Vatican US Priest
FILE – Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life, gives the Homily during a mass at Ave Maria University’s Oratory in Naples, Fla., on March 31, 2009 to recognize the fourth anniversary of Terri Schiavo’s death. The Vatican has defrocked an anti-abortion U.S. priest, Frank Pavone, for what it said were “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as “persistent disobedience” of his bishop. A letter to U.S. bishops from the Vatican ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre, obtained Sunday Dec. 18, 2022, said the decision against Pavone, who heads the anti-abortion group Priests for Life, had been taken Nov. 9, and that there was no chance for an appeal. (Greg Kahn/Naples Daily News via AP, File)