The following comes from an early Jan. story in the Long Island Catholic.
Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo, Texas, sent a letter in December to the bishops of the United States informing them that all concerns he had raised in regard to Staten Island-based Priests for Life, led by Father Frank Pavone, a priest of the Diocese of Amarillo, “have been favorably received and addressed by the Congregation of Clergy.”
“My concerns included some restructuring of Priests for Life so that it would have juridic personality and become a true ecclesial association. Also included was a request for more adequate and transparent reporting of finances to the competent ecclesiastical authority. Both of these requests have been favorably addressed by the Congregation of Clergy,” the bishop wrote.
In November 2012, the Congregation decided that since the principal office of Priests for Life is in the archdiocese of New York, the archbishop of New York is currently the competent authority to exercise vigilance over the association.
“ I am happy that this process is at an end and I hope and pray that Father Pavone and Priests for Life may now continue its important work in the defense of all human life, especially that of the unborn,” he said.
To read the original story, click here.
Intercession: For the doctors, nurses and counselors who now know they were wrong in cooperating with abortion: may God grant them the courage to renounce their involvement in the abortion industry and open their hearts to doing his will from now on.
Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be
Reflection: Today we honor the life of St. Agnes, a 12-year-old girl martyred in Rome in 304 AD, during the Diocletian persecution. Agnes never wavered in her commitment to remain a virgin and to give her whole life to the Lord, refusing proposals to marry. Her innocence and heroism facing death helped bring an end to the persecution of Christians in Rome. Following the example of St. Agnes, let us remain steadfast in recognizing Christ, who is Love Incarnate, as the source and summit of our lives. May his love give us the determination and courage to live for him and for others, especially the most vulnerable among us.
Acts of Reparation (choose one):
◾Go to an abortion clinic and pray, or set aside an hour today to pray for those who are struggling with a decision of life or death for their unborn child.
◾Pray the Rosary today for someone who has hurt or disappointed you, and ask for the grace to forgive that person.
◾Instead of donating “old clothes,” offer to buy a new piece of clothing or item a charity is seeking.
I like these prayer
Very nice Anony….I enjoyed reading
Good Bishop. I remember Fr. Pavone going all unhappy about his Bishop.
Now if Only Bishops would let the traditional orders work in their dioceses.
How Fr. Pavone must have suffered through his exile in the desert. We may never know the story of what led to his being isolated, but through it all he maintained the patience of St. John the Baptist when he was imprisoned.
Yes Laurette Elsberry. There are many good priests who suffer great injustices. I feel for them. I am grateful for their perseverance and practice of fortitude. We don’t hear much about it because they keep it secret in their hearts. Just like many good Catholics who are persecuted for their faith. While many don’t make headlines, there are many.
Laurette, when you think of all the good Father Pavone has done over the years, it is anguishing to think how he must have suffered both humiliation and frustration. So glad it’s over!
So was St. Padre Pio.
His exile in the desert?
Well…Father Pavone CHOSE a desert diocese in Texas to be his spiritual home, so being called BACK home to that desert shouldn’t have crushed the man too much.
I, for one, am glad that the bishop in question got the financial questions settled, as many people were concerned about accountability and were refusing to donate to the cause until they got straight answers.
Interesting how you seem to back slam Fr. Pavone, Suzanne, and are so ‘thankful’ for the clearing up of financial questions because of their inhibiting donations, yet when it comes to Fr. Coiro and clearing up a matter that has scandalized Faithful, you opt for get-thee-to-the-soup-kitchen. And falsely branding others as venomous.
Is it all about financial donations? Or is it ‘the cause’ for you?
Because the ‘the cause’ is about saving all souls. Yes, those without a voice, the unborn are critical here, but so too are those souls that are scandalized into spiritual death by way of spiritual/authoritarian bullying whenever that which is poisonous/contrary is exposed.
I do not understand you, Suzanne.
Ann Malley writes, “I do not understand you, Suzanne.” Thank you for addressing the obvious! Excellent post Ann Malley! Perhaps this will help. Do familiar names such as Kuzanne help you to understand the harassment that many of our good priests are being persecuted with by those claiming to be in “full communion.” ? Kuzzane did the same thing regarding a good priest in Texas who upheld Church teaching regarding homosexuality. This priest only taught what the Church teaches and Kuzzane also attempted to cleverly undermine him by bringing up financial dealings in order to discredit him.
Ann & Catherine, You both take joy in stating ” I do not understand you Suzanne”. It seems you both have no respect for comments made by others that you may disagree with. Suzanne made a very good comment, cleared up some questions and you both start with your monologues that have very little to do with the subject at hand. I would pray that you both start to tolerate others feelings. The CCD is a forum where we are able to hear about the problems our Church is facing and try and find answers. Thank you….
OMG now Catherine is conflating Suzanne, anonymous and k into kuzanne. What a piece of work this one is!
Or now that James has weighed in, maybe we should call the Juzannek. Or is it Juzannekanny ?
God bless you, James. CCD is exactly what you describe.
If you believe, however, it is with joy that I communicated my observations to Suzanne, you are mistaken. Although you are very welcome to your opinion. Obviously. I ask because Suzanne vehemently denounced another poster for doing nothing more than asking a question to clear up a problem facing the Church just the day before. I’m sorry that I didn’t document the other post to make that more clear.
