American priest, anti-abortion crusader who supported Trump defrocked by Vatican

The Vatican defrocked an American Catholic priest for purported making “blasphemous communications on social media” and engaging in “persistent disobedience” of his bishop, according to reports.

American bishops received a letter from Vatican ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre on Sunday, reporting a Nov. 9 ruling against Frank Pavone, who runs an anti-abortion organization called Priests for Life.

Laicization, or being “defrocked,” is one of the most severe sanctions in canon law, and the decision cannot be appealed, according to the letter.

The decision stems from a 2016 investigation conducted by Pavone’s then-diocese of Amarillo, Texas after he placed an aborted fetus on an altar and posted a video of the scene on two different social media sites.

His Twitter account has 134,000 followers. 

The defrocked priest, who reportedly posts often about abortion and other political issues published these particular posts with the fetus along with criticism of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

His comments also lent support to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, heralding that he deserved support of the Catholic community because he was willing safeguard the lives of unborn children.

Pavone, who is a known Trump supporter has featured photographs of himself wearing Make America Great Again apparel alongside the 45th president.

“So in every profession, including the priesthood, if you defend the #unborn, you will be treated like them! The only difference is that when we are “aborted,” we continue to speak, loud and clear,” he tweeted on Sunday.

Pavone’s supporters expressed criticism over the Vatican’s decision.

“The blasphemy is that this holy priest is canceled while an evil president promotes the denial of truth & the murder of the unborn at every turn, Vatican officials promote immorality & denial of the deposit of faith & priests promote gender confusion devastating lives… evil,” another Texas priest, Joseph Strickland, tweeted.

Pavone has a history of controversy with the church. He successfully appealed a previous restriction placed on his ministry in 2011 in 2011 by an Amarillo bishop, and then left the state while continuing to engage in activism with Priests for Life.

The ruling against Pavone said that organization is not considered a Catholic organization. It us known whether Pavone will be able to remain in the group “as a lay person.”