Frank Pavone, the 63-year-old founder of Priests For Life, a high-profile, pro-life organization, was purportedly removed from the priesthood Nov. 9 with no chance for an appeal.
The Vatican made the shocking move after charges Pavone is guilty of “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience” in communications with his bishop, USA Today reported.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
–John 13:34-35
I received the following email from Jerry Horn Senior Advisor at Priests For Life:
December 20, 2022
Dewey,
You may not be familiar with me. My name is Jerry Horn and as my letterhead above states, I’m a Senior Advisor to Priests for Life and Father Frank.
What I’m about to write to you is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write. And it’s going to be longer than any email you’ve probably ever received. But this is important. So please read my entire email because it’s not just about Father Frank, it’s about YOU and the entire pro-life movement in America.
Which is why you need to join forces with literally tens of thousands of your fellow pro-life warriors and sign the I Stand with Father Frank petition that has gone viral across the country.
Pro-life champions like you are coming to Father Frank’s defense because they know that this attack on Father Frank is an attack on them. This move to silence Father Frank is an all-out effort to silence them.
But like Father Frank, we will not be canceled and will not be silenced when it comes to the slaughter of defenseless babies in the womb.
So take a moment to go to the I Stand with Father Frank petition page and add your name to the list of other pro-life heroes who’ve signed. It’s the best thing you can do to protect yourself and defend your pro-life mission.
And if God moves you to make a donation to Priests for Life as a sign of your commitment to Father Frank and all he’s doing to end America’s abortion holocaust, then by all means do.
But I’ve gotten a little ahead of myself. Let me back up just a bit.
By now I suspect you’ve heard the news reports. As usual they’re not accurate. But it appears the Vatican has decided to “cancel” Father Frank. That’s right. Reports from Rome indicate Church officials have decided to “dismiss” Father Frank from the priesthood.
Like me you’re probably dumbfounded by this decision.
Father Frank, a loyal and faithful priest, is dismissed while the Pope and Vatican welcome pro-abortion Nancy Pelosi with open arms, provide her with a PR photo-op receiving communion, and publicly embarrass her bishop, who banned her from taking communion due to her over the top support for abortion.
Father Frank is dismissed while Pope Francis holds a private meeting with a notorious priest who is all over social media promoting homosexual acts, which the catechism rightly states are “intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved” (Catechism 2357) and rewards him with a new appointment as a consultor for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.
Father Frank is dismissed while San Diego’s Bishop is made a cardinal in spite of him “allegedly” covering up how one of his priests (since laicized) raped a woman during a satanic ritual. In addition to that, this Bishop is little more than a mouthpiece of Democrat “social justice” talking points while diminishing the value of the pro-life movement and pro-life priests like Father Frank.
The hypocrisy of all this makes my head spin and I’m sure it does yours as well.
What I find especially galling is that the “crime” Father Frank is accused of committing was having lost his temper and calling Joe Biden a “G-d loser” in a twitter exchange with a pro-abortion extremists.
That’s Father’s crime? Using “G-d” in a text? Seriously?
In the video Father made the evening he got wind of the Vatican’s decision, Father Frank acknowledged that he lost his temper, got angry, and told viewers he’d confessed his sin.
And yet his enemies at the Vatican decide to use that flimsy charge to “cancel” him.
But here’s the big thing you need to keep in mind. While this is most assuredly a direct attack on Father Frank and Priests for Life …
… it is also a direct attack on YOU and every pro-life American.
The Vatican isn’t merely trying to cancel Father Frank,
it is also out to cancel YOU.
And these people will succeed IF you and I let them.
Which is why I’ve sent you this urgent and important email and why I’m writing to you with so much passion and urgency.
For the sake of our unborn brothers and sisters we must not allow any of Father Frank’s enemies either inside the Vatican or in the chanceries of our U.S. bishops to succeed in this diabolical attempt to cancel Father Frank.
Instead we need to rally round Father Frank and let him know that he has our full-fledged support.
So again I ask you to sign your name to the I Stand with Father Frank petition and let those in the Church who are persecuting Father Frank that you will not abandon him in his hour of need.
Will you do that? Right now? Before you go on to your next email?
In asking you to do this I want to assure you that Father Frank has no intention of backing down in his defense of vulnerable, defenseless babies.
While respecting the authority of the Church, Father Frank does not respect abuse by the Church. He will not let some fringe element of anti-life bishops remove him from his role as a leader of America’s pro-life movement. He is a priest forever, and all of us will work to get him reinstated.
In the video message he made the night a reporter asked him to comment on his dismissal, Father Frank pointed out that, as of my writing to you today, he’s still has not received official notification from the Vatican about his reported laicization.
That’s right. He heard about it in the news!
