SOLT PRESS RELEASE – July 5, 2011
HOW IT STARTED
Father Corapi made his first announcement in March 2011:
On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult women. I have been placed on “administrative leave” as the result of this… All of the allegations in the complaint are false, and I ask you to pray for all concerned.
EWTN removed his programs from the cable network:
In EWTN’s thirty years of existence, the Network has never knowingly aired programming featuring any priest whose priestly faculties have been suspended. The Network has always responded consistently and immediately in such situations by removing such programs from the air. We are obliged to do so in obedience to the discipline of the Church. Father John has long been a friend of EWTN and many of us have worked closely with him throughout the years. He is a tremendously gifted preacher who has led many souls to Christ. We are doing exactly as he has asked and supporting him and everyone involved in the situation in the best way possible, through our prayers.
Many of us were unfamiliar with the nature of his SOLT religious community:
The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity is a community of disciples of Jesus and Mary composed of all vocations: priests, deacons, brothers, sisters and single and married laity. The Society was founded in 1958 and has been approved by Rome as a Society of Apostolic Life. Ecclesial Teams are the basis of our community life as well as the means by which our missions are staffed. A complete Ecclesial Team is composed of at least one priest, religious and lay person or married couple. At the present, the International Headquarters of Our Lady’s Society is located in the United States, in the city of Robstown, Texas under the Diocesan jurisdiction of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas. In looking forward to when The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity achieves Pontifical Status within the Church, the International Offices will be transferred at that time to Rome, Italy.
There was a clarification from the lucrative company, Santa Cruz Media, over which Fr. Corapi was identified as the CEO:
Santa Cruz Media, Inc. is the owner of all of Fr. John Corapi’s intellectual property and the DVDs, CDs, and books that flow from it. We are a secular corporation and not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way. As such, we are not under the jurisdiction of any bishop or other official in the Catholic Church, although we have the utmost respect for Church authority.
Here is my FACEBOOK comment from March 2011:
FATHER JOE: Priests are men under authority. Fr. Corapi, himself, says that they cannot play games with their promise of obedience and others should respect this. If Father Corapi’s faculties have been removed and his ministry suspended, then EWTN was morally required to take the action they did. Hopefully the matter will be resolved and he will be restored to his place on television and radio. Having said this, the sale of media (audio, video, web and print) would also fall under “ministry.” Given the situation, Fr. Corapi could certainly require Santa Cruz Media, Inc. (an extension of his ministry) to suspend sales and distribution of his materials. I suspect that the good priest is innocent, but there is much to which we are not privy. Prayer is our proper posture at this time, not ridicule of episcopal jurisdiction in the Catholic Church.
WHERE IT STANDS NOW
ON JUNE 17, 2011 AN ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE BY FATHER CORAPI THAT HE WOULD CONTINUE MINISTRY BUT NOT AS A PRIEST IN GOOD STANDING. IT IS A VERY SAD DAY.
FATHER JOE:
(June 2011) I have not blogged about this matter until now and I am not comfortable about posting on it. This issue has gone beyond Father Corapi and could harm the very souls for whom he has confessed concern. Already on the social network sites, his fans are taking sides with him and attacking the Church. This has quickly become a very dangerous situation, another reason why cult worship of religious media personalities should be discouraged. Our faith is in Jesus and the Church, not in preachers with impressive rhetoric and militant attitudes.
This business has gone sour and Father Corapi, as much as I hate to say it, is duplicitous in saying (on one hand) that the bishops have a right to do what they are doing and then (on the other) to malign them for violating his rights and daring to impose discipline upon him. He is a priest and cannot pretend to be anything else, as with this pathetic “black sheep dog” foolishness. His failure to shut down his multimillion dollar business was an early sign that he would not obey the demand of the bishops to suspend public ministry. Now he is taking it to the next level. Faithful Catholics have no choice; in tears and anguish, we must leave Father Corapi. Pray for him but do not participate in his pretense of obedience while he is actually disobedient. True humility would have him submit and accept the Cross. His obstinacy insists that no one will tell him what to do– that was the trouble with his independence all along. More grievous than any genuine or false indiscretion with a woman, the skirting or outright violation of obedience is the greatest possible failing for any priest. Everything from his assignments to the moral life is covered in his fidelity to the Church and Christ. He is to discern God’s will in his obedience to the bishop and his superiors. Evidently, he has become a dissenter on the nature of priesthood and its obligations, as well as upon Catholic ecclesiology. While on “administrative leave,” a suspended priest can neither preach nor teach religion; his intention to do so anyway would be a movement toward the Protestant camp, no matter what the message.
