Fr. Corapi placed on Administrative Leave Following Accusations

[dfp42]

I guess you can’t win to lose in this life, no matter who you are. The battle between good and evil, truth and lies. It will never be over until we get to heaven. This puts a cloud over trusting people no one can trust what people say anymore because what if… What if… What if…

 

[AnthonyJ]

I agree with you. We should pray for both Father Corapi and this woman and refrain from judging either one of them as none of us know the truth as of this time.

I can’t help but wonder how the posts would be different if this story had been about a priest that is not as well known as Fr Corapi.

There is a thread in the Spirituality forum were a poster complained about his pastor for owning a BMW and an iPhone and then gave other very vague reasons why he disliked this pastor. People jumped on the band wagon in denouncing this priest pretty quickly.

I also must say this. The Church and Fr Corapi’s religious community (SOLT) are in a no win situation. If they do as they have done and this shows to be false everyone will be quick in condemning them for their actions yet if this was not done and it came out to be true and there was other cases that occurred after this one was reported everyone would be quick to condemn the Church and the religious community for not doing anything after the first report.

Priesthood is not a right. No one has a right to be ordained, no one has a right to act as priest after they are ordained. There is a thing called obedience.

Fr Corapi did make this public, the Church and his religious community did not. We only have one side of the story, the Church and the religious community may not make a public statement, they surely will not give out the names of those involved due to privacy.

Someone asked what Fr Corapi could have done other than make this public? He could have kept silent. He could have stated that he was taking a leave. There is a lot he could have done only one of which is makeing this public.

Again, as I said, I will wait to see how this plays out but I will pray for all those involved.

 

[unafraid]

Last night, on EWTN, Fr. Corapi was still listed, but a program featuring an Irish Lenten retreat of some sort was offered instead.

They should have Fr. George Rutler (Christ in the City) replace Fr. Corapi in their programming, until this all plays out. It is the Lenten season, and EWTN needs to utilize the best resources they have available to them.

Fr. Rutler is the best they have, in my view, and now would be a great time to lean upon this brilliant, yet humble preacher of the faith.

May the Holy Spirit inspire those who control EWTN to be proactive in this circumstance and bring a great and inspiring priest to all of us who look to them during this Lenten Season for enlightened ministry: Fr. George Rutler.

We all pray for Fr. Corapi, but as he would be the first to say, “the battle wages on, and the forces of God cannot waste a moment”.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I think you make a valid point, but Fr. Corapi is still a human beings subject to the same failings as anyone else. I know for me injustice is the hardest thing to take. I do not know if I could have kept silent, even if I knew better.

I know. I do not know what I would do in such a situation but I think it is too soon to call this an injustice as we do not know the full truth as of yet.

My point in posting is that there were other options.

 

[Teelynn]

I can’t help but wonder how the posts would be different if this story had been about a priest that is not as well known as Fr Corapi.

There is a thread in the Spirituality forum were a poster complained about his pastor for owning a BMW and an iPhone and then gave other very vague reasons why he disliked this pastor. People jumped on the band wagon in denouncing this priest pretty quickly.

I also must say this. The Church and Fr Corapi’s religious community (SOLT) are in a no win situation. If they do as they have done and this shows to be false everyone will be quick in condemning them for their actions yet if this was not done and it came out to be true and there was other cases that occurred after this one was reported everyone would be quick to condemn the Church and the religious community for not doing anything after the first report.

Priesthood is not a right. No one has a right to be ordained, no one has a right to act as priest after they are ordained. There is a thing called obedience.

Fr Corapi did make this public, the Church and his religious community did not. We only have one side of the story, the Church and the religious community may not make a public statement, they surely will not give out the names of those involved due to privacy.

Someone asked what Fr Corapi could have done other than make this public? He could have kept silent. He could have stated that he was taking a leave. There is a lot he could have done only one of which is makeing this public.

Again, as I said, I will wait to see how this plays out but I will pray for all those involved.

The Fr. Corapi situation is apples and oranges compared to shuttling a priest around from parish to parish who is pretty well known to have been molesting children, IMHO. As I have pointed out earlier, the stance the Church has taken has gone from hiding priests out to now putting them on leave at the mere whiff of wrong doing. So, someone writes a few letters to a few Bishops and this is what automatically happens? Seriously? What kind of a damper does this put on young men going into the seminary? Anyone can accuse a priest of anything and this is what happens?
Satan is alive and well in his quest to bring down the Church of Christ. As Fr. himself has said on a number of occasions…“NO PRIESTS, NO EUCHARIST”.

As far as making this public or keeping silent, they tried that with Fr. Euteneuer and eventually that came out as well. People would not have been able to figure it out with Fr. Corapi? All kinds of speculation would have been floating around. I don’t see as he had much of a choice.

Yes, much prayer is needed, of that I will whole heartedly agree.

