New SOLT Statement re: Father Corapi

[TheRealJuliane]

The sad thing is, if he did post that he was going back to his order, almost everyone (except for the extreme people on both sides) would be happy, even impressed with him.

I would be very glad, and relieved, and I wish he would do just this.

 

[Fenwick777]

I don’t know how many of you remember Fr. Ken Roberts. He was the same kind of situation. Between Fr. Ken and Mother Angelica I was brought back to the faith. He was called, “the new Bishop Sheen” by some and was also responsible for bringing many to the faith. . . .What all of this has told me is: 1) The Devil is indeed vicious and can and has gotten all of us admit it or not. . . . and 2) To speak like Fr. John ., . . .If you want to win the battle take out the officers first and the soldiers will scatter. . . . We have seen so many priests who are HUGE threats to the Devil taken out that it should be obvious. We don’t need judgements, we don’t need fights, we don’t need falling away or losing faith, we need to “hold the line” and fight back. If everyone would just say a novena or offer up their communion. . . . or their suffering for our priests. . . .That is what should come out of this whole thing. Just look at all of those who have hist hardest. . . . Fr. Thomas Eutenhauer (spelling is wrong), Fr. Ken Roberts, Fr. John, Mel Gibson, etc. . . . I’m sure you all might know some other examples of “Roman Catholic officers” in the church militant who have not been wounded but DESTROYED by the evil one. . . . Lesson for all of us. . . . Keep your head and eyes straight forward on Jesus and Our Lady and open fire on hell not each other. We need commitment and organization in this . . . God bless and May God Bless and keep Fr. John. . . .
Randy

Your Kingdom Come. . . . Your Will Be Done…

 

[valient_Lucy]

Kind of like a divorce…but more of a mudslinging contest.

Is there a difference between the two?

 

[cecilia97]

I don’t know how many of you remember Fr. Ken Roberts. He was the same kind of situation. Between Fr. Ken and Mother Angelica I was brought back to the faith. He was called, “the new Bishop Sheen” by some and was also responsible for bringing many to the faith. . . .What all of this has told me is: 1) The Devil is indeed vicious and can and has gotten all of us admit it or not. . . . and 2) To speak like Fr. John ., . . .If you want to win the battle take out the officers first and the soldiers will scatter. . . . We have seen so many priests who are HUGE threats to the Devil taken out that it should be obvious. We don’t need judgements, we don’t need fights, we don’t need falling away or losing faith, we need to “hold the line” and fight back. If everyone would just say a novena or offer up their communion. . . . or their suffering for our priests. . . .That is what should come out of this whole thing. Just look at all of those who have hist hardest. . . . Fr. Thomas Eutenhauer (spelling is wrong), Fr. Ken Roberts, Fr. John, Mel Gibson, etc. . . . I’m sure you all might know some other examples of “Roman Catholic officers” in the church militant who have not been wounded but DESTROYED by the evil one. . . . Lesson for all of us. . . . Keep your head and eyes straight forward on Jesus and Our Lady and open fire on hell not each other. We need commitment and organization in this . . . God bless and May God Bless and keep Fr. John. . . .
Randy

Your Kingdom Come. . . . Your Will Be Done…

I agree that we need to pray for priests, and that the enemy is attacking priests, but I’m not worried about our Church. I’m not worried because 1) Christ promised us that hell will not prevail against His Church and 2) there are still many holy priests working quietly and thanklessly, without notice, all over the world.

God bless,
cecilia

 

[valient_Lucy]

It seems SOLT is the one in the right by logic and facts alone. *Some * not all of Corapi’s fans are acting weird and try to ignore this and slamming Father Sheehan and the superiors.
Doesn’t seem like good fruits. People need to take the right side, and not be divided. I’d say give Corapi up to God already and his superiors and be done with it.

Yeah, I think SOLT has handled itself far better than Fr. Corapi in this mess, and the harvest is certainly questionable.

The bolded part is incredibly sensible.

 

[JReducation]

Apparently Fr.Sheehan has made up his mind but I’m not convinced especially since I’m gathering from Fr.Shehan’s statement that Fr. Corapi still maintains his innocence in statements that Fr. Sheehan claims are “misleading, false…mischaracterizations”, well these now become claims of Fr. Sheehan’s that do not establish facts and so they do not “set the record straight” as he wishes to assert. The tone and the quality of what Fr. Sheehan is putting forth here is very dubious; in the first place he neglects to inform on the outcome on the investigation of the recent allegations of only several months ago from the dismissed secretary at the Diocesan office; we know Fr.Corapi denied those, and I think it is very safe to say that if those allegations could have been substantiated that Fr. Sheehan would make that known, afterall this is the matter which was at immediate concern, yet no mention is made specifically of it which tends to strengthen the gut feeling that those accusations were false and so quite possibly could have been issued with malice toward Fr.Corapi as their root.

