We've received a lot of e-mail from fans asking us to share our opinion on the Vatican's decision to defrock now-former Father Frank Pavone. Frank Pavone started the pro-life group Priests For Life in 1993 and has been living the life of an increasingly high profile priest ever since. However, his fame really skyrocketed after he very loudly endorsed Donald Trump for President and has been shilling for him ever since. I do follow Frank Pavone on Instagram, and have for a few years, as I like much of the pro-life content he posts there. I can tell you that while I found a lot of his political posts cringe worthy, but nothing that I found blatantly opposed to Catholic teaching.

So, when it came across our news feeds that the Vatican removed Frank Pavone from all of his clerical duties for "blasphemous communications on social media" and "persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop," I was shocked. Well, I was shocked about "blasphemous communications on social media." "Persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop" doesn't actually surprise me at all.

Bishops and Priests 101 (for those who need it)

To understand what's happening here, it's important to understand how the hierarchy in the Catholic Church works.

All Bishops, Archbishops, and Cardinals are Bishops. Even the Pope is a Bishop (Bishop of Rome). Bishops get their authority in the Church through Apostolic Succession; which pretty much means the authority Jesus gave to his Apostles to create His church and administer Sacraments has continued to this day through the Bishops.

Because Bishops (like the Apostles) can't possibly pastor soul in their diocese (area of responsibility for the Bishop), the Bishops can appoint Priests to administer the Sacraments and carry out the Bishop's duties as necessary throughout the diocese. Most priests are sent to a Parish (your local Catholic Church) to do that work.

The important thing to take away from this is that Priests are Priests only if they have a Bishop essentially sponsoring them. Without the authority of a Bishop behind him, the priest can't really do anything.

As a priest, Frank Pavone bounced around from New York to Orlando to Amarillo until finally arriving at an unknown diocese in 2005. Given the importance of a Bishop, it is very strange that we wouldn't know who Frank Pavone's bishop was for the last 17 years. Given how much he moved around early in his priesthood, one would assume he didn't mesh well with his prior bishops. However, I would have thought that Pavone's current Bishop was supportive of his activities if, for 17 years, Pavone continued his pro-life activism without being burdened with the work of administering a parish.

Blasphemous Communications on Social Media

We've waited to comment on this story because we really wanted to understand this charge. The only "blasphemous communication on social media" I've even heard of was an incident of him placing an aborted fetus on an altar; which would count as a blasphemous post. However, because he quickly apologized and removed the content, and explained that it wasn't a consecrated altar; I tend to think forgiveness would and should be given to the person seeking it from the Church.

If then-Father Frank Pavone committed blasphemy on social media, this is a really important teaching moment for all Catholics because, as a public figure, Frank Pavone's mistakes should be corrected publicly so Catholics and Christians don't repeat his mistakes. If it was simply the body of an aborted child on an allegedly fake altar; which is serious; I would like to know why the Vatican isn't making a statement about the tasteless and grotesque use of a body as a prop.

And again, since Frank Pavone took down the offensive content and admitted to being wrong, I would like to know why the Church isn't accepting his plea for forgiveness. Especially when so many high profile Catholic politicians support the equally tasteless and grotesque practice of abortion with no sanction from the Vatican.

Persistent Disobedience of the Lawful Instructions of His Diocesan Bishop

Now this one is difficult to narrow down because it seems like Frank Pavone's Diocsean Bishop for the past 17 years has been a complete mystery. We know he had bounced from one diocese to another throughout his time as a priest. Based on Bishop Joseph Strickland's comments criticizing the dismissal, it's safe to say that Pavone was not matched with a Bishop that supported his ministry.

Presumably, the "lawful instructions" probably went something like, "You can be pro-life, but you can't endorse Donald Trump as a Catholic Priest."

The Catholic Bishops in the United States have tried very hard to walk a thin line where the church stays out of partisan politics while simultaneously trying to push the civil debate on issues like abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia, immigration reform, and more with varying degrees of success. History has proven time and again that the Church endorsing parties and candidates tends to backfire hard. When the party or politician they supported eventually loses power, the Church always is prosecuted by the next political power because of their support for the past regime.

Legal Consequences (in Canon Law)

There is an excellent interview with Father Gerald E. Murray, a parish priest and Canon Lawyer on the Catholic News Agency about Frank Pavone. In it, Father Murray states that neither Blasphemous Communications on Social Media nor Persistent Disobedience of the Lawful Instructions of His Diocesan Bishop carry the punishment of dismissal from the clerical state. That's actually somewhat hard for me to believe, but Canon Law seems a lot more merciful than the Uniform Code of Military Justice here in the United States; which is sort of what I expected Canon Law to replicate for priests.

I think the aggravating factor here for Frank Pavone is his likely very long, very public, and very persistent history of disobeying his Bishops in New York, Florida, Texas, and possibly Colorado.

At some point, you stop serving the Church and Jesus and begin serving yourself. I think Frank Pavone might have crossed that line a long time ago and repeated attempts by multiple Bishops all failed to correct Pavone's error. If that's why he was dismissed; I really wish the Vatican would say that so the conspiracy theories could finally be put to res.

For what it's worth, Frank Pavone can appeal this decision; which it sounds like he is doing. We wish him the best in that and sincerely hope he learns humility in the process.