Isn’t that a terrible way to treat a priest who has been saving babies’ lives for 30 years?
He also listed just a sampling of the things that he and Priests for Life have done for the past three decades to not only defend the unborn but also to serve the needs of those who’ve been victimized by the abortion industry. The list is incredible. He’s worked with former abortionists all across the world including:
- Father Frank ministered to Dr. Bernard Nathanson, the man who almost single-handedly began the pro-abortion movement in America. Father Frank assured Dr. Nathanson the God would forgive him. Father Frank was at his apartment when he was on his deathbed, praying with him, and assuring him of the forgiveness of God.
- Father Frank received Norma McCorvey into the Catholic Church. You’ll remember that Norma was the “Roe” of Roe v Wade. She was the woman the abortion movement abused and used to bring about the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion-on-demand in America. Father Frank was one of her spiritual guides.
- Same with Abby Johnson. She’ll tell anyone who asks that it was Father Frank who helped lead her to the healing peace of Christ and the crucial role he played in making her feel welcome in the grace of God. In fact, some years ago Father Frank was sitting with Abby and a group of other former abortion workers who, all combined, had taken the lives of half a million babies. Father Frank guided them on that retreat to God’s forgiveness and urged them to trust in His mercy.
- Father Frank has worked with Dr. Philip Ney, who began the Society of Centurions, an organization devoted to providing a path to healing and a mutually encouraging fellowship of those who have used their professional skills to kill children by abortion, but now have ceased to do so.
- Father Frank is the Pastoral Director of both the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, which empowers women who’ve been victimized by abortion to speak out and warn others of the terrors of abortion; and Rachel’s Vineyard, the world’s largest ministry of healing after abortion.
These are just a few of the ways that Father Frank is spreading God’s healing and forgiveness to all those hurting and wounded from the evil of abortion – women and men, parents and grandparents … everyone.
I ask you, for which of these works is he being dismissed as a priest?
This doesn’t even include the fact that Father Frank is the recognized leader of the pro-life movement here in the United States. He is the face and voice of our movement. And I am convinced that is for this “crime” that Father Frank is being persecuted.
He’s being attacked because he is passionate, unapologetic, and uncompromising in his defense of our unborn brothers and sisters … and all human life. He is so because the fight against abortion is, as you know, the single most important work taking place in the world today.
And Father Frank’s energy and drive and single-minded focus is an embarrassment to many Church officials. In their hearts, at least those who are still open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, they know Father Frank is right. But they are too cowardly to admit it.
Of course there are other bishops who have no problem promoting abortion and protecting pro-abortion politicians like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. As Father Frank put it in his video message:
“[Those in the Church who oppose us] don’t want abortion to be seen as the number one issue … because they have friends and close allies in the Democrat Party. And some of these clergy strut around and have their Democrat politician friends patting them on the back. Some of them are doing some good work — social issues with helping the poor and helping the homeless. But if you’re helping the poor and helping the homeless and you’re not speaking up for those babies, you’ve undercut all the other good things that you’re doing. But they won’t stand up for the child in the womb – because they don’t want to offend their Democrat friends who won’t change when it comes to abortion…people like Biden and Pelosi. Well, it’s time for the nonsense to stop. And some of the problem that some Bishops have with me is that I’ve been pretty outspoken against these people.
That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.
Father Frank is like John the Baptist. While he hasn’t yet called out the bishops for being a “brood of vipers” he certainly could. And he’d be justified in doing so.
John the Baptist wasn’t afraid to take on Herod when it came to preaching the Truth. And neither is Father Frank. So just as Herod wanted the head of the Baptists, so some within the power structure of the Church – both in Rome and here in the United States – want the head of Father Frank.
But I want to assure you that, just as John the Baptist wouldn’t be intimidated, cowed into silence, or been canceled, neither will Father Frank. As he wrote in his terse rebuke to his attackers:
“I have made an irrevocable commitment to defend the unborn and to be a priest. I will not walk away from either one.”
And he will not walk away from you, either. Just the opposite, in fact.
When I met with him and told him that I felt that the Holy Spirit was moving me to write to you, he nodded and said:
“When you do, Jerry, make sure you let our friends know that, rather than backing down, we’re ramping up our work. We are turning up the volume. This is all-out war. Not just on the unborn, it’s a war on our supporters. It’s a war on pro-life political candidates. It’s a war on the family. It’s a war on marriage. It’s a war against our children. It’s a war against America. And it’s a war we’ve got to fight and win!”
I wish you could have been there with me. You’d have been so pumped up just listening to Father Frank. His passion and resolve are infectious, which is one reason why you support him as generously as you do.
And also because, like Father Frank, you believe in the sanctity of human life as fiercely as Father Frank does.
