In view of the importance of clergy to the pro-life movement, we at VFTU decided to provide some personal profiles of the members of Priests for Life. In this issue, we profile Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, and Fr. Richard Hogan associate national director. Next month, we will profile additional members of the group.
Fr. Frank Pavone is originally from New York and has been active in the pro-life movement since 1976. He studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie), New York, and received several advanced degrees in theology, with special concentration in Sacred Scripture. He was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of New York by John Cardinal O'Connor in 1988.
He served for five years as a parish priest at St. Charles Church In Staten Island, New York. During this time he also taught theology part time at St. Joseph's Seminary and other institutions.
In September of 1993, with the permission of Cardinal O'Connor, he became National Director of Priests for Life. In this full time position, he traveled to all of the 50 states, preaching and teaching against abortion and helping other priests to do the same.
He conducts seminars on pro- life strategy for the clergy as well as for other pro-life organizations. He is regularly invited to speak at national and international pro-life gatherings, and is often quoted in national and local media. He has produced many television and radio programs on abortion, such as his ongoing series on the worldwide Eternal Word Television Network. He has written numerous pro-life brochures.
Fr. Pavone has spoken internationally and was asked by Mother Teresa to address the clergy of India on the life issues. He was also asked to speak to the Pro-Life Caucus of the United States House of Representatives in 1996.
Norma McCorvey, the "Jane Roe of the Supreme Court's abortion decision Roe vs. Wade, called Fr. Pavone "the catalyst that brought me into the Catholic Church."
In 1997 he was asked by the Vatican to help coordinate pro-life and pro-family activities throughout the world as an official of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Rev. Richard M. Hogan was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 31 July 1951, the oldest of six children. He attended Catholic grade school and high school, graduating summa cum laude from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 1973 with a B.A. in history.
The next year was spent studying history at the University of Munich in Germany on a Fulbright grant. Returning to the Twin Cities, Fr. Hogan attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota, earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in medieval history in 1975 and 1978 respectively. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1981.
Since his ordination, he has co-authored two books on the theology of Pope John Paul II with his classmate, the Rev. John M. LeVoir, also of the Archdiocese of St. Paul. In these books, the two priests argue that Pope John Paul II has a new way of presenting the Catholic faith more appropriate to our century.
Seeing the need to teach young people the Pope's new understanding of the faith Fr. Hogan was one of the authors and editors of the Image of God series, a textbook program for use in Catholic religion programs for grade-school age children. In addition to this work, Fr. Hogan has been a pastor and served several parishes in the Twin Cities. He is currently the Associate National Director of Priests for Life.
Next month, VFTU will feature biographical sketches of Fr. Peter J. West and Fr. Denis G. Wilde, O.S.A., both Priest Associates for Priests for Life. Priests for Life is also expanding its speakers' bureau of clergy and laity who travel around the country and the world to convey the pro-life message
To schedule a Priests for Life priest to speak in your area, contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448, 718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; email: pfl@priestsforlife.org; web: www.priestsforlife.org
The information for this story was gathered from the Internet.