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

[tomarin]

I can’t help but wonder whether we’ll ever get to the bottom of what happened here.

 

[Abba]

Father Corapi will always be a priest. This we know. I am really sad to learn the outcome of the situation. I understand that many people that are familiar with Father Corapi are sad too. We need to pray for our priests because they are under attack.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, hear the prayers we offer for our priests. Let them know clearly the work that You are calling them to do. Grant them every grace to answer Your call with courage, love, and lasting dedication to Your will.

We ask Mary’s intercession as their loving mother.

Amen.

This said, I do not agree with the approach to this situation that many have taken, such as attempting to silence those who wish to express ‘concerns’ that are contrary to those who admittedly are deeply hurt by the outcome. I think we are all hurt by this situation, followers, fanatics and non followers or audience of Father Corapi. In my estimation, it is a sad day for the Catholic Church in America.

However, I refuse to be silent or intimidated by the people who may even leave the Catholic Church to follow Father Corapi. I saw the video released by Father Corapi on YouTube and I can freely react and respond to it. My response is that I think it would have been much better for Father Corapi to have followed the example of Saint and Father Pio or if he did indeed fall under temptation to accept the invitation to live in the community of SOLS and simply repent and follow the guidance of his Bishop. Afterall, we are all sinners and can fall.

My fifteen year old son was just standing by me as I watched the video on YouTube and asked me what I was watching. I took the time to explain to him what has happened as he is very familiar with Father Corapi’s broadcast on EWTN. I told my son that I was going to post on CAF regarding Father Corapi and after I would prepare a dish he requested. Of course, my son was hurt by the news - he lowered his head. He asked; you mean the bold headed priest? I told him yes and followed by explaining that if indeed the accusations are true, he must understand and keep in mind that all the priests and the Pope just like the laity can sin. They are not robots of Our Lord, they have free will. He made a comment I wish to share here. He said; "Mom, tell them that Father should not defy the laws of the Church. He can affect so many people and even more so he should be responsible. If he really loves the Church and wants to do the best for it. Tell them about Socrates, Socrates accepted death because he refused to defy the authority of Athens. He said that the society that was accusing him was the society that made him and raised his sons. For the good of all, he accepted what indeed was an unjust accusation from people who were ignorant. "

What for my part I want to say is that I am not so quickly going to accept that the Bishops are possessed and guided by demons who are out to get and bring down Father Corapi nor that it simply comes down to the : “process used is inherently and fatally flawed. But the Bishops have the power apparently to operate any way they see fit…”

We are given a choice in the video to accept the the Bishops are wrong and the process of the Church is fatally flawed. I choose to respect the Bishop’s decisions to continue the suspension as we are called to do. Father Corapi decided to leave the priesthood because ’ the most likely outcome is that they leave me suspended and I just fade away." That is his choice, but I respect the Bishops and the laws of the Church. They many not be perfect but that is what we have. So, I will no longer listen to Father Corapi but I will ardently pray for him.

Peace,

Abba

 

[Joe_5859]

I agree whole-heartedly with your post, tm30. I feel that he has taken a road straying from the road to Calvary, where he was probably headed.

I don’t know that we can necessarily fault a person for not displaying heroic virtue in the face of adversity. Certainly, if he followed the example of Padre Pio, that would have been laudable. But we need to be careful that we don’t confuse that with being morally obligatory (not that you are doing that, but just a general comment).

 

[tm30]

I agree whole-heartedly with your post, tm30. I feel that he has taken a road straying from the road to Calvary, where he was probably headed.

This isn’t over by a longshot, though. It’s certainly a good thing to hope and pray he returns to his vocation, although he would likely have to permanently reliniquish his public ministry after all this.

Strange days, indeed…

 

[dfp42]

theblacksheepdog.us/

New tweet just in from Fr. Corapi the link audio doesn’t appear to be working though…

"
As the saying goes: “the cat is out of the bag!” Well, in this case… dog?
theblacksheepdog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/capture1.jpg?w=300&h=116
Use the link above to catch the latest in news & development (in audio formats) with regards to ‘The Black SheepDog,’ and future outreaches.
Here is our refuge.
Yours,
John Corapi
The Black SheepDog.

 

[dfp42]

click on the unleashed tab on top to hear the mp3

 

[tm30]

I don’t know that we can necessarily fault a person for not displaying heroic virtue in the face of adversity. Certainly, if he followed the example of Padre Pio, that would have been laudable. But we need to be careful that we don’t confuse that with being morally obligatory (not that you are doing that, but just a general comment).

A priest is not called to follow the example of St. Pio. He’s called to follow the example of Christ. (In fact, it was the glaring lack of “heroic virtue in the face of adversity” that led to the molestation scandals which have driven an unknown number of souls from the flock. But I digress).

It’s not as if Fr. Corapi said, “I need time away from my ministry to deal with this situation and discern God’s will in all of this.” He positively acted to leave the priesthood all together. If he truly believes what he preached, how on earth does he walk away from such a sublime vocation?