REMARKS ON HIS STATEMENT
FATHER CORAPI: All things change, only God stays the same, so I have to tell you about a major change in my life. I am not going to be involved in public ministry as a priest any longer. There are certain persons in authority in the Church that want me gone, and I shall be gone. I have been guilty of many things in the course of my life, and could easily and justifiably be considered unfit to engage in public ministry as a priest.
FATHER JOE: The problem is that priesthood is not merely a job we can change or a hat we can trade for another. Even if the priest is laicized, he is configured to Christ as a priest, forever. If he cannot engage in public ministry, then he cannot do so in any fashion, even if he drops his priestly title or goes under a pseudonym as in a superhero’s secret identity. [It is rarely permitted, but sometimes a laicized priest can give religious instructions with permission of the bishop if it is generally not known that he was a priest and no scandal would result. Fr. Corapi is too well known for this exception ever to apply.] The label “Black Sheep Dog” is a literary fiction without meaning. It says nothing that would grant him an escape from Church censure. He is a suspended priest who has no faculties for preaching or publicly teaching the faith. That means he cannot do it— even on the Internet or with books or with audio/visual media. If the Church authorities want him gone, and it is uncertain who he really means, then he should pursue his canonical rights in private. He has opted not to do this. Suspensions can take a year or more to resolve. He did not last three months! That is hardly the image of a tough former Special Forces military man. (But wait, we found that this part of his biography was a fabrication. We will let that fact check go given his more serious troubles.) Of course, he may acknowledge one important grain of truth; he may indeed be “unfit to engage in public ministry as a priest.” It should be said that all priests are unworthy. The best of priests fall short. If he were sincere then he should fight for his priesthood, no matter how much time it might take to be restored to ministry or good standing. However, such must be done within the system and among the fraternity of his brother priests. He should hold his tongue about how he feels about the process and treat the bishop, his superiors and the Church with trusting respect. A priest who caricaturizes the Church as the enemy is burning his bridges. These latest remarks have ignited a fiery inferno. Fame and fortune should mean nothing to a good and humble priest. He might argue that the Church has forced his hand, but every faithful priest knows this not true. The laity may not clearly understand this situation. Our lives and obligations are very different. He may want to step away from his priesthood, but a priest he is, and that means that any public ministry without ecclesial approbation will be PROTESTANT ministry, not Catholic.
FATHER CORAPI: I did not start this process, the Bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas ordered my superiors, against their will and better judgment, to do it. He in fact threatened to release a reprehensible and libelous letter to all of the bishops if they did not suspend me.
FATHER JOE: Notice how quickly Fr. Corapi uses the word libelous. Would he resort to the civil courts to punish any in the hierarchy who would dare challenge him, his importance and his resources? He says that he loves the Church and so I am hoping that he will not. Nevertheless, are the assets of his “for profit” company fully his or do they belong to the Church? I suspect they are in his name. We might see a fight about this yet. In his own mind, he is the Church’s great defender. He is Superman, Batman and the Green Lantern all rolled up into one. His fans echo his own conviction— “Oh how will the Church survive without him?” In truth, the Church will fare perfectly well without him. But, if he decides to pursue this BLACK SHEEP DOG nonsense, it is possible that he could inflict great harm upon the Church and cost good people their salvation. As for the bishop’s actions, it confirms what I suspected, that SOLT was impotent in reigning in this isolated Lone Ranger priest who had made religion into his own personal big business. Let me be fair, he may not have started out expecting this happen. But the media can make celebrities of anyone, even religious leaders. When fans tell you that you are wonderful, their praise can be seductive and the person can become addicted to adulation. This is deadly for the minister of God. Everything we have is gift. Every priest should be the poor man– the sinner who seeks to bring God’s mercy to other sinners. Fr. Corapi did some incredible work. My fear is that everything might now be undone.
