Fr. Pavone
Yesterday I saw the unfortunate news that Fr. Frank Pavone had been laicized. I’ve already seen some Catholics on Social Media immediately posting “I stand with Fr. Pavone”. Their loyalty to Frank Pavone is touching, but the sentiment of such posts is unclear. I can see three possible interpretations:
- They believe the reasons for his dismissal to be false
- They believe the reasons for his dismissal are true, but they think the penalty is excessive
- They believe the reasons for his dismissal may or may not be true, but they just don’t care
Unfortunately, I have a suspicion that most people fall in the last camp…
Earlier echos…
When Fr. Altman was in the news about a year ago, we saw lots of people posting similar sentiments because they saw him as bastion against “liberal” Catholicism. Unfortunately few of his supporters would acknowledge the authority of his bishop or try to address his words and actions. In their minds, the very fact that he stood up for “conservative” Catholicism gave him a free pass. However, just because someone does great good, doesn’t make it impossible for that same person to have done something incorrect or wrong.
We’ve seen a very similar phenomenon in recent years among some Trump supporters. While some Christians who voted for President Trump acknowledge that they didn’t like some of the things he has said and done, others don’t seem to give such behaviour a second thought as long as he continues to “own the Libs”.
Balanced criticism
Now, one might ask why it seems that “conservative” priests appear much more likely to be disciplined than “liberal” ones. It’s a good question and I agree that discipline does seem to slant in one particular direction. However, that doesn’t mean we can just ignore ecclesiastical law, and just because one bishop fails in his duty to correctly discipline his priests doesn’t mean that all bishops must cease to do so.
Required Watching
I would invite anyone vocally asserting Frank Provone’s innocence or complaining about the unjust nature of his punishment to first reading this Catholic World Report article which outlines the main facts, as well as this one from The Pillar.
Next, I suggest watching this video by a priest who previously worked with him:
I would also invite you to read the article referenced in the above video:
Here is one of the tweets which seems to have got him into trouble:
Since disobedience was was of the charges against him, it’s probably worth noting that the video below was posted the day after he claims to have first discovered the ruling from the Catholic News Agency. I hope that the video was recorded prior to confirmation of his laicization, otherwise it doesn’t bode well regarding his future obedience to this ecclesiastical ruling:
Finally, as always, watch this video from Michael Lofton where he offers some level-headed commentary on the situation:
…and I would strongly recommend reading the article referenced which on How St. Padre Pio responded when the Vatican silenced him.
If I were to fall into any of the three camps listed above I would fall into camp #2. Pavone says he retracted the “[GD] Biden” tweet, confessed, and repented of it. I think his disregarding lawful directives of his bishop has been a long-standing problem.
As to the Fr. Altman case, his overt political partisanship with his Catholics can’t vote democrat was foolish, although I can’t see how a good Catholic can, given the present day situation with the democrat party. If Altman had, for example, describe the policies of certain politicians and the democrat party without mentioning either, and said it was a sin to vote for such, his bishop wouldn’t have had a plausible reason to take action against him. I suspect Altman knew that and did what he did hoping the bishop would react the way he did to make himself look like a martyr. It may be the same with Pavone. The Church is not without its toxic celebrity/groupie dynamic. That’s another problem here.
One of the reasons I think discipline is “slanted” is that the left is smarter and more shrewd in its dissent. Additionally, I think the left is at the helm in the Vatican.
Agreed, but you still think the penalty as been too severe? I would say that all turns on what he’s said behind closed doors.
I agree on both counts. However, it was just his political assertions – he was very free with his opinion about women and race relations.
Exactly, and wouldn’t have opened up the Church to liability.
Yup.
I said “if” I were to be in any of the camps I would be closer to #2. As far as I am aware, this is the first form of actual punishment he had received. Laicization is a serious penalty. His bishop yanking his priestly faculties would have been a better first punishment than complete dismissal.
Fortunately, Pavone has decided to ditch the clerics and abide by his laicization.
https://youtu.be/Znxk7d7ir-0