Anti-Abortion Priest Pavone Defrocked for Blasphemous Posts
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.
Pro-Life, Pro-Choice Protest Outside of Women's Health Clinic in Casper
Both proponents and opponents of abortion gathered outside of the Wellspring Health Access Clinic in Casper on Thursday afternoon, and while this has been and will remain a hot-button issue for years to come, both groups were respectful of each other while they made their personal feelings known.