New SOLT Statement re: Father Corapi

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surf(name removed by moderator)ure said:
What exactly is speculation? The superior of his order has declared him unfit for ministry. Either we accept the Church’s authority in this matter or we don’t. Either we trust their judgment or we don’t. But the facts are out; many simply refuse to accept them.
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I second that. The superior of his order has ruled.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Other than his having been misdiagnosed with heart blockages, all I see from his BSD website is this:

“Due to serious health problems suffered in 2008…” Nothing specific is mentioned and his lawsuit was back in 2002. I don’t know what that “health problem” might have been.
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When Father Corapi spoke in Omaha Nebraska last year he disclosed that he was diagnosed with a Vitaman D deficiency. It took months to diagnose, there were a couple of misdiagnosis and per his statements, he was finally treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. This is why he was using artificial tanning.
 
catharina said:
I can’t imagine why anyone would think that Fr. C is important
enough or powerful enough that others would “need” to conspire
against him. That very singular point has puzzled me from the start.
Yet it seems that even Father C seems to believe a “conspiracy” exists. WHY?
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I’ve heard him indirectly call out some of the more liberal bishops and priests during some of his talks.

Here is a tame example:
youtube.com/watch?v=X89_XLYbpxU

That’s probably why people think there’s some sort of conspiracy going on.
 
larsenl1 said:
When Father Corapi spoke in Omaha Nebraska last year he disclosed that he was diagnosed with a Vitaman D deficiency. It took months to diagnose, there were a couple of misdiagnosis and per his statements, he was finally treated at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. This is why he was using artificial tanning.
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Oh. Didn’t see this in time. So maybe the removal of the parathyroid was a misdiagnosis?

I think thyroid and parathyroid problems can play havac with one’s moods.
 
whm said:
For whatever reason the order does not appear to have exercised much authority or oversight over Fr. Corapi in the past. As a parent I know what happens when you do not exercise authority, it weakens your authority. Do you think that SOLT has a certain amount of responsibility for this mess, not of course the alleged sins as those are a mans own sins, but for enabling a situation conducive to these activities? According to Fr. Corapi he was also getting conflicting advice from the order’s founder (who may very well have not known all of the facts), who I assume is “retired” since there is a different person in charge of the order now. Opportunity is a big factor in sin, particularly for a recovered addict. Is that not why many orders are cloistered and/or live in community? I realize they changed their rule back in 1994, but non the less they did not address it with him, again for reasons we don’t know.

How could they possibly not know about his wealth, possessions, living arrangements etc. its like he wasn’t even a member of an order at all? It is still really weird. Perhaps they did try to address this and he was resisting, then in hind sight it appears to have been a mistake not to be more forceful.

I am really interested in your perspective on this. What responsibility does an order have for the welfare of its member? Thanks for your insight.
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You’re right. SOLT isn’t without blame in this incident.
 
PPeterson said:
prediction: the next tough guy tell 'em like it is “straight talker” us against the world bulldog priest or apologist Catholics get behind will have issues too.
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Perhaps. And what does that tell us about this approach? As compared to the very successful approach of so many Catholic preachers, priests, apologists, and teachers?
 
GraceSofia said:
Oh. Didn’t see this in time. So maybe the removal of the parathyroid was a misdiagnosis?

I think thyroid and parathyroid problems can play havac with one’s moods.
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I am not sure what to believe anymore from what I heard him say and what is reported. Thyroid problems do cause upheaval with moods, and Vitamin D deficiency mimics many other diseases, too.

I am simply frustrated with it all…there was a propaganda machine that was very well oiled and functioned so well I didn’t notice the things that were missing, like he did not celebrate mass at the conference. There was not an opportunity to go to confession. Compared to another conference I attended where there was mass each morning, confession, and prayer vigils.
 
Hovannes said:
This is a bombshell. How do I explain this to my 10 year old son who was greatly inspired by Fr. Corapi?
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That the Church is made up of men. That men are sinners. It is the Gospel which is perfect. Nothing that Fr. Corapi said in his teaching was ever against the Church or the Gospels, as far as I remember. So the message is solid gold. The carrier of the message, as is the case so often when money, pride and prestige begin to play a part in ministry, is prone to falling. John Corapi has fallen. He may or may not come back in contrition and obedience. If he does, he will deserve forgiveness and mercy. If he doesn’t, then he still remains in our prayers.