 

[ChadS]

I think Fr. Corapi being placed on administrative leave is just standard procedure and why shouldn’t it be? A lot of organizations like police departments do this “just in case” because the fallout of them leaving somebody in place while they are being investigated and if the charges turn out to have merit would be more damaging than preemptively removing the person. I don’t see it as a judgment of guilt on the part of his superiors. From what we know about the charges via Fr. Corapi is that a former employee accuses him of sexual impropriety. Those charges can be very serious since it include things like sexual harrassment, or improper superior/employee relations etc. Not only are these things sins and violations of his promises and vows, but they could also be illegal under civil law.

I, for one, am a little put off though by the tone of his message posted on the website. It seems to me he could’ve said so much more without having to mention the specifics of the charges and then seeming to imply that his superiors and bishops are acting inappropriately by asking him to take leave while the charges are being investigated, while hiding behind opinions of canon lawyers and other experts. In this scandal-ridden era the charges against him deserve to be investigated fully and shouldn’t be ignored or written off just because they don’t involve children.

I just hope and pray that these allegations are proven false. He’s a wonderful speaker and his messages have always been inspiring and full of wisdom.

ChadS

 

[maximus]

This is sad news and just hoping that this is a false accusation, because if it is true it will hurt the people he has touched with his preaching and the Church at large. My wife and I have attended events where he was a leading a mission for a fundraiser of a Catholic radio station in our area. It was always a great and uplifting experience, especially when it was held at the beautiful national shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown PA; he always filled the large church. My in-laws have also been to hear him a few times preaching and he is one of their favorite preachers. I was surprised to see that he has an almost rock star following; unfortunately this kind of popularity can expose someone to a lot of temptation. I will pray that this was just a false accusation, as I will pray for the little boy that Priest for Life have bought to this country.

It is becoming very tough to be a Catholic in this country and if this accusation is true the enemies of Christ and the Church will have quite a bit more salt to rub into our wounds and would discourage the faith of many. I find solace that I belong to a wonderful parish with holy priests and no matter if our world continues on its crazy path it is an oasis in a mad world.

God bless

 

[Holly3278]

I am praying for Fr. Corapi and for this entire situation.

 

[ac_claire]

I, for one, am a little put off though by the tone of his message posted on the website. It seems to me he could’ve said so much more without having to mention the specifics of the charges and then seeming to imply that his superiors and bishops are acting inappropriately by asking him to take leave while the charges are being investigated, while hiding behind opinions of canon lawyers and other experts. In this scandal-ridden era the charges against him deserve to be investigated fully and shouldn’t be ignored or written off just because they don’t involve children.

I don’t know of course, but I take to be like a pre-emptive strike. That’s how I took the whole message. Like, he KNEW that there were going to be leaks and whispers and ineuendo so might as well put it ALL out on the table. More honest that way. That’s kind of his style anyhow, if you’re familiar with him as a speaker you know?

BTW…so sorry for the *****-ed word in my earlier post. It really wasn’t THAT bad of a word, I just want y’all to know that lol. Didn’t know the CAF censors were so thorough but I guess it’s for the best.

 

[ChadS]

I don’t know of course, but I take to be like a pre-emptive strike. That’s how I took the whole message. Like, he KNEW that there were going to be leaks and whispers and ineuendo so might as well put it ALL out on the table. More honest that way. That’s kind of his style anyhow, if you’re familiar with him as a speaker you know?

BTW…so sorry for the *****-ed word in my earlier post. It really wasn’t THAT bad of a word, I just want y’all to know that lol. Didn’t know the CAF censors were so thorough but I guess it’s for the best.

Perhaps I have misread the intent of his letter, but it also seems to me that there comes a point where his style is better served in his preaching and not in handling this situation.

ChadS

 

[Teelynn]

I don’t know of course, but I take to be like a pre-emptive strike. That’s how I took the whole message. Like, he KNEW that there were going to be leaks and whispers and ineuendo so might as well put it ALL out on the table. More honest that way. That’s kind of his style anyhow, if you’re familiar with him as a speaker you know?

BTW…so sorry for the *****-ed word in my earlier post. It really wasn’t THAT bad of a word, I just want y’all to know that lol. Didn’t know the CAF censors were so thorough but I guess it’s for the best.

You hit the nail on the head…I have listened to him for a long time now and one thing you learn about him right off the bat…he calls it like it is. He is a no nonesense, no pulling any punches, no sugar coating kind of a Catholic preacher. This is his personality, that will not change with any situation you can be sure. He certainly is not going to try and hide something that will eventually come out anyway.

 

[miniquedoes]

It indeed is depressing to know that priest are judged differently than the rest of society. In my hometown a 29 year old woman is suing the Archdiocese claiming that a priest raped her as a child. She went public with allegations in the newspaper and tv about a month ago. This priest (whom I personally knew) died 7 years ago but yet this person is just now suing. How can this priest possibly defend himself? God Help Us!

