Fr John Corapi has Announced in a Video Message that he is Leaving the Priesthood

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I think that the more good work a person does for the glory of God, the more Satan attacks. If the person does not recognise this, or is not sufficiently protected from the attacks, he/she can begin to believe the lies of the deceiver.

I think those who are most attacked are those who are doing the most for God. Therefore, when one of these falls, they fall hard.

THEREFORE, we, the faithful, must pray constantly for our priests and clergy. Every day. For those who are faithful, that they are given the graces to remain strong in their mission, and for those who have fallen away, that they can realise their error and return to the narrow path.

I am not making a judgement in the Fr. Corapi case, because I just can’t figure it out, but if he has indeed turned away from God and towards himself, that doesn’t mean that his previous work is worthless. Many people have been strengthened by his ministry and I hope they don’t feel that this means nothing now.
 
redrosetea said:
I have a friend that met him, and said hoe kind he was to her ,and how much better she felt after she had a talk with him,about issues that were troubling to her…He has many fine qualities, and kindness is a virtue

I think you can have an negative impression about someone, in certain areas, and it doesn’t mean if you see a smudge or 2 you think they are bad, or guilty of anything major…We all have faults, me included/QUOT

I know what you mean about us all having faults i have some myself that I will not discuss on this forum and you are right he does have many fine qualities thank you for your positive response. I was really getting upset when I was reading negative ones from other people and that is why I felt like I need to post about the positive experience that I had with him.
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I, too am saddened about the recent events w/ Fr. John Corapi.

Prayers for Fr. John Corapi
 
FrJack said:
This is a sad situation in so many ways.
Much of what is said here and elsewhere in some Catholic blogs is not helpful in any way.
What is needed, in my opinion, is prayer and silence.
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You are right He needs our prayers, but I think this is a blow to those of us that like him and it is understandable to vent about our confusion ,and sadness in the matter…It is quite a disappointment to his followers

I hope no one is smug about any of this…Fr has served the church well ,and I am sure brought many souls to God…I hope he can continue to serve the church in other ways…we have pastors who came in ,and couldn’t become priests but they still have proved a valuable asset to the church…Perhaps he can too
 
thequeen said:
redrosetea;8014379:
I have a friend that met him, and said hoe kind he was to her ,and how much better she felt after she had a talk with him,about issues that were troubling to her…He has many fine qualities, and kindness is a virtue

I think you can have an negative impression about someone, in certain areas, and it doesn’t mean if you see a smudge or 2 you think they are bad, or guilty of anything major…We all have faults, me included[/QUOT

I know what you mean about us all having faults i have some myself that I will not discuss on this forum and you are right he does have many fine qualities thank you for your positive response. I was really getting upset when I was reading negative ones from other people and that is why I felt like I need to post about the positive experience that I had with him.
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Why do you get upset about it the queen post number 172 when you had one confession with him where he did not touch you inapropriately? As if that is an indicator of anything.
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To lose another priest is the greatest sadness…😦

Some have said how ego centric he is…well, I believe St Paul bragged alot about his miseries and persecutions. And this is in the bible. God calls everyone different. Maybe reading/hearing about other peoples’ miseries gives us courage to continue in our own…

There are just no other words…😦
 
thequeen said:
Whatever the outcome of any kind of investigation I wish Father Corapi nothing but the best and I just want to say to those people on here who had some not so nice things to say that he was nothing but kind and very humble when he heard my confession at a talk he gave when I was in New York a few years ago and I for one do not believe anything bad about him I say this because the room where he heard my confession was away from people and he could of easily tried something inappropriate in that area because no one would have seen but not once did he look or touch me in a way that was not fatherly He placed his hand on my shoulder when he gave me absolution and it was no different than a father reaching out to give his daughter a loving touch that was totally appropriate. I will always have a great respect for him.
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I dont think its so much that some want to say not so nice things as what I have heard expressed for the most part is genuine concern for someone who is obviously in crisis that he makes the best decision for the salvation of his soul and for the good of the Church.
 