As to listenting to his talks? It’s difficult to do, knowing all this personal context, but if you can get past all that, they are still true, meaningful and inspirational talks. Particularly his series on the Catechism. It’s still the best we have on some topics.

It’s an important teaching tool for your son that our faith is in Christ. Not Christ’s messengers. Moses was a murderer. David, and adulterer. St. Peter himself was in the space of a day called the rock that our Lord would build his Church on, and then rebuked as being a spokesman for satan, when he suggested, that our Lord not complete his messianic mission of dying for us.

Father Corapi, unwittingly, provides one of his most poignant lessons without his willing participation, or conscious intent.

It will be well in the long run. Much prayer for John Corapi, and those he may have harmed, and may even be in the process of harming. We are to show mercy and forgiveness, as we wish to be shown mercy and forgiveness when we fall.

May God bless…

Steven
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Why, if Fr. Corapi joined the SOLT with his whole heart, and submitted to his superiors at that time, would he now be in an adversarial position with his brother priests? They are still his superiors, correct? If you take a vow of submission to any authority, you are under that authority until such time as they release you. If you join the military, you BELONG to the military and cannot simply decide, “well I’ve had enough, I’m leaving now,” you are considered Absent WithOut Leave or AWOL. It seems Fr. Corapi has been AWOL from his order for some time now. Perhaps they were praying that he would eventually repent, and were shocked and disturbed when he became so adversarial. We don’t know how long he has been under investigation, only that the public statements are recent. Maybe he’s been looked at for years now.

All I can say is that I don’t understand how Fr. Corapi can be so disobedient to an order that he took vows with. Even if they happened to be wrong, he is still under their authority, or am I wrong?
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I think the answer might be that they haven’t been exercising their authority over him or supervising him. In their statement they made it sound like the investigation uncovered all this wealth (despite his promise of poverty from their own statement). Until this statement I had been under the impression that he did not have a promise/vow of poverty. This changes things a bit for me, because it should have been obvious that he wasn’t living according to that promise for a very long time. They should have known about that. Hindsight is 20/20, but it appears that they should have put their foot down a long time ago. Maybe they were trying to do something about it, but were noneffective. 🤷
 
larsenl1 said:
I am not sure what to believe anymore from what I heard him say and what is reported. Thyroid problems do cause upheaval with moods, and Vitamin D deficiency mimics many other diseases, too.

I am simply frustrated with it all…there was a propaganda machine that was very well oiled and functioned so well I** didn’t notice the things that were missing, like he did not celebrate mass at the conference. There was not an opportunity to go to confession.** Compared to another conference I attended where there was mass each morning, confession, and prayer vigils.
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This is sad. I did not realize his conferences did not include that. I can see if it is set up as just one speech, but you are right, every Catholic conference I have been to includes confession time and Mass (or at least a prayer services or adoration).

I was also suprised by the news that he didn’t celebrate Mass often --for example on EWTN, or even in the dioceses where he lived. so sad.
 
larsenl1 said:
… I didn’t notice the things that were missing, like he did not celebrate mass at the conference. There was not an opportunity to go to confession. Compared to another conference I attended where there was mass each morning, confession, and prayer vigils.
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Very interesting. I had not heard that before. I have not been to any such conferences but I would be concerned of ones where celebration of the Mass was not central to the event, particularly one being led by a priest. Confessions and prayer sessions would obviously be nice as well but the Eucharist is the most important.

If the conference was being led by a member of the laity, I would not be as worked up about whether or not Mass was celebrated. For example, Scott Hahn is speaking in our Diocese soon and Mass is being held afterwards. However, they are two separate events and people are free to come to the talk and make their own decision about whether or not to stay for Mass afterwards. Since the speaker is a lay person, it really doesn’t bug me at all that the Mass is not central to the event itself. If Dr. Hahn was a priest, it probably would.