 

[ac_claire]

Perhaps I have misread the intent of his letter, but it also seems to me that there comes a point where his style is better served in his preaching and not in handling this situation.

ChadS

I mean it’s the style of his personality, not just his preaching style. And if you know Fr. C’s stories, he’s gotten trouble for speaking his mind before. I believe he was kicked out of the first seminary he attended because he shed some light on liturgical abuses that were going on (mis-handling of the Holy Vessels for the Eucharist, I think it was.)

 

[RosalieM]

It indeed is depressing to know that priest are judged differently than the rest of society. In my hometown a 29 year old woman is suing the Archdiocese claiming that a priest raped her as a child. She went public with allegations in the newspaper and tv about a month ago. This priest (whom I personally knew) died 7 years ago but yet this person is just now suing. How can this priest possibly defend himself? God Help Us!

The same thing has happened in my parish. I mentioned it before on this thread then got bumped for making an analogy to secular law that was inappropriate. My apologies.
Our priest is being accused and is on administrative leave also and I learned that priests are indeed judged differently. The allegations are made by a woman as relates to over 30 years ago. Our priest has denied the charges “vehemently”. It seems actions are taken “just in case” and there is a need for strong transparency. The district attorney was notified.
I don’t believe it’s true mainly because I believe this priest would have owned up to such a thing; as would Fr. Corapi.
I’m praying for both the famous priest and our local priest.

 

[OrdinaryMelkite]

I personally tend to believe Corapi. From what I’ve seen of the man------NO “Blankety-Blank” Way.
But I agree----let’s wait until all the information comes out.

I do agree that it is not surprising the way he responded like he did. The man is a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is priest. Rather get it from his own lips than have vicious, innacurate innuendo be allowed to spread out about him.

The strange thing I wonder about is---------no other woman has come forward? The church is going to investigate this on the authority of ONE woman? Ok--------but what proof does she have that she and Corapi were having a relationship? How does she know about the other women? And did she see Corapi abusing drugs? Did she partake of them with him?
There is just a lot we do not know.
All we need right now is for the accuser to retain Gloria Allred and they would have a public press conference.

My opinion, of course.

Take it for what you will.

 

[typewriterman]

This all reminds me of Don McLean’s American Pie verse 5 wherein he sings “I saw Satan dancing with delight…”

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I personally tend to believe Corapi. From what I’ve seen of the man------NO “Blankety-Blank” Way.
But I agree----let’s wait until all the information comes out.

I do agree that it is not surprising the way he responded like he did. The man is a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is priest. Rather get it from his own lips than have vicious, innacurate innuendo be allowed to spread out about him.

The strange thing I wonder about is---------no other woman has come forward? The church is going to investigate this on the authority of ONE woman? Ok--------but what proof does she have that she and Corapi were having a relationship? How does she know about the other women? And did she see Corapi abusing drugs? Did she partake of them with him?
There is just a lot we do not know.
All we need right now is for the accuser to retain Gloria Allred and they would have a public press conference.

My opinion, of course.

Take it for what you will.

Again, we only know what we are told. We have been told by the accused that only one woman has come forward. One who worked with him.

Part of the investigation will be to see if there are any others out there. The accuser will not necessarily be told about them. He would find out about them during discovery if this is a court case, either civil or criminal, but if no charges are filed then he may not find out until the end of the investigation.

We do not have enough information to discuss the case intelligently.

 

[OrdinaryMelkite]

Again, we only know what we are told. We have been told by the accused that only one woman has come forward. One who worked with him.

Part of the investigation will be to see if there are any others out there. The accuser will not necessarily be told about them. He would find out about them during discovery if this is a court case, either civil or criminal, but if no charges are filed then he may not find out until the end of the investigation.

We do not have enough information to discuss the case intelligently.

I agree we should wait for all the facts to come out.

I just instinctively lean to this being not true.

Does not mean my instincts are right, of course. But I tend to trust them. But yes, wait and see.

 

[pnewton]

I know. I do not know what I would do in such a situation but I think it is too soon to call this an injustice as we do not know the full truth as of yet.

Absolutely, it is too soon and not our business. His behavior matches indignation at injustice, that is all. For sure Fr. Corapi knows the truth of the matter and does not need to wait to feel whatever emotion is appropriate for the situation.

 

[brumano]

With all of these attacks, scandals, accusations, etc…it is easy to become discouraged. But, our family has decided that now is a time for us to become more focused on the core truths of our faith, focusing on the sacraments, and leaning more heavily on the Rosary, to see us through these troubling times, where chaotic whirlwinds constantly swirl around the periphery of the Roman Catholic Church… We have decided to put the blinders on, so to speak, in order to focus more intently on Christ.

We found something from The Letter of Jude, in the “Exhortations” section which helped inspire us: “Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. On those who waver, have mercy; save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh”.

Excellent post.