FATHER CORAPI: My canon lawyer and my civil lawyers have concluded that I cannot receive a fair and just hearing under the Church’s present process. The Church will conclude that I am not cooperating with the process because I refuse to give up all of my civil and human rights in order to hold harmless anyone who chooses to say defamatory and actionable things against me with no downside to them. The case may be on hold indefinitely, but my life cannot be.
FATHER JOE: And who are these canon and civil lawyers? Was there an appeal to the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome? No, I doubt it. My suspicion is that Fr. Corapi refused to cooperate with the process. Maybe he never understood what the Catholic priesthood was really about? His promise of obedience was not selective and he had indeed surrendered certain rights. He promised celibacy and gave up an important natural right to marry. His overall promise of obedience meant that he would speak for the Church and not for himself on matters of faith and morals. In a negative way, it also meant that he would not speak if the Church so deemed. His faculties to say Mass, to hear Confessions, to preach and to publicly teach, all fell under lawful authority. He was to function as an extension of the Church and his bishop. Now he is claiming that such a promise of obedience conflicts with his “civil and human rights.” He should reflect more intensely upon the biblical scene where Jesus washed the feet of his apostles. The first must be last. He was called to be a servant, not the Master. Demanding large audiences and tens of thousands of dollars for talks is not the way of humble priests. The Pope could give him a lesson. We call the Holy Father the “Servant of the Servants of God.” This word “servant” can be translated as SLAVE. In any case, I guess Fr. Corapi wants his own version of freedom, but he will pay a terrible price for his alienation from the true Church.
FATHER CORAPI: I shall continue, black sheep that I am, to speak; and sheep dog that I am, to guard the sheep—this time around not just in the Church, but also in the entire world. I am, indeed, not ready to be extinguished. Under the name “The Black Sheep Dog,” I shall be with you through radio broadcasts and writing.
FATHER JOE: The sheep dog has no occupation separated from the chief shepherd or bishop. A dog that runs after the sheep on its own is not a true sheep dog, but rather we use another name for that canine… we call him a wolf. If people leave the Church or attack our bishops over this scandal then I would suggest that Fr. Corapi change the name of his blog and new label to BLACK WOLF.
FATHER CORAPI: I hope you stay with us and follow us into our new domain and name of “The Black Sheep Dog.” Through writing and broadcasting we hope to continue to dispense truth and hope to a world so much in need of it.
FATHER JOE: Those who collaborate, defend and buy his products will be offering material support to a suspended priest. In other words, he will be making his sin, their own.
Dear Fr. Corapi, reconsider what you are planning to do. Speaking as a brother priest, (if I were in your shoes), before bringing spiritual harm to others and scandal to the Church, I would have preferred to “quietly lie down and die.” But in actuality, the Church is not asking you to do this. We want you to live and to offer oblations for God’s people. You are a priest and your prayers to heaven have power even if they are said from a lonely monastic cell. You do not have to shout from the housetops to be a good priest. I know my words are critical and I might sound harsh, but I am thinking both of you and of your followers. We all make mistakes. We are all sinners. Sometimes we speak out of turn. We become frustrated and afraid. Old demons try to reclaim us under new guises. Be strong! Be a man! Be a priest! Be a faithful son of the Church, no matter what the personal cost.
The complete statement by Father Corapi is available on THE BLACK SHEEP DOG site.
CALLING BLACK SHEEP DOG BACK HOME
UPDATE
Joan Frawley Desmond writes a masterful and eye-opening article for the National Catholic Register (June 19) on the Fr. John Corapi scandal. Not only his fans, but his dear friend retired Bishop Rene Gracida were apparently duped by the famous media priest. Incardinated into the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), Fr. Gerard Sheehan, his religious superior, revealed that the process and investigation into possible misconduct was complicated by Fr. Corapi, himself. The priest had gone ahead and filed a civil suit against the former employee who accused him of sexual misconduct.
“When she left the company, she signed a contract that she would not reveal anything that happened to her while she was at Santa Cruz Media. Fr. Corapi paid her for this. Father was suing her for a breach of contract. In canon law, there can’t be any pressure on witnesses; they have to be completely free to speak. The investigation was compromised because of the pressure on the witnesses. There were other witnesses that also had signed non-disclosure agreements. The canon lawyers were in a difficult situation, and Father does have his civil rights and he decided to follow his legal counsel, which he had a right to do. We tried to continue the investigation without speaking to the principal witnesses.”
