Vatican Defrocks Priest for ‘Blasphemous’ Posts on Social Media

The Vatican eliminated anti-abortion activist, Frank Pavone, from the priesthood after he made incendiary posts on social media. The decision to defrock the Florida-based priest was made on November 9 with no likelihood for an attraction, U.S. Archbishop Christophe Pierre mentioned in a letter obtained by a number of information shops.

Pavone’s elimination from the church is named laicization, a part of the canon regulation of the Catholic Church, that means a bishop, priest, or deacon is eliminated as a clergy member. It is without doubt one of the harshest sanctions a priest can obtain underneath the church’s canon regulation.

“This action was taken after Father Pavone was found guilty in canonical proceedings of blasphemous communications on social media, and of persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,” the letter discussing Pavone’s elimination mentioned.

Following the information, Pavone posted a tweet on Sunday, evaluating the choice to take away him from the church to an aborted fetus. “So in every profession, including the priesthood, if you defend the #unborn, you will be treated like them! The only difference is that when we are ‘aborted,’ we continue to speak, loud and clear,” Pavone wrote.

In a video, Pavone spoke to his social media followers sporting a leather-based jacket over his priest collar and mentioned he would proceed to work for his anti-abortion causes, saying the Church has persecuted him “for decades,” claiming they don’t approve of his pro-life activism.

Pavone has been a chief of the anti-abortion group, Priests for Life, and was first investigated in 2016 for posting a video of an aborted fetus on an altar on two social media websites.

In the submit, Pavone mentioned, “I am showing him to you because in this election we have to decide if we will allow this child killing to continue in America or not. Hillary Clinton and the Democratic platform says, ‘Yes, let the child-killing continue’ (and you pay for it). Donald Trump and the Republican platform says, ‘No, the child should be protected.’”

In a press release titled “I will not be silenced or canceled” posted on the Priest’s for Life web site, Pavone claimed some people within the Church have been “trying to silence my voice for 20 years,” and mentioned this determination is an try to intimidate all pro-life priest activists and lay activists.

However, Pierre acknowledged within the letter that Pavone was given “ample opportunity to defend himself” and had “multiple opportunities to submit himself to the authority of his diocesan bishop.” The letter added, “It was determined that Father Pavone had no reasonable justification for his actions.”