"Fr. Pavone Scraps Plans to Form Dedicated Society"

From the Washington Post

An outspoken Catholic priest has scrapped plans to build a religious society of priests dedicated solely to fighting abortion, just two years after its founding.

The Rev. Frank Pavone said the religious community he founded in 2006, the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, was diverting attention and resources from his primary goal: ending abortion.

Nine seminarians were studying to join the society, based in Amarillo, Tex., Pavone said, but he was its only member. The goal was to ordain and train an army of priests free from diocesan duties and dedicated to fighting abortion across the country. The nine will return to their home dioceses.

Priests for Life, founded by Pavone in 1991 and one of the largest anti-abortion groups in the United States, will continue as a "private association of the faithful." Pavone's strident style of anti-abortion activism has at times vexed the Catholic hierarchy. In 2001, Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, where Pavone was living, forced him to step down as head of Priests for Life and accept a parish position. Egan eventually allowed Pavone to transfer to Amarillo.