What the actual...WHO DOES THIS?! (Contains triggers)

[Phoebe]

I can't summarize this nearly as well as others have.

"Today, November 7th, 2016, the day before the presidential election, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life took the corpse of an aborted child–one that was given by a pathologist for a proper burial–laid it upon the altar, and posted a picture of it to Facebook.

The reason?

To convince you to vote for Donald Trump."

From http://www.patheos.com/blogs/themackerelsnapper/2016/11/07/frank-pavone-is-a-sick-man/

 

and "...Fr. Pavone makes no secret that he put that dead child up on the altar and filmed him and plastered a still on Facebook in order to lobby for a particular presidential candidate.

Is that what the altar of sacrifice in a Catholic Church is for?"

From http://www.patheos.com/blogs/scottericalt/after-sick-political-stunt-fr-pavones-faculties-should-be-suspended/

 

Horrifying.  I don't have the words at the moment strong enough to express my thoughts on this.

[feministxtian]

just left a message for the diocese of amarillo...

[marmalade]

Found his Facebook. Report his ass. eta: He PINNED THE POST, so it's not hard to find. TRIGGER WARNING (body of fetus  laying on an altar)

https://www.facebook.com/fatherfrankpavone/

[MarblesMom]

I got about 10 seconds in and got nauseated.

[Phoebe]

3 minutes ago, marmalade said:

Found his Facebook. Report his ass. eta: He PINNED THE POST, so it's not hard to find. 

https://www.facebook.com/fatherfrankpavone/

The photo in the pinned post displays the body of the fetus.  Please be aware of this before you click the link.  I don't want to trigger anyone who has experienced infant loss.

[marmalade]

2 minutes ago, Phoebe said:

The photo in the pinned post displays the body of the fetus.  Please be aware of this before you click the link.  I don't want to trigger anyone who has experienced infant loss.

I amended my post to reflect the triggers. Thank you for reminding me; I have a very strong stomach, and sometimes I forget about the experiences of others.

[December]

Well this sounds messed in about a million ways. I'm gonna leave that link blue. 

What the heck is wrong with some people? Hopefully the diocese or whatever aspect of the Church he's associated with will take action. 

[Grimalkin]

That's not respecting life. 

[FundieFarmer]

Jfc. I'm surprised FB hasn't taken it down yet. It's one post we've discussed here that truly is against their community standards.

I've a mind to call and complain to the church too. Gads.

[PopRox]

There's depravity in this country, and it IS NOT from people who have abortions/are not white/are not Christian--it's from people who pull ish like this.I am so done with this madness, I just want to move into an underground bunker with my cats.**

I have never been this terrified about the results of a Presidential election before, and that's not a joke.

** This post was originally longer, but I was veering off into full-on *rant* mode and decided I should cool my jets a bit.

[ladyamylynn]

Wow this seems like something out of a Jack Chick fever dream... Gross!

[feministxtian]

The bishop of the diocese of Amarillo is Frank Pavone's "boss". I encourage venting your outrage here. Focus on the desecration of the altar and Pavone's backing of a political candidate within a church (presumably within the diocese) and how it is against the law. Don't go off on a pro-choice rant. Another angle would be for those of you who had second trimester losses (and I deeply feel the hurt), let them know how awful this was to you. 

http://amarillodiocese.org/

[hoipolloi]

Revolting. "Father" Pavone is a vile, sick human being.

Iʻd think that this action meets the definition in the Texas Penal Code of abuse of a corpse.

[feministxtian]

Reporting to Facebook didn't do any good...dammit. 

 

[ADoyle90815]

I'm just going to leave this here:

[Lurky]

How on earth did he even get the fetus?  Surely there's illegality all over the place here? 
Hope people get charged with this, it's repulsive

[kunoichi66]

5 hours ago, Grimalkin said:

That's not respecting life. 

Quote for speaking the truth. This is disgusting.