Estesbob…both of your points have been spot on and really inspiring.

If indeed what SOLT is saying is true, how on earth could they have been so lax to allow this to happen? How could anyone who has made a vow of poverty amass over a million dollar in assets without that being on the radar of your superiors? I liked Fr. Corapi, but I always felt uncomfortable with the amount of money he was charging for his materials and this seminars and it was pretty clear that the money wasn’t going to a religious order. If I can tell that, why exactly did his superiors in the religious order turn a blind eye to it?

If they consider “proof” to be the hearsay of someone with an axe to grind, with no corroborating witnesses or independent verification, and no professional, neutral investigative credentials, then I remain suspicious. Recall who composes the ‘3-member panel.’
.’

All of these posts have common points so let’s clarify.

1. Major superiors DO NOT have to explain themselves to anyone. Church law exempts them from that. They only have to explain themselves to the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Llife or the the Holy Father. They don’t even havea to offer an explanation to their membership. We (religious) have no right to know.
2. The superior gave a very sketchy picture. He can do that and the pope himself will back him up, because what he is sharing is a courtessy, not a duty.
3. He has a moral duty to protect the sources.
4. Father Corapi has the right to an appeal in Rome, if he wants it.
5. He has the right to be informed of the superior’s conclusions and of his right to appeal. If he does not have money to appeal, the community must help pay for it.
6. The Sacred Congregation ofr Religious says that the only person who needs to be involved in an investigation is the major superior. He can do it alone. He need not bring in anyone else. If the constitutions of the institute to which you belong state that there must be other people involved, that’s called Particular Law. It’s not Church Law or moral law. Morally, the superior’s voice is always the voice of the Church, unless he commands sin. He has the authority to speak in the name of the Church. There is nothing to challenge.
7. His findings can be mistaken. That has to be proven in a court. The superior does the preliminary investigation and hands down the verdict and short-term consequence. That’s why he says “at this time, Father is not fit for ministry”. I probably misquoted. He very clearly says “at this time”. Because his decision is short-term. The ball is in Father’s hands now. If Father does nothing, the decision become permanent after a certain number of years. A priest can remain suspended up to five-years. Then he must ask for a dispensation or it is imposed on him through dismissal.
8. The SOLT did not allow anything to happen. The SOLT is not a religious community. It is a secular society of apostolic life. They make no vows of any kind. They make a promise of obedience to the superior and to the constitutions of the Society. They make no vow of poverty. Therefore, they can have as much money and property as they can acccumulate, just like any diocesan priest can have money. If Bill Gates’ son joined the SOLT and he inherited his father’s fortune the next day, the Church allows him to keep it. He is a secular man, just like the diocesan priest up the street. The difference is that the members of the SOLT do not keep their money with them. They hand it over to an administrator or a trustee. They can give it away or stash it away and the Church does not care anymore than she cares what Bill Gates does with his money, as long as it’s moral. The SOLT are like the Vincentians, Maryknoll, Missionhurst, SSPX, FSSP, and Christ the King.
9. The founder of the SOLT had given his first men permission to fund themselves and their work. They raised money, paid their bills, paid for their ministry and kept the difference. This was all canonically approved.

Life and laws in religious congregations, religious orders, societies of apostolic life and secular orders do not go by the same rules as the USA. We need to stop thinking like Americans and start thinking like “Vaticanians”.

OK, I admit it. I made up the term. But the Vatican makes the rules that govern every instittute. Those rules are usually based on Roman tradition and Church Law, which like civil law, uses philosophy, but unlike civil law it is subject to the final like and dislike of the Law Giver, the pope who promulgates the canons.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[maximus]

My Father in law, may his soul be in heaven, was a big fan of Fr. Corapi. He had seen him many times and had many of his tapes. My wife and I enjoyed several presentations he made in our area in support of a local Catholic Radio station. This would have made him very sad.

This is shocking and another blow to the Church and I feel really bad for people who were inspired by his preaching and materials.

I pray to God that somehow this ends well.