Which again is why this attack on Father Frank is an attack on you.
If the powers that work to silence Father Frank, then you can bet they’ll try to silence you and me too. And not just us but everyone else who has the courage to speak out and proclaim for all the world to hear:
You don’t kill babies!
When all is said and done, that’s what this is all about.
This attack on Father Frank is all about how the Church will respond to abortion, and whose view of this battle will hold sway in the Catholic Church and beyond.
It’s about whom the Church wants to punish: pro-abortion politicians or pro-life priests.
It’s about whom the Church wants to abort: babies in the womb or priests who defend them.
And since you are part of the Church, the answer to those questions is up to you, you and every pro-life warrior who rallies around the unborn and fights to defend their God-given right to life. The success of Father Frank and Priests for Life is a function of you and the people who get behind it.
But no matter how you choose to respond to my email, this is much is certain:
There will be no cancelling of Father Frank and the pro-life message.
There will be no cancelling of his message within the Church, where he is rallying the clergy and telling them to shout it from the rooftops, and to make this the number one issue of our day because it is.
Our brothers and sisters are being killed daily by the thousands and it’s got to stop.
And as long as you and I and the Priests for Life family stays true to our mission there will be no canceling of Father Frank’s message because there is nothing wrong with his message.
That fact isn’t going to stop the baby killers from trying. They will use all their worldly power and influence to destroy Father Frank and Priests for Life, as well as you and me and the entire pro-life movement.
Well I’m here to tell you in no uncertain terms: They’re not going to succeed.
God has called you to this mission. He’s called me as well. And He’s most definitely called Father Frank to this work. In order for us to be faithful to God’s call we must persevere in our mission.
And here’s how you can do that.
- Sign the I Stand with Father Frank petition.
- As a sign of your support for Father Frank and Priests for Life, please make as large a donation to Priests for Life as you can. Consider it a Christmas gift to yourself and your pro-life mission.
This is a critical moment, not only for Father Frank and Priests for Life, but for the entire pro-life movement in America.
We’ve got to rally behind Father and show the world that he’s our leader, that he has our support, and that we won’t be silenced in our mission to end America’s abortion holocaust.
Your financial gift will be a sign of your commitment to Father Frank, to Priests for Life, and to the work of end America’s abortion holocaust.
Your gift is especially needed right now because of the timing of the Vatican’s attack on Father Frank. I say that because it was just a couple weeks ago that Father Frank told you about the Plan of Action to End Abortion that he’s come up with to keep to recruit the army of pro-life activists who will stand together and fight to make every state in the union abortion-free!
He was getting ready to send that Plan to you when the Vatican decided to unleash its attack on him. I know that pro-abortion Democrats have told their bishop allies things like this:
“Hey, look, you’ve got to shut this guy down now, before he’s got a chance to organize that national pro-life field operation he wants to put together. If he succeeds then he’ll probably thwart our plans to make abortion-on-demand legal in all fifty states.”
You’ve got to admit, the timing of all this is highly suspect.
In any case, Father Frank has every intention of launching that Plan of Action to End Abortion in a few weeks. He also intends to send you the details of the overall plan in a couple days. So sit tight.
In the meantime he’s got to raise the Plan’s $5,000,000 program budget. Some will use this announcement from the Vatican to keep people from supporting the campaign.
You can help thwart that evil design by making a generous donation to Priests for Life right now.
Will you do that? Now? I’m really counting on you. And so is Father Frank.
Thank you. You are such a dear friend to him and such a warrior in the fight against abortion.
May God bless you. And may God bless Father Frank.
For All of Life,
Jerry Horn
Senior Advisor, Priest for Life
P.S. One final update and I’ll let you go.
I’m not sure how much you know about this attack on Father Frank, but some have been going public with the statement that Father Frank has “no possibility of appeal” on this matter. Like everything else, they’re wrong. As Father Frank wrote in his public statement:
“Of course there’s a way to appeal. I am appealing to the People of God, who are becoming wiser to all that is going on and who will be the judges of whether the work my 50-person team at Priests for Life and I do is worthy of support or not. I have made an irrevocable commitment to defend the unborn and to be a priest. I will not walk away from either one.”
So there you go. Father Frank is making his appeal to you personally.
And your response to my email will be your “judgment” on Father Frank and the work of Priests for Life. I’m confident you’ll say a rousing:
“I stand with you, Father Frank! Keep up the good work!”
FGGAM STATEMENT OF FAITH:
God’s Word is the final authority for faith and life.
as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Priests for Life
PO Box 236695
Cocoa, FL 32923
Phone: 321-500-1000
Toll Free: 888-735-3448
Email: mail@priestsforlife.org
www.EndAbortion.US