If innocent of wrongdoing, why did Fr. Corapi pay employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement? About what were they not supposed to speak? Evidently he did not like where things were going and so he sent SOLT in writing his resignation from “active ministry and religious life.” This brought the investigation to an end. This insures that no report will be published. Fr. Sheehan noted that he sent him a letter in return asking for confirmation.
As I suspected, the society was offering him ways to save his priesthood and he decided not to do so. He refused to leave Montana and live within a SOLT community. He refused to meet or talk with his superior. He refused to live according to their rule of life and the changes approved by the Holy Father. It seems that his failure at obedience went far deeper than anyone could have imagined. He maligned a Church that was very patient and fair with him. He cast himself as the victim while orchestrating something entirely different behind the scenes. It makes me want to weep and weep and weep.
His superior stated:
“We wanted him to come back to the community, and that would have meant leaving everything he has. It would have been a drastic change for him. We will continue to move pastorally and charitably, taking steps to protect his good name.”
His autobiography, BLACK SHEEP DOG, was in the works for some time which indicates that this break from ministry as a priest was planned all along.
I mentioned earlier that this business brings into question the oversight or lack therefore over members by such societies. Why was Fr. Corapi not living in conformity with SOLT’s 1994 constitution? There is no good answer, except that the society looked the other way. Fr. Sheehan assures us that the rules will be enforced in the future:
“The founder’s arrangement with Father Corapi was established before that time, when Father Flanagan believed that every mission should take care of its own needs. Now, according to our constitution, a different way of life has been established for members. All the money we make is turned over to the society, which gives us an allowance.”
I also mentioned months ago on FACEBOOK that while his home and operations were in the Helena diocese, he had no faculties from the bishop to engage in ministry there. This shows the depth of his free reign and lack of ecclesial supervision. All the Church is insisting upon now is what should have been in place initially. Despite what Fr. Corapi says against the bishop of Corpus Christi, the official diocesan news release stated “that SOLT authorities had initiated the action to temporarily remove him from active ministry.”
I suspect that Father (Mister?) Corapi will have a spin on these new revelations, with an appropriate marketing pitch for his media products and books. This tragedy may make a cynic of me yet. But I hope not, such is also not befitting a priest.
A PRAYER FOR FR. CORAPI
I have offered Mass and prayed for Father. There is a frenzy about this subject that I did not really anticipate and which makes me uncomfortable. We really need to love him. If he has disappointed us, we need to forgive him, too. Below is a prayer I will share with you. I sometimes compose my prayers and will be saying this regularly on his behalf. God bless you all!
Dear Heavenly Father,
We want to bring to you in prayer our beloved priest, Father John Corapi. It is hard to know what is going on and our trust has been sorely tried.
He has inspired us with his example of reform and instructed us with his sound Catholic teaching. He has proclaimed the Gospel without equivocation or apology. He quickly became a rock of truth in a world filled with compromise and deception. He defended the rights of the unborn when so many were silent. While the Church was rocked with scandals involving the clergy, here was a towering figure that seemed to epitomize both real manhood and priestly courage. We listened to him on the radio and watched him on television. While a few saw him in person, most of us came to know and to love him through the modern communications media. Millions had the opportunity to encounter him, and through him, the Christ whose kingdom is breaking into the world.
We desperately wanted him to be a saint and yet he himself reminded us again and again that like all the rest of us, he was a sinner. We all fall short of the glory of God. Today, however, he faces a serious personal trial and perilous choices. Many of his friends have abandoned him. Others deride him with no regard for his priestly dignity and all the good work he accomplished in your name. Still others seek to defend him by defaming the Church he has always loved.
The facts are becoming clearer, but we do not know what is going though his heart and mind. If he is angry, please Lord— grant him the gift of a tranquil heart and the patience to endure all things for Christ Crucified. If he is fearful, please Lord— let him know that you are with him and that he need not be afraid. Many temptations face us all, but priests in particular face the worse assaults of the devil. If he has fallen, pick him up. If he remains standing, then give him the courage to embrace humility and truth in the coming storm. Even brave men sometimes need a greater share of courage. Do not allow him to run away from his high calling. He participates in the high priesthood of Christ; there is no more crucial vocation. Let him know that even if he should be reduced to poverty and have to minister alone in prayer or to the smallest congregation, that the oblations of such a priest still have infinite meaning and power.