Again, I hope for a positive return to his Holy Orders, but this is a man walking out on his wife when times get tough. Sticking around isn’t “heroic virtue”, it’s “duty”. And if that means suffering unjustly, a quick review of the Beatitudes will clarify whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing.

The novena of the Sacred Heart begins this week. We should all offer it up for our priests, but especially for Father Corapi.

 

[TMC]

Perhaps you don’t’ remember three seemingly minor incidents from the story.

When he was a boy about 9 or 10, he was playing in his grandmother’s yard when a woman came through and said, “Hi, Johnny.” He smelled an aroma of lilacs. At the time he didn’t recognize who she was and just assumed she was one of the many friend of his grandmother who were constantly coming and going.

At one point after he had lost everything to his drug habit and was living on the streets of LA and particularly down in the dumps, he was sitting on a park bench when an old woman came up to him, patted him on the head, and said, “Everything is going to be alright.”

Years later, during his ordination ceremony, a few seconds after he was ordained and proceeding back to his seat, someone in the audience caught his eye, and he recognized the same woman he saw in his grandmother’s yard decades ago. She mouthed the words, “Hi, Johnny,” and he smelled a sweet aroma of lilacs.

He told of these experiences in one of his seminars shown on EWTN about 8-10 years ago, when he had no reason to make them up. Now if you were his superior knowing this, would you want to take a chance that these women were not angels?

I completely reject any suggestion that John Corapi (or any man) has been somehow set apart by God such that he is above responding to the rules and authorities that apply to ordinary men. Even if one were to credit the above stories (which all appear to come exclusively from the person supposedly being afforded this unique divine attention), we do not have a tradition of excusing certain allegedly holier-than-the-rest-of-us individuals from oversight or from adhering to proper standards. If anything the opposite is true. Even St. Francis sought permission from the Pope to preach as he did, and submitted to Rome’s investigation of his stigmata. Even if there were some reason to believe that he was called to great works in the past, I don’t find it particularly holy or merit-worthy for a priest to refuse his superior’s request to conform to the rules of his order, to refuse to meet with his bishop before quiting the priesthood, or to threaten lawsuits to prevent his superiors from talking to his accusers. He is a good speaker, and I would like to believe he was well-intentioned, but neither excuses bad behavior or exempts him from scrutiny and oversight.

 

[kitkatty]

As the representative of Christ, his somewhat fast and furious decision to divorce the Bride, the Church, seems right in line with the times.

Why doesn’t he just put his faith in God, regardless of the outcome? Whatever we may “think” or what “circumstances” took place, at the end of the day, the calling of a priest is to emulate our Lord. This is a gargantuan cross, but it is a cross a priest accepts when he is ordained. He must be prepared to lay down his life, even when it is unjust, as in the case of our Lord. Instead, it seems to me he is appealing to the world (civil court instead of ecclesial) and hoping for the support of the “sheep”, which do not belong to him, but to our Lord, who is the Head of the Catholic Church.

There has been a lot of mealy-mouthed “well, but…” commentaries out there, but the fact is, by leaving the priesthood in defiance, Fr. Corapi is also rejecting the charisms of the Holy Spirit which endow him as a priest. He cannot divorce the Bride and still be a partner of the Holy Spirit, who remains the Holy Spouse of the Church.

I sincerely hope that he will come to his senses. But there’s a fine line between being “charitable”, and dumbing down the profound vocation of the priesthood, and its inseparability from the Passion of our Lord.

I like this post and for me the bottom line seems to be his leaving the priesthood.

 

[dfp42]

He sounds really mad.

 

[kitkatty]

Refusal to meet with his bishop is not to me a good indicator, even if he thought the meeting would be unproductive. I guess this comes back to obedience. I really wish he would not come to a decision on such a weighty matter as leaving the priesthood in only three months time. A longer period of discernment along with the guidance of a spiritual director is necessary in a case like this.

 

[rlg94086]

I don’t recall Fr. Corapi saying he barely knew the woman.

The blogger may have been in error then. I can’t find the blog (read it and moved on) unfortunately, and I’ve been unable to verify that he said it as well. Please disregard my earlier post as hearsay unless I or someone else finds something to substantiate it.

 

[ringil]

Perhaps you don’t’ remember three seemingly minor incidents from the story.

When he was a boy about 9 or 10, he was playing in his grandmother’s yard when a woman came through and said, “Hi, Johnny.” He smelled an aroma of lilacs. At the time he didn’t recognize who she was and just assumed she was one of the many friend of his grandmother who were constantly coming and going.

At one point after he had lost everything to his drug habit and was living on the streets of LA and particularly down in the dumps, he was sitting on a park bench when an old woman came up to him, patted him on the head, and said, “Everything is going to be alright.”

Years later, during his ordination ceremony, a few seconds after he was ordained and proceeding back to his seat, someone in the audience caught his eye, and he recognized the same woman he saw in his grandmother’s yard decades ago. She mouthed the words, “Hi, Johnny,” and he smelled a sweet aroma of lilacs.

