What to do when a bishop ignores you?

Jill Stanek reports:

It seems to me a compassionate spiritual leader would attempt to mitigate the damage his decision caused to innocent bystanders.

One important event caught in the crossfire was the International Pro-Life Youth Conference, scheduled for this weekend, November 11-13, in Los Angeles.

Father Pavone has been advertised as this event’s keynote speaker for months.

I just learned tonight that the youth leaders in charge of the IPLYC have been attempting to reach out to Bishop Zurek to secure his permission to allow Father Pavone to attend this event, and the bishop will not respond.

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PFL public relations director attempts to “set the record straight” about the Bishop Zurek/Father Pavone/Priests for Life dispute

As published in the October 25, 2011 issue of the Amarillo Globe-News

For over a month now, a tremendous amount of misinformation has been spread across the country about Father Frank Pavone and Priests for Life. In the interest of fairness, the editors have offered us the opportunity to set the record straight and we thank them.

Read the article

Jill Stanek writes: Bishop Zurek admits to being a bit behind in his (Priests for Life) paperwork.

To clarify, PFL submits all financial statements and audits to Father Pavone’s diocese and members of PFL’s board of directors as soon as they are completed.

Thus, Bishop Zurek was admitting that the Amarillo Diocese has had PFL’s up-to-date financial records in its possession from the time Father Pavone joined the diocese in 2005 – contrary to Bishop Zurek’s allusion in his September 9 letter to all U.S. bishops that Father Pavone had “rebuff[ed] my every attempt at calling for financial transparency.”

In addition, Bishop Zurek went on to say in that October 5 letter, “I shall submit these statements to my advisors for review. After I have been advised about these financial statements, I shall forward to you all their concerns and questions.”

In other words, Bishop Zurek was conceding that neither he nor his advisers have ever analyzed PFL’s financial statements, even though he wrote a scathing letter to all U.S. bishops on September 9 all but accusing Father Pavone of financial malfeasance and recommending that parishioners withhold donations to PFL.

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Details about Father Pavone’s “no show” emerge

On October 14–the day after the scheduled meeting–Father David Deibel, a canon lawyer representing Priests for Life, disclosed that he had advised Father Pavone not to meet with the bishop.

Father Deibel said that he had made numerous requests to Bishop Zurek, suggesting mediation, but had received no reply. Reporting that other Church officials had recommended mediation, the canonist said: “The details and history of the present situation are such that moving forward to a resolution is no longer simply a matter of getting together and talking.” He said that it would be best for Father Pavone not to meet with his bishop under a plan for mediation was in place.

Father Deibel criticized Bishop Zurek for informing the public about his plans to meet with Father Pavone. “All of us want this entire process to be carried out in private rather than through the media,” he said, in a statement released to the media.

Link to Catholic Culture website

Bishop Zurek clams up. Father Pavone fails to show up.

“This is a delicate internal church matter that needs to be resolved between a bishop and his priest,” Zurek said. “This is parallel to a human resources matter in the secular workplace. And it is even more sensitive when you factor in the relationship between a bishop and his priest as one similar to a father to a son or a brother to a brother.

“In this case, right now, a real concern for me is Father Pavone.”

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Perhaps Bishop Zurek could be invited to appear on EWTN to explain the rationale behind Father Pavone’s “suspension”.

In addition to suspending Pavone from ministry outside Amarillo, (bishop) Zurek has prohibited the activist priest from appearing on the Eternal Word Television Network, available to more than 160 million households worldwide. The independent nonprofit Catholic network based in Alabama is one of Pavone’s primary vehicles for spreading his pro-life message.

The bishop, Pavone’s backers say, has effectively muzzled one of the movement’s most recognized voices.

Zurek “has taken one of the most staunch pro-life leaders, one of the most effective ones, out of the battle and shut down his organization,” abortion foe and Pavone ally Mark Crutcher said on a recorded talk show uploaded to YouTube last week. “You can sugar coat it all you want to, but that’s what’s happening, and it’s outrageous.”

Link

Seen on the web: This (Father Pavone’s) bishop sounds like Obama…

Posted by stilbelieve on Friday, Oct 7, 2011 9:36 AM (EDT):

This bishop sounds like Obama: We’ve got a serious problem with our economy that needs immediate attention; I will have a plan to deal with it as soon as I get back from vacation in a month.

My question to this bishop and all bishops is: Why do we need to have a “Priest For Life” organization in the first place?  Why aren’t ALL priest Priest For Life?  Why do the bishops leave it up to this one priest?

Link