By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has defrocked an anti-abortion U.S. priest, Frank Pavone, for what it says were “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as “persistent disobedience” of his bishop.

A letter to U.S. bishops from the Vatican ambassador to the U.S., obtained Sunday, says the decision against Pavone, who heads the anti-abortion group Priests for Life, had been taken Nov. 9.

It says there is no chance for an appeal.

Pavone had been investigated by his then-diocese of Amarillo, Texas, for having placed an aborted fetus on an altar and posting a video of it on two social media sites in 2016.

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