NewEnglandPries said:
  1. The process was essentially 3 months old. To give up this early seems a bit odd. He wasn’t accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. Even if he was found guilty of consensual sexual relations with an adult woman that wouldn’t necessarily mean he would be kicked out of ministry.
  2. According to the NCReg , Father Gerard Sheehan, regional priest-servant of SOLT
    stated that if he had simply agreed not to sue his accuser the process could have moved forward but he refused to do that. I’d like to think that clearing my name and continuing with my vocation would be more important to me than a civil suit against my accuser.
  3. Fr. Corapi seems to have made the wrong move at every turn. His initial press release was awkward. Then his company started spilling details about the incident. Then he claimed the process was canonically illicit (did he ever appeal it?) and yet it continued on. And now he’s making a claim the woman tried to extort him, is an alcoholic, and mentally unstable. He spends way too much time attacking his accuser and also all the bishops. Strange.
  4. What happened to him happens to many people in public positions (police, firefighters, teachers, etc). When there’s an accusation they get suspended until there’s a resolution. He could have offered it up to be in union with them.
  5. He spends a lot of time saying that the Church has abandoned him. Yet he never experienced any financial hardship because of those situations. Yes, he had to pay out 1000’s of dollars in legal fees for certain situations. But he also personally profits from his own media company and sits on a multimillion dollar settlement from years ago. Most priests, especially religious, don’t have those resources. If the Church didn’t pay his legal fees its because there’s not a giant bottomless bucket of money and the Church only helps those who truly need it.
    He claims he’s spend over $300,000 defending himself, I would question that but at the same time, he still never appeared to be hurting for money so its ultimately irrelevant.
  6. He seems to make all of this about him. And that seems to be a pattern with him. Peppered into many of his talks/writings it seems that there’s people persecuting him at every turn throughout his entire priesthood. A little dramatic for me.
    Despite what he thinks, even this process is ultimately not about him. Its about a consistent system that is able to make credible judgments, it doesn’t all change because he thinks everyone should presume his innocence.
    And the music at the end, imho, is rather narcissistic.
  7. His challenge to take a drug test for cocaine is laughable. For someone who wants to bask in the public glow, he sure is sensitive to internet slights.
  8. And finally, the graphics on his video and blog creep me out. Not that that matters, but still…
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Thank you Father. I can’t know if you are a priest but your posts show grace and temprance that speak to me of the priesthood.
 
thequeen said:
Whatever the outcome of any kind of investigation I wish Father Corapi nothing but the best and I just want to say to those people on here who had some not so nice things to say that he was nothing but kind and very humble when he heard my confession at a talk he gave when I was in New York a few years ago and I for one do not believe anything bad about him I say this because the room where he heard my confession was away from people and he could of easily tried something inappropriate in that area because no one would have seen but not once did he look or touch me in a way that was not fatherly He placed his hand on my shoulder when he gave me absolution and it was no different than a father reaching out to give his daughter a loving touch that was totally appropriate. I will always have a great respect for him.
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I am NOT saying Fr. Corapi is guilty of any sexual misconduct. That said, the example you gave is proof of nothing. I think some people are lucky in life and have had life experiences that show just how much you can think a person is one way and then find out they are clearly not. I am speaking in general now not specifically about Fr. Corapi because no facts have been proven about the allegation.

One example in my life is a man I knew growing up. By all exterior appearances he was a fine, upstanding man. There was/is nothing about his demeanor, appearance, public actions that ever gave rise to a hint of suspicion that there was anything perverse or sinister about this man. But behind closed doors he was molesting a friend of mind, he owned child pornography.

Sadly as with many sexual abuse cases the family sweeps it under the rug. To this day people who don’t know what happen would never guess I guarantee you. In fact a sad, ironic thing is this man and his brother-in-law assisted at school activities together as their wives are sisters and have nieces in the school. The brother-in-law is a more affectionate man and would put his arm on a child’s shoulder for example and a mother actually complained that she didn’t want her daughter around him because she felt his behavior was inappropriate and basically implied he was a child molester. The crazy thing was the brother-in-law was not but the man who also volunteered along side him whom this mother also knew had in the past molested. (Although wasn’t going after any children at the school). She never suspected the man who had in fact molested in the past -yet thought she knew that the innocent man was guilty.

