Father Frank Pavone told Newsmax the Catholic Church is divided between those who support conservative politics and pro-life work and those who consider themselves allies with Democrats.
Pavone made international headlines this week for being defrocked by the Vatican for allegedly demonstrating "persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop" and promoting "blasphemous communications on social media."
"My conscience is clear," Pavone said Friday on "Wake Up America." "They see me as too political. Some bishops think I'm too aggressive on abortion. But here's the point: It's not really about them against me. It's about a division in the church because the Vatican throughout these 21 years of me doing this pro-life, full-time work has backed me up numerous times, including under Pope Francis.
"So what's really going on here is a battle between the bishops and between the clergy whereby some will say: Yes, amen … 100% with this pro-life work and with conservative politics and others, who, quite frankly, are allies of the Democrats. And we know that from things that they said, as well as done. And that's the battle in the church that we have to face up to."
Pavone said he has met with the Pope several times over the years and was encouraged to continue with his pro-life work.
"To this very day, our team is helping the Vatican in the international pro-life arena," Pavone said. "It's like, Guys, is someone not paying attention here? We're helping you do the work of the church. So that's why I think our supporters are going to continue supporting us.
"Because, again, we bear no animosity. We're not rebelling against the church. We just want to save the unborn, elect pro-life candidates and heal the wounds of abortion."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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