Priests for Life (PFL) is an
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
organization based in
Titusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in eastern Florida and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 43,761 as of the 2010 United States Census.
Titusville is located along the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and ...
. PFL functions as a network to promote and coordinate
anti-abortion activism, especially among
Roman Catholic priests and
laymen
In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother.
In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...
, with the primary strategic goal of ending
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
and
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eutha ...
and to spread the message of the ''
Evangelium vitae
''Evangelium vitae'' () translated in English to "The Gospel of Life", is a papal encyclical promulgated on 25 March 1995 by Pope John Paul II. It deals with issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life, including murder, abortion, euthana ...
'' encyclical, written by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
.
On April 30, 1991, Archbishop
John R. Quinn of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
officially approved Priests for Life as a
Private Association of the Faithful, a term drawn from the
1983 Code of Canon Law
The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title ''Codex Iuris Canonici''), also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the second and current comp ...
. The organization was later listed in the official
Catholic Directory
Catholic Directories are various publications and reference works about or produced for the Catholic Church.
Early history
The earliest English attempt at anything of the sort seems to have been a little ''Catholic Almanac'', which appeared for ...
. Priests for Life has formed an international association of Catholics called "Gospel of Life", and has requested the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
to grant appropriate status and structure in the Church.
Bishop Patrick Zurek of the Diocese of Amarillo stated in 2016 that Priests for Life is a civil institution, not a Catholic organization.
History
Finances
On September 6, 2011, Bishop
Patrick Zurek of the
Diocese of Amarillo,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by b ...
, limited
Frank Pavone
Frank Anthony Pavone (born February 4, 1959) is an American anti-abortion activist and laicized Catholic priest. He is the national director of Priests for Life (PFL) and the chairman and pastoral director of its Rachel's Vineyard project. He ...
to duties within the Diocese of Amarillo because of a protracted disagreement over financial transparency for Pavone's nonprofit Priests for Life and its affiliates –
Rachel's Vineyard Rachel's Vineyard is an American organization offering weekend retreats for women who have had abortions and for others, including men, who believe that they have been hurt by abortion. It is named after Rachel in the Bible, who weeps "for her lost ...
, which counsels people affected by abortion, and Gospel of Life Ministries, a lay association for Priests for Life. Pavone remained a priest in good standing until 2022, and the bishop did not allege fiscal impropriety, Gospel of Life Ministries lost its tax-exempt status for failure to file required documentation, according to
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
(IRS) records.
A
Catholic World News
Catholic World News (CWN) is an online independent news service founded in 1996 by Philip F. Lawler providing news concerning the Catholic Church. Staffed by lay Catholic journalists, its editorial policy is generally conservative with an emphas ...
analysis of tax returns indicated that between 2006 and 2008, Priests for Life spent less than 63% of its revenues on its programs. It also found that Pavone did not draw any salary from the organization.
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial s ...
awarded Priests for Life one star out of four for financial accountability and transparency. The
Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 97 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the Unite ...
Charity Review lists PFL as "Did Not Disclose" indicating that the "organization either has not responded to written BBB requests for information or has declined to be evaluated in relation to BBB Standards for Charity Accountability." It explained, "without the requested information, it is not possible to determine whether this charity adheres to all of the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability."
Upon an appeal filed by Pavone, the
Congregation of the Clergy
The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardin ...
in May 2012 allowed Pavone to minister outside the Diocese of Amarillo, but recognized that he still must obtain specific permission to do so from his bishop.
In November 2012, the Congregation of the Clergy decided that since the principal office of Priests for Life was in the archdiocese of New York, the archbishop of New York was the competent authority to exercise vigilance over the association. Pavone subsequently complied with demands to straighten out the group's finances and returned to New York to become accountable to his home diocese.
In November 2014, Cardinal
Timothy Dolan
Timothy Michael Dolan (born February 6, 1950) is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the tenth and current Archbishop of New York, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
Dolan served as the president of the United S ...
, Archbishop of New York, and former president of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (U ...
, wrote to the bishops of the United States to advise them that the Congregation of the Clergy had conducted an apostolic visitation of Priests for Life the previous year, and had subsequently requested that he "assist Father Pavone with several necessary reforms." Cardinal Dolan wrote to advise the bishops that Pavone had not cooperated with the reforms. As a result, the cardinal told the Vatican that "I am unable to fulfill their mandate, and want nothing further to do with the organization."
In 2017, PFL moved from Staten Island, New York, to Titusville, Florida.
HHS contraception mandate lawsuit
On February 15, 2012, Priests for Life filed a lawsuit against the
contraception mandate, claiming that the
Health and Human Services (HSS) ruling is unconstitutional on many levels. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The case was initially dismissed without prejudice. In November 2015, the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...
agreed to review the case, which it combined with six other similar challenges to the Health and Human Services' Contraceptive Mandate under ''
Zubik v. Burwell''. Briefs were then scheduled for January 4, 2016. These cases successfully relieved Priests for Life and the other petitioners of the mandate.
Graphic images
Priests for Life provides a collection of photos of live babies as well as aborted fetuses, via the internet. Its photos have also appeared in print.
Pre-election videos
In early November 2016, ahead of the elections in the United States, Pavone, a member of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's 33-member Catholic advisory council,
posted a live video to
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
in opposition to the continued "child killing" in America, urging people to vote for Trump. The Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, subsequently issued a statement that it was opening an investigation into the placement of a fetus on an altar, which was "against the dignity of human life and a desecration of the altar." In a statement, Pavone indicated that the table was not a consecrated altar, but a table in his office.
Opposition to violence
Priests for Life rejects violence as a solution to the abortion problem. In 2001, the organization offered a $50,000 reward to anyone providing authorities with information leading to the capture of fugitives wanted for abortion shootings. In 2003, Priests for Life signed a
nonviolence
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
joint statement with
Bill Baird who is "called by some media the 'father' of the
birth control
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
and
abortion-rights movement."
Laicization of Pavone
In November 2022, Pavone was
laicized
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy.
The ...
by Pope Francis as the outcome of canonical proceedings, citing his behavior on social media and disobedience to authorities. The decree was circulated on December 13. A statement by
Papal Nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
Christophe Pierre
Christophe Louis Yves Georges Pierre (born 30 January 1946) is a French prelate of the Catholic Church. He is an archbishop who has been serving as the apostolic nuncio (ambassador) to the United States since 2016. Pierre previously served as ...
cited the non-affiliated nature of Priests for Life and said: "Mr. Pavone's continuing role in it as a lay person would be entirely up to the leadership of that organization". Pavone had previously sought incardination a new diocese and said in December that he believes that "the next Pope can reinstate
im.
Priests for Life Canada
Priests for Life Canada is independent of the organization in the United States. The Canadian organization stated that it was "deeply disturbed" by the actions of Priests for Life national director Frank Pavone in displaying the purported body of an aborted child on an altar. Thomas Lynch, president of Priests for Life Canada, stated that they supported the investigation concerning the video being undertaken by the
Diocese of Amarillo.
See also
*
Rachel's Vineyard Rachel's Vineyard is an American organization offering weekend retreats for women who have had abortions and for others, including men, who believe that they have been hurt by abortion. It is named after Rachel in the Bible, who weeps "for her lost ...
*
Silent No More
References
{{Reflist
External links
Priests for LifePriests for Life in CanadaAnglican Priests for Life
Anti-abortion organizations
Catholic Church and abortion
Christian organizations established in the 20th century
Non-profit organizations based in New York City
Organizations based in Staten Island
Political organizations based in the United States
Anti-abortion organizations in the United States
Christian organizations established in 1990
Catholic organizations established in the 20th century