Our world now seems plagued with ever-increasing political, societal, and religious turmoil. As even religious leaders seem infected by Marxism and anti-Biblical wokeness, Frank Pavone, the head of Priests for Life, has some advice for Catholics and other Christians in exclusive comments to PJ Media on staying true to Jesus amidst confusion and chaos.
Following the removal of faithful Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland, many American Catholics were shocked and confused, wondering how to handle an increasingly woke Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Fr. Pavone, who was unjustly laicized by Francis last year, is urging Christians to stay true to what Christ taught, and Catholics in particular to think bigger than just the parish or the diocese.
While Jesus very obviously established a hierarchy in the Bible, appointing His apostles and disciples as leaders who in turn ordained other priests (see Acts 6:6, 16:4 and 14:23; Mark 3:14-15, Matt. 16:18 and 18:18), it is important to remember that the Church doesn’t implode because of some bad clerics. As Pavone put it, “the Church is much bigger than the hierarchy.” Americans should be supporting movements — and outlets like PJ Media — that provide “a sane message for Catholics and non-Catholics alike,” Pavone urged.
Related: EXCLUSIVE: Frank Pavone Explains How Democrats Influence American Bishops
“People need to get involved in the movements that take them beyond the structures of their parish and their diocese,” Pavone told me. He admitted, “Now, of course, I speak from the perspective of someone who runs such a ministry … obviously, you know, Priests for Life is in union with the Church, [but] we’re not part of the structure … of the Bishops’ Conference, of the dioceses.”
But there’s an excellent reason he advises Catholics to “get beyond that [structure] … because those are the structures that are infected with this political correctness, progressivism, and cancel culture.” Obviously, Pavone doesn’t disrespect the hierarchical structure of the Church, either the Vatican or the diocesan system, but he thinks there needs to be reform.
That’s always been true because people are liable to sin. Judas the traitor was one of the twelve apostles. Even holy St. Peter had to be rebuked once for wrong practice. There have been far more saintly than wicked popes, but there were undeniably corrupt men throughout history who held authority in the Catholic Church (which is true of all religious institutions, down to the smallest church or community).
St. Athanasius was nicknamed “contra mundum,” or “against the world,” because so many priests and bishops were heretics in his time — he was even condemned by the pope! Papal infallibility only applies to certain pronouncements that meet certain prerequisites in Canon Law. Outside of that, it is possible for popes and bishops to make serious personal errors, as in the case of Pope Francis targeting Strickland and Pavone. But it is important to stay true to the Church that Christ founded.
Pavone continued, “Beyond that, though, when you look at different movements within the Church, okay, well, some of them are more left-leaning themselves, but it’s in those movements that we also find the preservation of the authentic Faith and — and the courageous battling in the culture on issues like abortion.”
He noted that there is sometimes a reductionist view that associates the Catholic Church too exclusively and merely with local structures. “I would encourage Catholics, you know, don’t think of the Church equals the parish, or the Church equals the diocese.”
Rather, there is a good, non-woke kind of diversity, where people of all stations in life with all different talents contribute (see 1 Cor. 12). “It’s the Church equals the people of God in all their diversity, to whom the Holy Spirit gives all kinds of gifts, raises up all kinds of movements, and inspires all kinds of good activity. That good activity might not be known, or even approved, by your pastor or by your bishop,” if those clerics are woke. “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t good activity.”
Nor should Catholics leave the Church. The leaders of the Protestant revolt broke off from the Church and succeeded only in fracturing Christianity into tens of thousands of different sects, all disagreeing with each other and all convinced of being right. Meanwhile, those who stayed in the Church did a great deal of good during the Catholic Reformation, which produced intellectual and spiritual giants like Robert Bellarmine, Charles Borromeo, Lawrence of Brindisi, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and Philip Neri.
Fr. Pavone also defended himself and Strickland from charges of wrongdoing, noting that no tangible evidence of such has been turned up by investigation — in marked contrast to pro-LGBTQ Fr. James Martin, who openly advocates against unchangeable Church-Bible teaching. This is relevant, Pavone told me, because such confusion is “fed by a pattern, where the only … authentic Church voice that we listen to is the one that comes through the diocese and the parish. No, the Church is bigger than that. Look at how the people of God are responding to different movements in the Church. Someone like Fr. James Martin might be getting a lot of pats on the back from the hierarchy, but he’s not getting pats on the back from the people of God.”
Indeed, Pavone said he hasn’t noticed a whole movement of Catholics animated by Fr. Martin. “People are not finding this as an inspiring message, they’re finding this as a confusing message,” he said. “And so the Church is much bigger than the hierarchy, and I think that there are enough movements like Priests for Life, like the pro-life movement, like many, many others.”
He mentioned Catholic Answers and “the work you’re doing” at PJ Media, and other publications that have “a sane message for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. This is what people need to be supporting, getting involved in, and getting their nourishment from.”
Ultimately, the good clerics and the laymen need to band together. I personally know some truly excellent priests, who are part of the reform of the Church, and too many priests who are feeding the problem. St. Athanasius, St. Catherine of Siena, and other reformers who had to argue with the Vatican itself must have been tempted to feel similarly confused and isolated; instead, they chose to stay true to Christ and reform the Church. That’s exactly what should be happening among us in America and around the world today.
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