The moral of the story is you can’t tell. We had an incident at our parish where a visiting priest turned out to be not a priest at all. My husband had him in confession and said he very helpful and gave excellent advise. Yet this man stood before the altar and pretended to conduct the sacrifice of the Mass. People thought they were receiving the Eucharist and they were receiving wafers. People went to him for confession with no true protection of the seal of confession and no absolution. The man scandalized many and clearly knew he was deceiving yet he could behave as kind and helpful.

You can not tell, believe me. You can not use your personal experience that it didn’t happen to you meaning it couldn’t have happened to anyone else. I am not saying Fr. Corapi did anything inappropriate with woman just that one person’s experience is not proof of innocence.
 
Elizabeth502 said:
Well my Wow is meant with admiration and belief. God bless that bishop who is supporting him and who is the one who urged Corapi to initiate a defamation suit.

There is nothing that was spoken in that excerpt that could be construed as being anti-Church. He is honest, however, about “certain” bishops (which he did not name) who made a precipitous decision to destroy him without proof and without a complete investigation. He specifically enjoined his listeners to “obey and love your bishops.” He didn’t say start a rebellion; he didn’t name names or defame others as he has been defamed. My understanding is that accusers can always remain anonymous, so that would apply to the “alcoholic couple” he referred to.

He also reminded listeners that very little of his cumulative duties have been involved in administering sacraments, and that preaching of the various kinds he has done is not “technically ministry.”

I actually respect him even more now.
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He is scandalizing the Church. He is setting himself above the Church. He’s engaging in revealing the sins of another person, perhaps even breaking the seal of confession if any of this was revealed to him in the sacrament. There is no room for disobedience to the bishop. There has been no verdict rendered, only vague statements that his canonical lawyer has supposedly thrown in the towel. Well, let’s hear from his canon lawyer! Lawyers love to get in front of the camera. I want to know what canon lawyer told John Corapi that the system is hopelessly stacked against him.
 
I think that this situation with Fr. Corapi is very complicated, and we don’t really have all of the information that would be needed to thoroughly understand it. I’m not sure that we have a right to know everything about it, anyway.

In listening to the MP3 talk, it sounds to me as if Fr. Corapi is depressed, and suffering. I hope that it doesn’t go against forum rules to say this, since it’s just speculation. But I’ve listened to many of Father’s talks, and his voice sounds very different. Those who know his life story will know that he has suffered from serious depression in the past, before his reversion. Please pray that our Blessed Mother will hold him close to her and guide him to right reason.
 
An answer to prayers?

It seems as though Father Corapi is no longer leaving the priesthood according to a post on his page under Twitter Update:

“Please love the Church. You follow the Church. I am not against the Church, I am still a priest, just not ministering publicly.” (12 hours ago). theblacksheepdog.us/

So, he will leave SOLT but not the priesthood. It’s what I gather.
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
Well, if a BLOGGER noted it, must be gospel truth. 😉
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As I already posted, I didn’t substantiate their statement. I took it at face value, having not followed the controversy from the beginning. It was an error on my part, but I can’t delete my post.
 
Elizabeth502 said:
“Odd” that he had tried for years to help the woman out of her alcoholism? (That’s what he meant.)

Yeah, mighty un-Christian of him. :rolleyes:
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Clearly, I never said it was odd of him to help the woman. I’m not sure where you got that impression.
 
tm30 said:
He is scandalizing the Church. He is setting himself above the Church. He’s engaging in revealing the sins of another person, perhaps even breaking the seal of confession if any of this was revealed to him in the sacrament. There is no room for disobedience to the bishop. There has been no verdict rendered, only vague statements that his canonical lawyer has supposedly thrown in the towel. Well, let’s hear from his canon lawyer! Lawyers love to get in front of the camera. I want to know what canon lawyer told John Corapi that the system is hopelessly stacked against him.
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You are going a bit far here. There is certainly no evidence that John Corapi has broken the seal of the confessional.

He may have made some bad decisions but to suggest that he has done such an evil act is not called for.
 
