Frank Pavone, the pro-life Roman Catholic priest defrocked by the Vatican, said his hopes of reinstatement could rest with the next Pope.
Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, was stripped of his religious title and powers and returned to the laity with no official status in the church.
In informing U.S. bishops of the Vatican's decision — which Pavone said was approved by Pope Francis — the apostolic nuncio to the United States said the priest was found guilty of "blasphemous communications on social media" and "persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop." He added there was no possibility of appeal.
"This idea that any of this is permanent in terms of dismissal from the priesthood is simply incorrect, because we're going to continue," Pavone told the Christian Broadcasting Network on Monday. "Then there will be a next Pope, and the next Pope can reinstate me."
Pavone, 63, encouraged supporters to contact their bishops "in a respectful way" to express support of his work.
"We're not going anywhere," he told CBN. "I'm not going to be one of those people that walks away, rebels against the church. I'm called to be a priest. I'm going to stick with that. I'm called to being a pro-life leader. I'm going to stick with that."
A Priests for Life spokeswoman told the Catholic News Agency that Pavone, who most recently was formally attached to the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, participated in the canonical process that led to his dismissal from the priesthood.
"His canonical team was involved in trying to resolve this situation and to fight back against the ongoing persecution of Father Frank from his bishop," the spokeswoman said.
"The canonical team also was working on Father Frank's attempt to be incardinated into another diocese. Our canonical team is not at liberty to discuss these subjects now, and we are not releasing the name of the bishop or diocese into which he was hoping to incardinate."
Pavone also appeared on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show" on Monday said the Vatican's move to defrock him isn't about "anything I did or didn't do." Instead, it's about control, he said.
"This is about the control that the bishops want to exercise over the pro-life movement and messaging to Catholics because Priests for Life since 1993, under my leadership, has had a profound impact on the Catholic population when it comes to pro-life," Pavone told Salcedo.