By Karen Smith Welch
Amarillo Globe-News
October 6, 2011
http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2011-10-05/bishop-pavones-mission-not-question#.To3pIbJknIU
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| Father Frank Pavone speaks during an interview Sept. 14 outside St. Mary's Church on S. Washington before conducting a noon mass service. |
Amarillo Roman Catholic Bishop Patrick J. Zurek said Wednesday he barred the Rev. Frank Pavone from ministry outside the diocese because he questions the high-profile priest’s management of several anti-abortion charities, not those groups’ missions.
“I want only what is best for all organizations that support and promote those teachings that come from the heart of the Catholic church on the dignity and gift of human life,” Zurek wrote in a letter uploaded to the Diocese of Amarillo website Wednesday.
Last month, Zurek limited Pavone to duties within the Diocese of Amarillo because of a protracted disagreement over financial transparency for Pavone’s nonprofit Priests for Life and its affiliates — Rachel’s Vineyard, which counsels people affected by abortion, and Gospel of Life Ministries, a lay association for Priests for Life.
Priests for Life finished 2010 with a revenue shortfall of $1.4 million, according to an independent audit posted on the organization’s website after a letter Zurek wrote to U.S. bishops about Pavone was made public.
It is the same audit Pavone said he provided to Zurek. The bishop also has requested audits for Rachel’s Vineyard and Gospel of Life Ministries, which are still being completed, Pavone said.
The letter Zurek sent to his fellow bishops stated they might want to recommend that parishioners
withhold contributions to Priests for Life until the financial questions could be answered.
Pavone joined the Amarillo diocese in 2005, his assignment coming along with plans for a $130-million apostolic society here that would train priests to combat abortion and euthanasia. The idea never materialized.
Pavone followed Zurek’s order to return to Amarillo on Sept. 13. The bishop was not in town at the time but recently returned from travels abroad.
The statement the bishop posted on the diocese website Wednesday is his first lengthy public comment regarding the situation. Pavone did not return messages Wednesday.
In the letter, Zurek said he has invited Pavone to a private meeting Oct. 13 “to discuss his spiritual progress during this time of prayer and reflection.”
“It is my sincere desire that the ministry to promote and defend the dignity of human life, from conception to natural death, is successful and fruitful so that the gift of human life is recognized as a fundamental value for our society,” Zurek said.
However, questions linger about the management of “Priests for Life and other related entities of which Father Pavone has a leadership role,” Zurek said.
“Principally, I called Father Pavone home to his Diocese of Amarillo because of my concern for him as one of my priests,” Zurek continued.
Since returning to Amarillo, Pavone has continued to use social media to promote Priests for Life events and causes. He recently had his organization send a four-page solicitation letter to donors that suggested abortion-rights advocates had seized the dispute as a means of damaging the anti-abortion movement.
The Sept. 22 missive was sent via overnight UPS courier services, according to a National Catholic Reporter story published Monday.
“I used an overnight delivery service to get this letter to you as quickly as possible because I had to reach you right away and address some important issues that concern you, me, our work together at Priests for Life, and the entire pro-life movement here in the United States,” Pavone’s letter begins.
“But before I go into any of that with you, I must first tell you that it is critically important that you send me a response of some kind to this letter.”
Pavone states he chose to “go on the offensive” to keep the anti-abortion movement from “falling victim” to the agenda of “overzealous members of an abortion-friendly news media, as well as enemies directly involved with the abortion industry.”
Anti-abortion pickets in Amarillo, organized by Center for Bio-Ethical Reform Executive Director Gregg Cunningham, have focused on Pavone as crucial to the anti-abortion movement. Cunningham has called Zurek’s claims damaging to anti-abortion efforts.
Pavone remains a priest in good standing, and the bishop has not alleged fiscal impropriety, according to information from the diocese.
Other questions include potential tax implications for Gospel of Life Ministries, a much smaller group than Priests for Life.
The ministry had its tax-exempt status automatically revoked by the IRS last year after failing to provide required reports to the agency, according to IRS records.
A spokesman for the nonprofits has said the organization was “unclear” about why the status was revoked but representatives are working to fix the problem.
A three-line statement Zurek posted to the diocese website Sept. 30 indicates that Pavone will remain in Amarillo indefinitely.
Contact: karen.welch@amarillo.com
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