A leader of the US anti-abortion movement and a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump has been ousted from the Catholic priesthood for “blasphemous” posts on social media and disobedience to bishops.
A letter sent to the American bishops by the Vatican ambassador in Washington says Father Frank Pavone you have been expelled and will not be allowed to appeal.
In a lengthy video shared Sunday, Pavone, still wearing a clerical collar, said he had been “persecuted in the Church for decades” and mocked his critics as “the dumbest man in the world.”
Pavone was among Trump supporters who questioned the validity of the 2022 presidential electionand in a 2020 Twitter post he spoke of “supporters of this bloody loser Biden and his morally corrupt, America-hating, God-hating Democrat party.”
He addressed that in his video, saying, “I used the word GD in a reply to someone in a Tweet and that’s why they want to remove me from the priesthood.”
He was rebuked during the 2020 election campaign for suggesting that Catholics who voted Democratic should not be absolved of their sins in confessions.
In his video on Sunday, he accused his critics of “dropping off Democratic talking points.”
He said he still had I did not receive any official communication of the Vatican about his dismissal, criticized the Vatican for “talking to the media before talking to the priest” and said he would “never leave the priesthood.”
Reporting with Reuters