Promises are made to be kept. Father often spoke about this in regard to the sanctity and dignity of the marriage covenant. He made promises as well— to be a servant of all by embracing a life of celibate love and of obedience to the voice of Jesus in the bishops and his superiors. Preserve him in your grace and defend him against the sins that afflict him, particularly that of pride and of despair. As long as there is the breath of life, there is hope. Let him embrace this hope and put on the mind and the heart of Christ in the Church.
When it seems that a great defender of the Church is suddenly in an adversarial relationship with her, it is easy to see that something has gone terribly wrong. It is our prayer that this beloved priest will surrender his life and his work, all that he is and all that he has done, into the loving arms of the Church over which the Blessed Mother gives the protection of her mantel of mercy. Dear Lord, we know you are not finished with him yet; but we also know that no service to you can be authentic and fruitful if there is a denial of his priestly office. Help him to see this and to know the graces that will testify to your truth and glory.
Amen.
Filed under: Bishops, Catholic, Church, Corapi, Evangelization, Faith, Priests |
Blogger Priest 
Obviously from day one, Corapi (and to put it nicely) did NOT understand “what a priest is”…..when he speaks about his “conversion”, and accepting his mom’s invitation to go to confession “I wasn’t going to go to just ANY priest” and so he HAD to make his way to the Shrine of the N.A. martyrs in AURIESVILLE, NY. Obviously, he had chosen to “play the martyr” since day one. Yes. This is a true CULT. I wrote to Bishop Mulvey early on in this fiasco and was astounded at the genuine, logical, sincere, intelligent and compassionate response he sent me. Was Corapi speaking to souls? or a TV and radio audience composed of many who were “missing” something in life and he decided to fit the bill and become their Messiah. It was Never about Christ. Nor was it about anything re: the Blessed Mother of God who does, in fact, NOT wear ‘army boots”.
This is an excellent analysis Father. Thank you for your wisdom.
A Bishop’s thoughts on the situation:
“I believe that he is justified in not seeking to clear his name through a canonical process; at the present time such processes are very flawed in most dioceses. Rather I would like to believe that he intends to try to clear his name through the civil courts. Since I believe that his accuser is a former manager of his media company who he terminated with some kind termination agreement, and since she has evidently sought revenge for her termination by writing to the Bishop of Corpus Christi denouncing Father John, I believe that it is possible for him to do so and I wish him every success in such an endeavor. The basis for his lawsuit would probably be defamation of character, libel, extortion, breech of contract, or whatever…” – Bishop Gracida
Continued at the Bishop’s blog: http://abyssum.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/a-few-thoughts-on-father-corapis-announcement-yesterday/
Dear Father,
I did not think what ex-Father Corapi was doing seemed correct. I have a question, when he was making money for speaking did the Church profit in any way?
The reason is I read somewhere and I may be wrong that he had to defend himself by his own means.
I am curious if a non parish priest is accused do they and their community have to defend and foot the bills.
I guess what I am trying to figure out has he always been a lone wolf, speaking for the Church but keeping the money would kind of suggest a sense of independence from Mother Church. If the Church profited from his talks and then does not help to defend him, I am confused on how that is correct.
this question is not well written but did the Church try to help him from getting too big for his britches before he was accused.
I am praying he is innocent. The whole scandal of all the priest with lay people just breaks my heart. I do thank you for letting us know that such a priest cannot preach, teach, or perform any other related duties to the priesthood . I never knew that.
Father on the whole a very objective, balanced analysis. But, and there’s always a but
That is hardly the image of a tough former Special Forces military man. (But wait, we found that this part of his biography was a fabrication.
I just read on John Corapi’s website that he trained to be in the Special Forces but injured his shoulder and couldn’t go into combat with the rest of the men, who were all killed. The biography than goes on to say that he was a clerk, typist. I thought that Mark Shea’s words were just spittle flecked text. Not very objective and rational for a person with hundreds of followers who might follow his lead.