1 hour ago, Lurky said:

How on earth did he even get the fetus?  Surely there's illegality all over the place here? 
Hope people get charged with this, it's repulsive

This is actually a good question - did he desecrate a burial too, to add to his list of depravities?

[Lurky]

2 hours ago, kunoichi66 said:

This is actually a good question - did he desecrate a burial too, to add to his list of depravities?

It seems the pathologist gave him the fetus for burial, but he decided to desecrate it instead (can you even imagine being the woman who had the abortion?  The fact it was passed by the pathologist for burial means the abortion was most likely for medical reasons. 

I can't see how this is even legal under secular or church law, in any way.  I am beyond horrified about this whole thing.

[Cleopatra7]

Regardless of how one feels about abortion, I don't see how anyone can think this is okay. Furthermore, if one really believes that fetus is/was a person, using its body for a cheap political stunt was dehumanizing and exploitative. Even if you don't think it was a person, it's still dehumanizing and exploitative. Who was he trying to convince with this? Presumably, everyone at the mass knows his reputation and already agrees with him on Trump and abortion. Plus, the pathologist who have him the fetus must be in breech of medical ethics, since I don't think you're supposed to give medical waste to third parties, especially not for political purposes. 

[withaj]

It appears to be down now.

[hethamahay]

What.The. Actual. Fuck.

That said, I have a gut feeling that this was actually a still birth and not an abortion. Amarillo doesn't have an abortion clinic and the nearest one is a two hour drive to Lubbock. Plus the fetus look to be in the third trimester. There is only one clinic in the country that will do a third trimester abortion and that is in Colorado. It wouldn't be the first time someone used a stillborn as anti-abortion propaganda. Even if it was an abortion like he claims, it is still a grotesque and dehumanizing way to make a point.

I also can't help but think of the parents. Maybe they couldn't afford a burial and thought it was a nice gesture that the church wanted to cover the costs. They must have been horrified to learn that this dipshit was using it as a political stunt.

I seriously want to know what was going through this guys head to think that letting a dead fetus rot on an alter is a good idea. This fucker belongs in jail for desecrating human remains.

 

[Palimpsest]

7 hours ago, feministxtian said:

The bishop of the diocese of Amarillo is Frank Pavone's "boss". I encourage venting your outrage here. Focus on the desecration of the altar and Pavone's backing of a political candidate within a church (presumably within the diocese) and how it is against the law. Don't go off on a pro-choice rant. Another angle would be for those of you who had second trimester losses (and I deeply feel the hurt), let them know how awful this was to you. 

http://amarillodiocese.org/

This.  And done.

[polecat]

I find this deeply offensive. I, too, have a feeling that this was a stillborn child -- much like those pictures of "aborted fetuses" used by the prolife movement are often miscarried pregnancies. It shows how very little they respect life and how little they respect women all in one fell swoop. As a woman who has experienced pregnancy loss, I am sickened and saddened by this.

[quiversR4hunting]

To answer a question up thread- hell no, that is not what the alter is to be used for in the Catholic Church. (I am Catholic, practicing too)

I didn't watch it. Did he do this at a Mass? Were there people in the church? Aren't there laws about doing things to a body after death or disposing of remains properly? Didn't he violate at least one of these types of laws?

I can't even form thoughts of how awful this is, it's despicable.I really hope the Bishop suspends (at minimum) this priest and I hope the law enforcement can arrest him for something.  

Washington Post just picked up the story and it is trending top story on Yahoo.

[AmazonGrace]

11 hours ago, Phoebe said:

I can't summarize this nearly as well as others have.

"Today, November 7th, 2016, the day before the presidential election, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life took the corpse of an aborted child–one that was given by a pathologist for a proper burial–laid it upon the altar, and posted a picture of it to Facebook.

The reason?

To convince you to vote for Donald Trump."

 

Uhhuh, good thinking Frank, I can see how many people would be convinced. I often choose my candidates on the basis that their other voters are gross and crazy.