AMARILLO, Texas (LifeSiteNews) – A letter from the former Vicar for Clergy for the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, reveals that Father Frank Pavone’s bishop had a long-standing “personal animus” toward the pro-life leader despite the goodwill and cooperation of the priest, who has now been laicized on allegations of blasphemy and disobedience. Pavone is appealing directly to the Pope, and LifeSiteNews has delivered to the Dicastery for the Clergy in Rome a petition with 45,000 signatures requesting Pope Francis to overturn the laicization.
READ: Fr. Pavone’s message to Pope Francis: ‘I want to continue serving as a faithful priest’
Msgr. Harold Waldow, who died in 2019, held the office of Vicar for Clergy in the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, for 16 years beginning in 1998. During 10 of those years, Pavone was incardinated in the diocese. In a letter dated March 5, 2016, Waldow explains that Pavone came to the diocese under its previous bishop, John Yanta, “to facilitate the founding a Society of Apostolic Life dedicated to the charism of the protection of the unborn,” and for “the development of an international center for pro life causes, most especially the unborn.”
Neither project came to fruition, however. Bishop Yanta retired, was replaced by Bishop Patrick Zurek, and according to Waldow, “from the outset, the relationship between Bishop Zurek and Father Pavone was strained, even though Fr. Pavone was generally well received by clergy, laity and religious alike, when exercising ministry in the Diocese of Amarillo.”
Given his role as a liaison between the Zurek and Pavone, Waldow declared that he could “state unequivocally that Father Pavone responded promptly, respectfully and appropriately” to communications from the bishop. Recounting a meeting of April 20, 2010, that Waldow witnessed himself – in which Pavone related his call to pro-life priestly ministry and his frustration at the “failure in achieving the same within existing ecclesial polity” – Waldow stated that although Pavone was “open” and “respectful,” Zurek “responded with an expression of anger and withdrawal from the meeting.”
Given that the relationship between the bishop and Pavone had long been “toxic,” Waldow counseled Pavone “to find a way out of the Diocese and Zurek’s reach.” Pavone has said he did petition the Holy See to be transferred to another diocese, but Zurek refused to allow his departure from the Diocese of Amarillo and instead asked Rome for his laicization.
Waldow also revealed that on numerous occasions and diocesan events, he witnessed that when Pavone’s name would come up, “often in the context of positive comment about his ministry within the diocese and elsewhere,” Zurek would reveal the “toxic nature” of their relationship. “He [Bishop Zurek] makes remarks publicly about sensitive matters concerning Father Pavone,” Waldow declared, adding, “on more than one occasion he [Zurek] has seriously misrepresented the situation by his remarks.”
In contrast, Waldow said, Pavone showed himself to be “an effective and generous priest, completely dedicated to the ministry, especially the pro life ministry.” Testifying that the fruits of Pavone’s ministry were seen both within the diocese and without, “on the national and international scene,” Waldow said he encouraged Pavone to “place himself beyond the impact of Bishop Zurek’s personal animus towards him” by leaving the diocese, “so that he could continue to flourish as a priest and that the fruits I had seen personally could continue to mature.”
Pavone’s laicization has been denounced by several prominent figures in the Church, including Bishop Josep Strickland of Tyler, Texas, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, and most recently, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who condemned the move as “not justified” and “political.” Pro-life Catholics have voiced their outrage at the move, sending a petition of 45,000 signatures to the Dicastery for the Clergy demanding that it “tell Pope Francis that Fr. Frank Pavone’s laicization must be overturned.”
RELATED:
Cardinal Müller slams Pope Francis’ ‘political’ laicization of Fr. Pavone
Sr. Dede Byrne: Fr. Pavone’s laicization is a ‘travesty’