I thought that
Once a priest, always a priest. I am truly disgusted by the lack of support for priests by other priests. It happens in this diocese…nothing but backstabbing by the priests and we are called to NEVER EVER talk bad about a priest, and here you are, Father Joe, speaking horribly about a fellow priest. The politics in the Catholic Church are getting worse and worse. It is no wonder the separation between church and state. Guilty until proven innocent and not even being able to know the accusation???
I refuse to give the devil any credit because that’s what the devil wants. WE make our choices. I, also, understand that the two virtues that must be practiced to become a saint are humility and obedience. I am an OCDS, and all I am seeing lately is the church getting rid of the good men and women of the church. It makes me absolutely sick. I will NOT say one way or the other how Father Corapi was behaving because I do not know and neither does anyone else so SHAME on anyone who even dares to speak poorly about this man of God who has taught so much on the Catechism and helped so many to understand and LOVE the church more deeply, the church’s beliefs and MOST OF ALL why the Church has these rules/guidelines set in place for their parishioners. I will be praying for all priests, bishops, and the Pope involved in this situation.
Fr. Joe, though I do agree with some of what you have said, I do not like the fact that you talk poorly about such a man of God, as well. You will be in my prayers, also. Although you may have good intentions, that which bothered me most about your comments were all of the condescending remarks about Fr. Corapi… [deleted]. You speak of saving the church, do not insult another priest. His title may not be there, but as I said in the beginning, once a priest, always a priest. I will fight for the Catholic Church. The destructive politics have got to stop before we lose more good men and women.
Servant, on June 19, 2011 at 11:15 pm said:
You know what? With all due respect, you know nothing. You’re just murdering this man – taking his words and crucifying him. You know NOTHING. You have never experienced this before. You see Satan attack a man and then you join Satan in the melee. You are completely without any wisdom at all. You’re guilty of acting on ignorance. You would rather kill a man than show compassion. SHAME! You are simply being a crude man. Shame on you!
FATHER JOE: I am murdering no one, just giving an analysis of the disconnect between what a priest is supposed to be and this latest statement from Fr. Corapi. I have posted your comment precisely because it is illustrative of the problem. Fans have a greater loyalty to this man than to the Church. I am praying for him and hoping that he reconsiders what he is doing.
Robyn: @Servent, with all due respect I have to say your comment was way off base and completely uncalled for . While I to love Father Corapi very much I do agree with Father Joe’s reply to you.. Comments like yours are what has led me to leave certain pages on faceBook because it’s becoming an “Us vs Them” atmosphere and I for one and not against the church which I love very deeply…Division is not what is needed here. Prayer is..
I think you are right, Father. Fr. Corapi preached obedience to superiors in the Church and to Church teaching, and this is exactly where his greatest failure lies. His fame and former habits, difficult to overcome may have led to his ego convincing him he was above obeying orders.
IF he lived what he preached, even if he were falsely accused, he would “open not his mouth” as Our Lord did, and offer his suffering up for the salvation of souls. Many great saints have done so, and have brought great glory to the Church. Let’s pray that Fr Corapi may remember that, live in submission to his superiors, and trust the Lord to deliver justice in the end.
Dear Father Corapi,
If you happen to read this. I do believe you are innocent of the charges, but I have to wonder if you did not suffer a temptation similar to that of St. John Vianney. It is not temptation to open and obvious sin, but as an “angel of light” that the devil has the most success with the good. St. John Vianney was tempted to leave his Parish and go off to a Monastery, where he could live a life of penance and contemplation – the “greater part”. Great Saint that he was, nevertheless, he fell for this temptation – not once, but three times!
With all the struggles that come with being a Priest today, and the seemingly unjust persecution by those in authority, the devil would likely tempt you by saying: “God has given you a talent for preaching, and the world needs to hear the truth today! If the Church does not want your services, take that as the will of God. With no hard feelings or bitterness of heart, simply leave the Priesthood and serve God in the capacity of a layman. Think of this as a positive, rather than a negative. Consider all the good you could do to save souls using your gift of preaching and teaching without the shackles that come with being a Priest. In fact, you could broaden your audience to those outside the Church and do even more good than before. The will of God is being manifested to you by this unjust action. Take it for what it is. All things have their season; only God remains the same. Take this as God’s Will that you leave the Priesthood, and you will reap a greater harvest.”
That would be an enticing temptation for someone with the preaching talent that you possess, and who is fed up with being unjustly persecuted.
