Frank Pavone, a Roman Catholic priest defrocked by the Vatican, said he will not be silenced and vowed to continue his pro-life work as national director of Priests for Life.
Catholic News Agency this weekend revealed the full text of a letter from the apostolic nuncio to the United States to U.S. bishops declaring that Pavone had been officially been laicized, meaning he had been stripped of his religious title and powers and returned to the laity with no official status in the church.
"Some in the Church have been trying to silence my voice for 20 years. It will not work," Pavone said in a statement on Monday. "This is not just an attack on me, but an effort by forces both inside and outside the Church to intimidate every courageous pro-life priest and lay activist.
"We see this in the arrests of pro-life advocates and the lack of response from law enforcement in more than 100 attacks against pro-life organizations.
"We see this in when some religious leaders provide cover for pro-abortion politicians like [President] Joe Biden and [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi. And we see it when some priests who violate canon law and also break civil law are supported while others, including myself, are chastised and ostracized for working to protect the unborn."
Pavone said his plight will reveal "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," he said. "It's about whom the Church wants to abort: Babies in the womb, or priests who defend them."
Archbishop Christophe Pierre's letter to the U.S. bishops alleges that Pavone, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, was guilty of "persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop" and "blasphemous communications on social media."
The Priests for Life issued a release Monday saying Pavone still had not received official notification from the Vatican about his reported laicization, and added he rejected the idea that there is "no possibility of appeal."
"Of course, there is. 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," Pavone said. "I have made an irrevocable commitment to defend the unborn and to be a priest. I will not walk away from either one."
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