA reported that the Vatican had defrocked Mr. Pavone, he complained that he had no idea. “How did CNA learn about this before I did?” he cried. He wants us to believe he rose one morning in the pink of innocence, said the Office, made his coffee and got online, read CNA, and sat there astonied. Apparently the Vatican defrocked him and decided not to tell him. That’s credible. But now, Pavone tells CNA that it may have gotten lost in the stacks and stacks of mail that come in to Priests for Life. “I have no idea what they sent me,” said the befuddled Pavone. “The communication broke down a long time ago. They may indeed have sent something. I simply didn’t see it.”
Mr. Pavone admits to CNA: I told my bishop to shut up and leave me alone.
BY: Henry Matthew Alt • January 18, 2023 • Blind Guides & False Prophets; Church Scandals; priesthood
Amarillo bishop Patrick Zurek makes the charge about exhumation a letter to Pavone dated May 5, 2017. The purpose of the letter was to demand that Pavone ask to be laicized. If Pavone did not request it himself, Bishop Zurek would ask Pope Francis to laicize him involuntarily. In the letter, Zurek cites two grounds for this course of action: (1) Pavone’s “incorrigible” disobedience; (2) Pavone’s exploitation of a dead baby for partisan political purposes. In the middle of all that, Zurek includes an extraordinary paragraph.
I used to mourn over what has actually been a blessing: that many of the apologists (and real-life friends) who were instrumental in my conversion only ended up disappointing me. But it was a blessing, because it’s a reminder not to idolize people. People will let you down. Only Christ does not let you down. Put not your trust in mortals who cannot save. God alone saves you. In fact, Leila Miller is right, but not in the way she intends. You do have to pick a side.
We are all going to have to assume that Fr. Frank Pavone is being utterly honest in his tweet, because to assume that he is engaging in mere bluster would be uncharitable. Fr. Pavone never engages in bluster and is entirely honest in all things — particularly his canonical status in the Church and the fact that his new, supportive bishop is waiting until just the right moment to come out from behind the curtain and announce his identity to an anxious, waiting world. None of these things are lies, and the Diocese of Amarillo is not refusing to answer questions about Pavone because they think they’re not really accountable to anyone; it would be uncharitable to hint at such a thing.
Catholic News Agency reports that the Austrian bishops are agitating for the Church to give a “formal, liturgical blessing” to “homosexual couples.” (It never ends. The answer is no, but it never ends.) Their committee on the liturgy asked for a book to be written explaining how such a thing may be done. The title of the book is The Benediction of Same-Sex Partnerships. CNA does not say whether the book limits blessings to “partners” who are celibate. It does not matter, in any case, because the Church has ruled it out and there’s no room to wiggle.
For decades, bishops have shielded priests who were known to them to be abusing minors. Chile’s bishops finally did one right thing and resigned en masse. (The pope accepted three of them.) And earlier this year, Pope Francis laicized Archbishop McCarrick, himself an abuser. After a while, things like this appear like token gestures, as bishops make a display of “demanding accountability” and “taking steps to ensure,” and then return to business as usual. Except sometimes they look up from the cozy trappings of clericalism long enough to notice: Gee, people are leaving the Church. Why?
The valuable Mike Lewis at Where Peter Is has the story on Cardinal Burke’s latest brazen declaration of dissent from the Magisterium. I’ll get to all that, but first it’s necessary to remind ourselves that Burke has gone down this road before. Back in 2016, Burke spoke with reporters and declared that we can overlook Nostra Aetate because it’s “not dogmatic.” Of course, it does not matter whether it’s “dogmatic” or not; it’s the teaching of a Church council, and Burke is on indefensible ground if he thinks Catholics can just wave their hand at that.