He told of these experiences in one of his seminars shown on EWTN about 8-10 years ago, when he had no reason to make them up. Now if you were his superior knowing this, would you want to take a chance that these women were not angels?

Nice story but has nothing to do with this current scandal.

 

[Joe_5859]

A priest is not called to follow the example of St. Pio. He’s called to follow the example of Christ. (In fact, it was the glaring lack of “heroic virtue in the face of adversity” that led to the molestation scandals which have driven an unknown number of souls from the flock. But I digress).

It’s not as if Fr. Corapi said, “I need time away from my ministry to deal with this situation and discern God’s will in all of this.” He positively acted to leave the priesthood all together. If he truly believes what he preached, how on earth does he walk away from such a sublime vocation?

Again, I hope for a positive return to his Holy Orders, but this is a man walking out on his wife when times get tough. Sticking around isn’t “heroic virtue”, it’s “duty”. And if that means suffering unjustly, a quick review of the Beatitudes will clarify whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing.

The novena of the Sacred Heart begins this week. We should all offer it up for our priests, but especially for Father Corapi.

Fair enough. Believe me, I don’t disagree with you. The whole ordeal (and Corapi’s statement in particular) has both of my eyebrows raised.

I think your comparison with marriage is apt, too. I have made that comparison myself in the past when reflecting on men leaving the priesthood.

However, whenever I hear of someone leaving the priesthood, I can never shake the words a wise, devout nun told me in regards to a laicized priest whose theology she was summarily criticizing. She said that we can criticize the things he teaches, but we should never use his leaving the priesthood to take a shot at him. We cannot presume heresy or anything based on that. There are lots of reasons that men leave ordained ministry and – provided their request for laicization is approved by the proper canonical authorities – we should not speculate.

Since she said that, I always find myself being careful about presuming too much in these situations.

Of course, one could argue that Corapi’s reasons for leaving are far more public than most and thus there is no speculation involved. I can’t really refute that.

 

[Robert_Bay]

REMINDER

Gossip and innuendo, disrespect toward clergy and religious, and speculating about what did or did not happen are not part of the mission of this apostolate. This apostolate exists to communicate the Catholic Faith, to provide people with a safe environment where they can learn from each other and enjoy themselves while discussing the faith.

Please limit your discussions to what is indeed public knowledge.

 

[irishpatrick]

At this point we cannot really know the full details of what happened. Prayer is needed for both sides–imo.

I will say that the cult of personality surrounding one Priest (Father Corapi) is quite troubling to me.

The flock belongs to Christ, not one Priest.

The Church, the Sacraments, the Magisterium, all of it belongs to Christ, not one Priest. No one single man is more important than the Church or Christ its head.

 

[sedonaman]

… He is a good speaker, and I would like to believe he was well-intentioned, but neither excuses bad behavior or exempts him from scrutiny and oversight.

I just think he’s being punished for the sins of the child-molesting priests. I’ve worked in large bureaucracies and have noticed a pattern that goes something like this:

Under-reaction [sweep under rug] — > Exposé — > Scandal — > Over-reaction

Is that very Christian?

 

[tafan]

I think this should teach the church one thing: professed religious should live in their community. Period, end of story. I am not taking sides in this at all.

 

[rayne89]

Statement from Fr. Corapi’s religious superior

…Father Gerard Sheehan, regional priest-servant of SOLT and Father Corapi’s religious superior in the U.S., confirmed June 19 that the order’s investigation faced complications created by a civil suit filed by Father Corapi against the former employee who had 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. Father Corapi paid her for this. Father was suing her for a breach of contract,” said Father Sheehan, though he did not specify why Father Corapi had initiated the non-disclosure agreement.

The civil suit against the former employee created a problem for SOLT investigators.
“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,” said Father Sheehan.

Read more: ncregister.com/father-corapis-bombshell.html#ixzz1PqcH5EVZ

I loved Fr. Corapi. I’ve heard him speak at conferences and I own video of some of his talks. I posted this not malign Fr. Corapi but there has been so much attacking of the bishops for the way they’ve treated him. Clearly there are facts that people need to know. He is suing his accuser for breach of contract of a non-disclosure agreement.

He (Father Sheehan) expressed disappointment that Father Corapi chose not to remain in SOLT and to refuse the order’s invitation for him to live in community, leaving his Montana home. Father Sheehan said he had tried to arrange a meeting with Father Corapi before any final decision was announced, but had not heard back from him. Father Sheehan said that SOLT would issue a statement shortly.
“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,” Father Sheehan said. “We will continue to move pastorally and charitably, taking steps to protect his good name.”

This post is to pass on factual information from Fr. Corapi’s superior so that people can be informed. Please remain charitable so that this thread is not removed. Thanks.

 

[sedonaman]

I think this should teach the church one thing: professed religious should live in their community. Period, end of story. …

Does that go for nuns too?