God Bless,

 

[Veridical16]

I don’t know how many of you remember Fr. Ken Roberts. He was the same kind of situation. Between Fr. Ken and Mother Angelica I was brought back to the faith. He was called, “the new Bishop Sheen” by some and was also responsible for bringing many to the faith. . . .What all of this has told me is: 1) The Devil is indeed vicious and can and has gotten all of us admit it or not. . . . and 2) To speak like Fr. John ., . . .If you want to win the battle take out the officers first and the soldiers will scatter. . . . We have seen so many priests who are HUGE threats to the Devil taken out that it should be obvious. We don’t need judgements, we don’t need fights, we don’t need falling away or losing faith, we need to “hold the line” and fight back. If everyone would just say a novena or offer up their communion. . . . or their suffering for our priests. . . .That is what should come out of this whole thing. Just look at all of those who have hist hardest. . . . Fr. Thomas Eutenhauer (spelling is wrong), Fr. Ken Roberts, Fr. John, Mel Gibson, etc. . . . I’m sure you all might know some other examples of “Roman Catholic officers” in the church militant who have not been wounded but DESTROYED by the evil one. . . . Lesson for all of us. . . . Keep your head and eyes straight forward on Jesus and Our Lady and open fire on hell not each other. We need commitment and organization in this . . . God bless and May God Bless and keep Fr. John. . . .
Randy

Your Kingdom Come. . . . Your Will Be Done…

Amen, we should respond to scandal by penances, mortifications and suffering when we see our brethren fall.

But please fellow Catholics, stop giving too much credit to the temptations of Satan especially on this thread.

The Devil has no power over us.
youtube.com/watch?v=9RjXzFbNXwk

• FranciscanFriars

Don’t give the vanity of Lucifer any more erroneous attribution to him.

Remember St. Theresa of Avila’s response to the devil. (Did Fr. Corapi adhere to this example?)

And our Lord explains, that they do not believe, because they don’t belong to his sheep.
Our Lord says, 'my sheep hear my voice and they follow me ’ and these Jews didn’t belong to his sheep, they heard his voice, that is they heard the truth, but they were not willing to follow our Lord. And we see, that is the key to having a firm faith in Jesus Christ, is having willingness to follow him, upon hearing the Truth, to have the disposition the interior disposition to convert, that is to change one’s life. To bring it into conformity with that Truth now known. This is what many, many people aren’t willing to do. They don’t have faith, they don’t believe. It requires as our Lord says in other places in the gospel, a dying to oneself, a death to sin, a death to our own preferences and our own opinions, and living only for God. Living for God in obedience to his will. And that’s the tough part. But that’s the part that determines WHO belongs to the sheepfold of Christ. And then our Lord gives us these consoling words, for those who have heard his voice and are willing to follow him, he says, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and NO ONE shall snatch them out of my hand” Once we accept our Lord in his teaching and are willing to put it into practice – NO ONE can snatch us out of his hand.

Christ gives us a way out!

 

[valient_Lucy]

All of these posts have common points so let’s clarify.

1. Major superiors DO NOT have to explain themselves to anyone. Church law exempts them from that. They only have to explain themselves to the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Llife or the the Holy Father. They don’t even havea to offer an explanation to their membership. We (religious) have no right to know.
2. The superior gave a very sketchy picture. He can do that and the pope himself will back him up, because what he is sharing is a courtessy, not a duty.
3. He has a moral duty to protect the sources.
4. Father Corapi has the right to an appeal in Rome, if he wants it.
5. He has the right to be informed of the superior’s conclusions and of his right to appeal. If he does not have money to appeal, the community must help pay for it.
6. The Sacred Congregation ofr Religious says that the only person who needs to be involved in an investigation is the major superior. He can do it alone. He need not bring in anyone else. If the constitutions of the institute to which you belong state that there must be other people involved, that’s called Particular Law. It’s not Church Law or moral law. Morally, the superior’s voice is always the voice of the Church, unless he commands sin. He has the authority to speak in the name of the Church. There is nothing to challenge.
7. His findings can be mistaken. That has to be proven in a court. The superior does the preliminary investigation and hands down the verdict and short-term consequence. That’s why he says “at this time, Father is not fit for ministry”. I probably misquoted. He very clearly says “at this time”. Because his decision is short-term. The ball is in Father’s hands now. If Father does nothing, the decision become permanent after a certain number of years. A priest can remain suspended up to five-years. Then he must ask for a dispensation or it is imposed on him through dismissal.
8. The SOLT did not allow anything to happen. The SOLT is not a religious community. It is a secular society of apostolic life. They make no vows of any kind. They make a promise of obedience to the superior and to the constitutions of the Society. They make no vow of poverty. Therefore, they can have as much money and property as they can acccumulate, just like any diocesan priest can have money. If Bill Gates’ son joined the SOLT and he inherited his father’s fortune the next day, the Church allows him to keep it. He is a secular man, just like the diocesan priest up the street. The difference is that the members of the SOLT do not keep their money with them. They hand it over to an administrator or a trustee. They can give it away or stash it away and the Church does not care anymore than she cares what Bill Gates does with his money, as long as it’s moral. The SOLT are like the Vincentians, Maryknoll, Missionhurst, SSPX, FSSP, and Christ the King.
9. The founder of the SOLT had given his first men permission to fund themselves and their work. They raised money, paid their bills, paid for their ministry and kept the difference. This was all canonically approved.