But let us not forget that our first duty is to save our own soul, not that of others. What if it was God’s will for you to leave the spot light for a time, in order to attend to contemplation? After all contemplation is “the greater part”; while the active life carries with it many dangers, especially those of pride, which we all suffer from to a degree. St. Thomas teaches that the Preacher should be in the Unative state before he preaches to others, since “we can’t give what we don’t have”. Maybe God, who often writes straight with crooked lines, and who can draw good out of evil (such as unjust persecution and suspension) was planning to use this act of unjustice as the means by which He would draw you up higher – closer to Himself – so that your natural talents, divinized by the fire of divine charity, would shine brighter still, and produce fruits that would not be possible – even for someone of your talent – without the perfection of the Unative state?
Is this what the devil feared? With his angelic intellect, did he foresee what would become of you after being raised to the heights of perfect charity? I suspect this is precisely what happened. Seeing you distraught by a false accusation, and being persecuted by those in the hierarchy, he saw his opportunity. He struck and, at least momentarily, he succeeded, just as he did with the great Cure of Ars. Let this victory be short lived, and see the unjust persecution as your chance to draw closer to God, Who will make the truth of your innocence known at the right time. The Age of Mary, which will bring the current Age of Apostasy (the 5th Age of the Church) to an end, and usher in the restoration of the Church, “when the moon will shine as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven-fold”, is likely right around the corner. Is it for the coming Age of Mary that God willed to prepare you, by drawing you close to Himself through the contemplative life, so that your natural talents, once divinized with perfect charity, would be able to reap for him a harvest of souls that makes your former fruits seem as naught?
Father, I think this unjust trail was the consequent will of God for you, Who was planning to use it for His greater glory and your further sanctification. He was planning to lead you, through “the greater part”, to a higher degree of sanctity. The devil realized this and he struck. He’s had his short victory, but let him not have the last laugh.
This whole case is very sad and shows how important it is to pray for priests.
When I read the statement on his website, it bothered me that he used it as an opportunity to promote his new book–his autobiography, no less. That would at least suggest a touch of ego. I’m not trying to judge him by saying that, but I am suspicious of priests like Corapi and also the sad case of Fr Cutie, who seem to thrive on media attention to themselves.
You know what? With all due respect, you know nothing. You’re just murdering this man – taking his words and crucifying him. You know NOTHING. You have never experienced this before. You see Satan attack a man and then you join Satan in the melee. You are completely without any wisdom at all. You’re guilty of acting on ignorance. You would rather kill a man than show compassion. SHAME! You are simply being a crude man. Shame on you!
Father Joe, as to your comment
FATHER JOE:The process for a priest charged with misconduct does have a definite structure, but as the late Cardinal-priest Avery Dulles reminded his fellow bishops, we have yet to find a way to properly protect the priest’s basic rights and his dignity.
Robyn: Don’t you think this should be a priority and why has nothing been done to rectify this? Surely there has been enough years since the sex scandal in the church broke to figure this out. While I realize it is important to protect the alleged victims right and dignity why has the priest in all these years not been given the proper definite structure? There’s something very wrong with that.
As to the priest who is an innocent man that has been in prison for the last 17 years fighting to get out and be vindicated, his name is Father Gordon MacRae and you can read everything about him and the case and how it was handled or should I say not handled at http://www.thesestonewalls.com I hope you will venture over there and look at the entire site and read all the documents etc ..
I am having a problem with the Bishops and not the Catholic church. Fr Caropi has been judged, and hung out to dry with out a trial. Really? There have been some wonderful saints in the Catholic church that have been totally misunderstood in their life time and after death the the truth was uncovered. I would also remind people that Satan must have his hand in this and I ask people not to judge him at all, it will be your turn to be judged one day and not to judge with out knowing the facts.
It was incredibly refreshing to read this, Father. You are doing what a true shepherd does: protecting the flock against the wolves (many seem to be wearing the sheep’s clothing these days, that’s for sure).
Thank you for some common sense and a reality check.
Thank you, Father Joseph. Your words are light and truth. Thank you.
