What do I think about the Frank Pavone situation?

People are asking my comment on the decision at the highest level of the Catholic Church to "laicize" Father Frank Pavone -- "laicization" being an unfortunate term that means he is forbidden from acting as a priest and removed from that state of life, i.e., returned to a "lay" state of life. This, by the way, doesn't mean he's no longer a priest; it means he's been found deserving of the very severe punishment of not being able to exercise his priesthood.

A lot of people find it terribly unfair. They think this is a blow struck against Pavone's prolife activism, and therefore, a repudiation of, or a show of weakness regarding, the prolife cause. Quite a lot of people notice other priests who behave badly, and not only aren't punished, but seem to be rewarded. So, yes, there does seem to be unfairness. We don't like to witness unfairness by the leaders of the Church. But never were we promised bishops, even the pope, would be preserved from unfair or even unjust judgments. That's not what "infallibility" means.

I really don't like commenting on this, because when people ask, "what did Pavone do to deserve this?" The most I can do is guess; and such guesses will tend to diminish his reputation, and I do not wish to do that. I wish, rather, that the letter from the Apostolic Nuncio (i.e., the pope's "ambassador" to the U.S.) had cited the specific, concrete acts that occasioned this response. Vagueness doesn't help, no, not even Frank Pavone.

The fact that other people are let off easy doesn't invalidate a punishment. When I was a kid, that was always the argument we made to mom and dad, and even if it was true, it was bogus. Mom and Dad couldn't administer perfect justice; in my own case, I nearly always deserved exactly what I got.

Does Father (he's not supposed to be called this any longer) Frank Pavone deserve this? The short and quite factual answer is...

I do not know. I don't know all the facts.

If you point to Pavone's responses, well, do you really expect him to offer the explanation that is least favorable to himself? Think of people you knew who got fired; how often do they tell you everything the employer told them, not only once, but over time, about their poor performance? Some truly candid people will own up to their failures, but usually, they blame the unfairness of the boss. Many bosses are unfair, but then again, we've all known people who really did deserve to be fired, but how many people admit it?

Again, I don't want to speculate or paint Pavone in a bad light. But let me answer the question this way: can I infer unrevealed details that might make this decision less unjust? Can I guess at actions by Pavone that made it hard to avoid? Why, yes I can. Do I know those inferences to be true? No, I do not. 

I hope people will not let this deter them from continuing to support prolife activism. Pray for all involved. 

UPDATE, 1:12 pm...

This article at the Pillar looks helpful...

UPDATE, 12/21/22...

This in Crisis Magazine is also good...