It seems many of you are as deeply affected by this as I am. I am sincerely worried about the division and acrimony between so many in the Catholic Church as a result of Fr.'s actions, the videos, the bitterness…

I am truly worried for the Church in the short term (in the long term, I trust in the truth that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church). I sense a darkness upon us right now, and I feel the need to share with others and discuss, even if there will be some strife and possibly uncharitable talk, speculation, etc. I am normally quite home bound with virtually no Catholic friends, much less ones that watch EWTN and know about Fr. Corapi. Therefore, I am not able to get out my thoughts about this with others and the darkness festers.

That said, it appears from the frequent admonitions from the moderators, that this thread may not stand, Others have previously been taken down. If anyone else feels the need to share and vent, I recommend googling “John Corapi Black Sheep Dog” and you will find many fine and devout apologist blogs which are not so tightly moderated. I like Elizabeth “The Anchoress” and Jimmy Aikin, as well as a Deacon K. (sorry I can’t remember the whole name - I usually visit his blog from Elizabeth’s.

Many of the bloggers also invite private emails and will respond and share, offer other bloggers including priests’ and bishops’ blogs that offer prayer and scripture regarding the topic.

I am afraid to post my own views here as I do treasure this venue and don’t want to risk can’t sanctioned by a moderator if I slip up.

Please pray for Mother Angelica and EWTN - I’m sure this is a great arrow in her heart. Fr. built his fame on her website and now so many of his followers are declaring they will stop watching and donating.
 
I was a fan -with reservations- of Father Corapi; and, I am bitterly disappointed in his fall. Especially his abrogating his vow of Obedience to his order.
However, I think that what everyone is missing, is that since this whole thing started Father Corapi has been fighting to save his very prosperous business.
Like many protestant evangelists, Father Corapi built his evangelism into a major, very profitable business. Just look at what his firm Santa Cruz sells his tapes and CD’s etc for. The various live missions and other sermons are also not free. Seats for his recent extravaganza in Newark N.J. ranged from $35 to $95 a seat- double or triple those prices if on got the tickets from a ticket service. Granted, it was supposed to be a benefit for Catholic Radio in New Jersey, but I’ll bet a very large percentage of the net went to Father Corapi’s staff.
With due respect for the magnificant work Father Corapi did, it seems that everyone has forgotton a basic fact of our religion: All of the great preachers and evangelists in our history, such as St. Francis of Assisi, St Thomas Aquinas, St Ignatius Loyola and St Francis Xavier all preached and taught without receiving monetary compensation. One could obtain copies of Bishop Fulton Sheens sermons and TV scripts during his lifetime for free. In particular, I find comparisons with Father Corapi to Blessed Father Pio somewhat offensive, because Blessed Pio completely eschewed compensation of any kind and did not actively seek publicity of any kind.
 
Please love the Church. You follow the Church. I am not against the Church, I am still a priest, just not ministering publicly. - Fr. John Corapi twitter update.
 
I think the confusion over him leaving the priesthood was the SOLT statement yesterday. They said :

The SOLT is deeply saddened that Father Corapi is suffering distress. The SOLT is further saddened by Father Corapi’s response to these allegations. The SOLT will do all within its power to assist Father Corapi if he desires to seek a dispensation from his rights and obligations as a priest and as a professed member of the SOLT. We request your prayers and the intercession of the Blessed Mother for the healing of Father Corapi and for any who have been negatively affected by Father Corapi’s decision to end his ministry as a priest and a member of the SOLT.

I think they know it’s coming because of his statements to them about being unhappy for a few years. It does seem an intelligent conclusion, if he isn’t functioning as a priest, he’s not a priest in his eyes. I suppose it could cause, in some ways, less scandal, if he decided to do certain things, NOT being a priest. But sad…
They continued:

"In the midst of the investigation, the SOLT received a letter from Father Corapi, dated June 3, 2011, indicating that, because of the physical, emotional and spiritual distress he has endured over the past few years, he could no longer continue to function as a priest or a member of the SOLT. Although the investigation was in progress, the SOLT had not arrived at any conclusion as to the credibility of the allegations under investigation. "

Read more: ncregister.com/solts-superior-speaks.html#ixzz1Pu43Jfev
 
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