Fr. Joe,
While I do truly love Fr. Corapi and do wish with all my heart that he would stay within the priesthood and do whatever he has to do to get through this there is one thing you as a priest must admit. The so called “process” for which an accused priest must go through is a mess, has no structure and for all intents and purposes deems the priest guilty until proven innocent. That is flat out wrong and if someone one or more than one does not stand up and reveal this wrong doing then how will it ever be made right? I was just reading about another priest who has been in prison for almost 17 YEARS. He too is innocent and his diocese for lack of a better word dumped him with no support whatsoever, threw him under the bus and has left him to rot in prison and he has done nothing wrong.. So what is the answer?
I agree with the vow of obedience but on the other hand something needs to be done with this horrible way that accused priests are treated. As it currently stands now, a priest does not stand a chance once he is accused. Do you have a post about that? If so, I would love to read it.
Very well stated and answered a lot of questions for this cradle to grave devout Roman Catholic. I will pray for his soul and the souls of all who may be at risk in any way through this whole incident.
I share your concern Father. I personally have broken all ties with him and his new questionable venture.
However, I am at a moral loss for how to answer people who ask me what they should do. You take the position that “those who collaborate, defend and buy his products will be offering material support to a suspended priest. In other words, he will be making his sin, their own.”
I agree that financially supporting him for the purpose of supporting him is wrong. I agree that open intellectual support of his decision to carry out this separate mission is wrong. It is not clear in my mind that buying his theology materials that are otherwise are in line with church teaching is de facto support of his “separate mission” and therefore sin. Could you please elaborate on this?
As a separate question, if this snowballs into even more grievous matters, what is the next step? Is it defrocking, excommunication or something else entirely?
regards, Charles B.
Many posters on FACEBOOK and the blogs are saying that they will stick with Fr. Corapi, no matter what. Please do not be manipulated.
Fr. Corapi has convicted himself and he knows it. He had been working on his book for awhile and one observer astutely noted that he no doubt planned this break. The original charges no longer matter. His statement will make it impossible to return to any public priestly ministry. By obedience, a priest is an extension of his superiors and the bishop. Disobedience and disrespect toward the authority of the Ordinary is a violation of his priestly promise. It does not matter if he has been treated fairly or not, and we know no details, he cannot preach or teach without ecclesiastical approval. He is not a layman. He must be judged as a priest and by the laws of the Church. He could possibly be laicized, but I doubt he would ever be permitted to teach religion or engage in ministry. He probably has money to hold him over for the rest of his life, but he would have to find a secular job and practice his faith quietly… not as a minister and not as the black sheep dog. Stick with Jesus and the Catholic Church, not with any renegade priest. I say all this with great sadness as a fellow Catholic priest.
Divine providence ultimately prevails but God is not the author of evil. Martin Luther fractured the Church and centuries later we still suffer from his defection. We can say yes or no to God in the particular situations we face. A priest is not a layman. He has vowed obedience to his superior. Without faculties, he cannot function. If he tries to do so… by saying Mass, preaching or publicly teaching religion (without permission), he commits mortal sin. Enabling such a person through encouragement to disobey or by material support (in talks, videos, audios, etc.) may make a person an accomplice in his grievous sin. We are disciples of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church, not to any charismatic preacher, no matter how beloved.
Thank you, Father.
Father Joe,
I agree with you sadly.Another priest corrupted by greed and pride. The enemy is hard at work to corrupt people especially priests and religious. No one person is greater than God. The fact that Corapi is a multimillionaire tells you that he worships the almighty dollar and the power he felt being on TV. May God have mercy on his soul
Fr. Joe,
You’ve spoken well.
This is not a happy time, but we must be vigilant. While we pray for Fr. Corapi, we dare not go whence he has, for the present, gone.
Dear Fr Joe,
Strange that Sr Lucia said that Our Lady warned that Priests should be very pure and that certain fashions would offend Our Blessed Lord, and I was only reading it the other day. We’ve had our share of wayward priests over here and celebritity and fame and power has been the weapon of Satan. He has even convinced some luke warm but otherwise good Catholics that he doesn’t exist, even some priests think that he is insignificant and underestimate his powers………….how wrong they are!
Thank you for your continuing strength, courage and forthrighteousness.
With love, Paul
Re: Comments on Father Corapi. You need to refresh yourself with The Epistle of Jude 9 and behave like a priest. Keep quiet and pray!
Father, very wise words, thank you.