The priest has additionally said that if his bishop does not allow him to return to full-time pro-life work, he will consider pursuing incardination in a different diocese.
“For diocesan priests like Fr. Pavone, 'incardination' is the mechanism by which they are canonically assigned to a particular church and receive a bishop to whom they owe primary obedience,” Peters explained.
“The authority of Bishop Zurek over Fr. Pavone is based on the fact that Fr. Pavone is 'incardinated' in the Diocese of Amarillo which Zurek leads.”
Peters recalled that Fr. Pavone was originally ordained for and incardinated in the Archdiocese of New York, but later he lawfully sought excardination from New York and was incardinated in the Diocese of Amarillo.
“Even though Pavone works almost entirely outside of the territory of Amarillo—ironically, in Staten Island, in the Archdiocese of New York—he remains a priest of Amarillo and is primarily subject to its bishop.”
Peters was critical of the diocese's initial handling of the situation, saying that under canon law, Bishop Zurek's suspension is not simply a kind of “administrative limbo” imposed on the cleric until various issues get sorted out.
“Suspension itself is a canonical penalty and supposes that a cleric has been found guilty of a canonical crime.”
Because of this, Peters believes that a diocesan statement “expressly withdrawing any language about Pavone’s ever having been suspended” should have been made. A Sept. 15 statement was issued by the diocese which said that despite the questions about finances “Father Pavone is not being charged with any malfeasance or being accused of any wrong doing with the financial matters of Priests for Life.”
“The fact is that Bishop Zurek’s statement that Fr. Pavone was suspended made Pavone look guilty of something before he had even been accused of anything,” he said.
On what will happen next, Peters qualified that his predictions “are no more reliable than anyone else’s” but said that he believes the “open questions” in this case fall into two categories.
“The first questions regard the finances of Priests for Life and its various affiliate organizations,” he said. “Experts must assess whether there is anything amiss there. I have no sense of which way that might go.”
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But secondly, and more importantly, he added, “how does Fr. Pavone understand the relationship between his priesthood and his pro-life work?”
If Fr. Pavone was directed by his bishop to give up his leadership of Priests for Life, cease his organized pro-life activities, and to return to Amarillo for full-time assignment, “would he comply?” Peters asked.
“The Pavone case exposes a central question not just for Pavone, but for all young Catholic men, motivated by compassion for this suffering world and considering priesthood as the way to live out their love of Christ.”
“Is priesthood a man’s vocation, a calling that has the first place in a man’s person and life, or is priesthood a sort of built-in spiritual power-pack that helps one to shoulder the stresses of doing full-time charitable work?”
Peters clarified that Fr. Pavone has the right to seek a new diocese under canon law and noted the priest's “intense desire” to work in the pro-life movement. He is wary, however, that the same situation could occur for Fr. Pavone under the jurisdiction of a new bishop.
Also, “it surfaces the same fundamental question,” he added, “what is priesthood for in the first place?”