Thanks for those views, that one really made me think.
 
I think SOLT’s concern about those who Fr Corapi may be misleading is legit. But, at least by the numbers of followers who went to follow the whole new “black sheep dog” moniker, many aren’t following him under his new handle. Either on twitter or FB.
 
whm said:
I think the answer might be that they haven’t been exercising their authority over him or supervising him. In their statement they made it sound like the investigation uncovered all this wealth (despite his promise of poverty from their own statement). Until this statement I had been under the impression that he did not have a promise/vow of poverty. This changes things a bit for me, because it should have been obvious that he wasn’t living according to that promise for a very long time. They should have known about that. Hindsight is 20/20, but it appears that they should have put their foot down a long time ago. Maybe they were trying to do something about it, but were noneffective. 🤷
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But what religious order has experience with someone who wants to do his or her own thing, while still promoting his membership in the order? I mean to say, the presumption is that when one takes religious vows, it is with the goal of SUBMISSION in mind, not rebellion. Why should SOLT have had to force Fr. Corapi to do or stop doing anything at all? They have their own mission and focus, and it’s not as an investigative body. I’m sure his superiors trusted him until he was proven to be untrustworthy.

People say SOLT is not free from responsibility, but what religious order is really prepared to deal with such problems?
 
Mrs_Sally said:
My feeling about the first statement from SOLT is that they were trying to be restrained and say as little as possible. This sense is based on my experience in public relations. They needed to say something since Fr Corapi had made some statements, but seemed to want to keep things “in house” as much as possible.

Since that first statement, Fr Corapi has started his BlackSheepDog website, has made more claims about his accusers and the bishops, his “fans” have made claims against the church, the situation had become much more grave.

This second statement may have been rushed because they wanted to make some announcement before their Chapter meeting (not sure of correct term), but I doubt the information exposed was gathered in just the past few weeks. The Church in general has never been known to be masters of PR but I believe that SOLT’s statement is factual.
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I agree. If only it had been kept “in house!”
 
MarcoPolo said:
Very well. But I see no evidence of that in SOLT’s latest statement. And if we are going to posit various explanations of SOLT’s sudden change in confidence of the allegations, then I see no reason to exclude the possibility that Fr. Sheehan’s June 20th statement was less than forthcoming. Do you grant that as a potential explanation?
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No. I do not.

I have seen far too many projects that show no progress at all until the final stage to concern myself with the status change in a 2 week period.

I am more concerned that the actions of Corapi directly hindered the investigation.

Also, I pointed this out long ago, I am concerned that I knew so much about the accuser, and Corapi was the one that told me.

And I am also concerned that Corapi portrayed the investigative process in a way that does not at all reflect the process provided by the SOLT.

Given all that I have read, it comes down to this for me…
What does the SOLT have to gain if they are telling falsehoods?
What does Corapi have to gain for telling falsehoods?

The SOLT loses no matter the outcome, and they gain nothing.
Corapi however has a following and a reputation to preserve.

At present I am persuaded to believe the SOLT report.
Perhaps new evidence will come to light later, but for now I believe Corapi to be a man that has fallen into the temptations laid out in front of him and a man in desperate need of our prayers.
 
Marie5890 said:
I think SOLT’s concern about those who Fr Corapi may be misleading is legit. But, at least by the numbers of followers who went to follow the whole new “black sheep dog” moniker, many aren’t following him under his new handle. Either on twitter or FB.
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Thank God for that.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
But what religious order has experience with someone who wants to do his or her own thing, while still promoting his membership in the order? I mean to say, the presumption is that when one takes religious vows, it is with the goal of SUBMISSION in mind, not rebellion. Why should SOLT have had to force Fr. Corapi to do or stop doing anything at all? They have their own mission and focus, and it’s not as an investigative body. I’m sure his superiors trusted him until he was proven to be untrustworthy.

People say SOLT is not free from responsibility, but what religious order is really prepared to deal with such problems?
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Fr. Corapi once stated that there was a great freedom in the vow of obedience, because he didn’t have to struggle to discern the will of God. He knew that the will of his superiors was the will of God.
 
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