Dear Editor:
Your weekly, Florida Agenda, has made it up to us gay hicks in Trampa. It is interesting reading; always nice to know what you folks are up to in SE Florida.
I was amused by the “Creep of the Week” article in your August 12 issue (#299). While the article stated nothing newsworthy, other than highlighting a Catholic group’s particularly strong language used to describe sexual practices the Catholic Church disapproves of (again, no news here), there is a photo of an apparently random priest that accompanies the article.
Now, the only person mentioned in the article is Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. I’m quite certain that Ms. King identifies as both Black and female, so I’m surmising the photo is not of her. So now I’m left thinking that perhaps this priest is someone who spurned the author’s affections. Maybe this is retribution of some sort? The reader is left puzzled.
To be certain, I actually know who this priest is: he is Fr. Frank Pavone, the rather passionate leader of Priests For Life. He is actually quite famous and would probably appreciate being given proper recognition in your fine magazine.
Steven Reiske
Tampa, Florida
Editor’s Note: The ‘Creep of the Week” is an opinion column, and is not meant as news. In this case, writer D’Anne Witowski was taking aim at the rhetoric of Priests for Life. The photo is correctly labeled PFL activist, which indeed is Frank Pavone, founder of the organization. It is hard to imagine that you would confuse the priest with black female activist Alveda King, who is the Director of African American Outreach with Priests for Life. Ms. Witowski is not the only person with reservations about Fr. Pavone. In a November 2014 letter to other U.S. Bishops, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan broke off relations with Pavone for his refusal to allow oversight of his organization.