Suzanne says:
January 22, 2014 at 7:42 pm
Dear Father Coiro: I don’t know you, but I am sorry you got slammed by Catherine ….
There was/is more, James, in the ‘Chaldeans celebrate…” thread. But that is why I do not understand Suzanne. So while it is important that we come to know the Church better and clarify confusion, it is also important, paramount in many instances, to get to know each other better. Our true positions. Isn’t it?
God bless and thank you for your post!
James James why do you persecute Him…..
Ann ignore James, just another person adding to the confusion and problems facing the church. I hate hypocrisy Ann. Many are hypocrites, many are waiting to slam on true charity just for the sake of their self edification. Opportunist in nature, they take whatever opportunity to do exactly what they accuse others of doing. They see malice intent where their inner heart of desires leads them, their words and actions do not seem to be lead by the Holy Ghost. At least that is what I can tell. Test the spirit and those who cause more confusion usually seem to be harboring some kind of bad will that is deeply rooted. Its UGLY! Yes ugly.
If we were more like minded in Christ, you would see less Catholics against each other. BUT let the division continue….so we can tell who really is for Christ and who isn’t! The ones in the middle, will have to choose, for there will no longer be a middle. Many stay in the middle that they create because they do not want confrontations or correction, they do not want to offend anyone but they are sacrificing something much more deeper, that is their love for Christ and their spiritual growth. Its much easier to set aside Christ, since they do not see or feel or touch Him….it is easier to hide Him so they can just get along with others. Christ is set aside, sin that hurts Him is desensitized. Rationale and reason is not something favorable. They create their own man made Christ and without knowing it, persecute those who do the will of our Lord.
Due to Father Pavone’s bold public stance against the HHS Mandate, I have started to contribute monthly to Priests for Life.
One can’t help but wondering if those who keep accusing many of us of not being active in soup kitchens and other charitable acts are not like the many Democrats and Republicrats in Office who keep harping on the poor until their own lack of contributions from their own overpaid funds to those poor are exposed the light of truth!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
God bless you 4unborn for doing so.
Unfortunately, in the Church there are lots of politics. Having met the former bishop of Amarillo, I believe the new ordinary wanted more control over Priests for Life. Father Frank Pavone is a very good, solid priest, and the restrictions placed on him were unjust. The disbanding of the community that Father Pavone was starting was also uncalled for. Thank God Father Pavone is once again permitted to exercise this ministry which is, and has helped save many lives. The unborn are humans, with souls, but unfortunately, most Catholics do not believe this.
Pray that our fellow Catholics believe that a baby in the womb, is human and does have a soul that God breathed into him/her. Pray that all Catholics ask themselves the question “how pro life are you?”–if you contracept you are killing your babies. If you aren’t waiting until the marital embrace (one man and one woman), you are in sin. Evil flourishes when good people stick their heads in the sand and do nothing!
Yes Father Karl I agree with you because through prayer, the good Lord has helped me discern as you have expressed so eloquently here, which is the TRUTH!
Just to translate the legalese:
A “juridic person” is addressed by the Code of Canon Law in a section starting with Canon 113. The conferring of this status is a plus for PFL, because the juridic person has certain rights under the Code and is recognized as a Catholic institution. Of course, with rights come responsibilities, so now the Archdiocese of NY has oversight of PFL, whereas before it had no accountability within the Church, being organized as a secular non-profit.
If you think Fr. Pavone has suffered, you have not heard of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Heart
I have no idea as to why Bishop Zurek was so upset with Fr. Pavone, to begin with. Were there any serious financial problems, or mishandling of money, at Priests for Life? Do we have any cause for worry, in the future, and will it be safe, to make donations? The credibility and integrity of both poor Fr. Pavone and his Priests for Life, have suffered serious blows!! Was this just, and necessary?? It is terribly shocking to me, that so many clergy (especially bishops and cardinals in high Church posts) have, in recent years, carried out horrifically immoral and heretical actions for a great many years, and have received only praise and awards, for their actions! Yet, we see a priest who seems to be good, like Fr. Pavone, with a very worthy cause (which some priests and Church leaders at times give little support to!) have his basic integrity called into question!. This is terrible! The Pro-Life cause, to save the precious lives of unborn children, is extremely important! It just makes me sick when, year after year, we see Catholic pro-abortion politicians ( such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi and the HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius) never have to endure any equivalent public humiliation or serious Church punishments like excommunication. And we also see the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, Dolan, in very serious positions of seeking false political “friendships” with highly immoral Catholic and non-Catholic public leaders– like the immoral, abortionist President Obama!
Abortion is the greatest evil stalking our land…behind it is the sinful scourge of actively homosexual men, who sport a collar and masquerade as priest’s…these priest’s are the cancer that bugger adolescent males and seek to debauch children, all the while spread modernism and heresy like manure… and encourage the faithful to be tolerant of homosexuality, pro-abort’s, illegal immigration, and everything else that is the antithesis of the moral teaching of our faith, not to mention the values of our great nation…
It’s always the orthodox priests who get “investigated” for “finances”.
yes juergensen its true. A wonderful pastor of ours was moved far because of dissenters falsely accusing him