Life and laws in religious congregations, religious orders, societies of apostolic life and secular orders do not go by the same rules as the USA. We need to stop thinking like Americans and start thinking like “Vaticanians”.

OK, I admit it. I made up the term. But the Vatican makes the rules that govern every instittute. Those rules are usually based on Roman tradition and Church Law, which like civil law, uses philosophy, but unlike civil law it is subject to the final like and dislike of the Law Giver, the pope who promulgates the canons.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Thank you so much for the insightful post.

 

[joanofarc2008]

All of these posts have common points so let’s clarify.

1. Major superiors DO NOT have to explain themselves to anyone. Church law exempts them from that. They only have to explain themselves to the Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Llife or the the Holy Father. They don’t even havea to offer an explanation to their membership. We (religious) have no right to know.
2. The superior gave a very sketchy picture. He can do that and the pope himself will back him up, because what he is sharing is a courtessy, not a duty.
3. He has a moral duty to protect the sources.
4. Father Corapi has the right to an appeal in Rome, if he wants it.
5. He has the right to be informed of the superior’s conclusions and of his right to appeal. If he does not have money to appeal, the community must help pay for it.
6. The Sacred Congregation ofr Religious says that the only person who needs to be involved in an investigation is the major superior. He can do it alone. He need not bring in anyone else. If the constitutions of the institute to which you belong state that there must be other people involved, that’s called Particular Law. It’s not Church Law or moral law. Morally, the superior’s voice is always the voice of the Church, unless he commands sin. He has the authority to speak in the name of the Church. There is nothing to challenge.
7. His findings can be mistaken. That has to be proven in a court. The superior does the preliminary investigation and hands down the verdict and short-term consequence. That’s why he says “at this time, Father is not fit for ministry”. I probably misquoted. He very clearly says “at this time”. Because his decision is short-term. The ball is in Father’s hands now. If Father does nothing, the decision become permanent after a certain number of years. A priest can remain suspended up to five-years. Then he must ask for a dispensation or it is imposed on him through dismissal.
8. The SOLT did not allow anything to happen. The SOLT is not a religious community. It is a secular society of apostolic life. They make no vows of any kind. They make a promise of obedience to the superior and to the constitutions of the Society. They make no vow of poverty. Therefore, they can have as much money and property as they can acccumulate, just like any diocesan priest can have money. If Bill Gates’ son joined the SOLT and he inherited his father’s fortune the next day, the Church allows him to keep it. He is a secular man, just like the diocesan priest up the street. The difference is that the members of the SOLT do not keep their money with them. They hand it over to an administrator or a trustee. They can give it away or stash it away and the Church does not care anymore than she cares what Bill Gates does with his money, as long as it’s moral. The SOLT are like the Vincentians, Maryknoll, Missionhurst, SSPX, FSSP, and Christ the King.
9. The founder of the SOLT had given his first men permission to fund themselves and their work. They raised money, paid their bills, paid for their ministry and kept the difference. This was all canonically approved.

Life and laws in religious congregations, religious orders, societies of apostolic life and secular orders do not go by the same rules as the USA. We need to stop thinking like Americans and start thinking like “Vaticanians”.

OK, I admit it. I made up the term. But the Vatican makes the rules that govern every instittute. Those rules are usually based on Roman tradition and Church Law, which like civil law, uses philosophy, but unlike civil law it is subject to the final like and dislike of the Law Giver, the pope who promulgates the canons.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Thank you - and that clears that up. Now if the one side can put down the mud, surrender some obedience and decide what action he would like to take this would all be really wonderful.

I also want to say for anyone who has facebook and think this is not a nice wonderful conversation - it is. This is the stuff that has been going on on facebook on the blacksheep page which I am not a fan of nor did I hit the like button - I just wanted to go look so I could see what people were talking about and it was scary.

Facebook Black Sheepdog Page - Please do not hit Like Button - it will encourage them

 

[Veridical16]

Yeah, I think SOLT has handled itself far better than Fr. Corapi in this mess, **and the harvest is certainly questionable. **

The bolded part is incredibly sensible.

Amen Lucy,
I was saddened when SOLT shed light on the matter but there was finally some clarity too, and much more understanding of Fr. Corapi’s behavior the last week for us.
Everyone was confused and torn who was accusing who was the victim; now it’s time to continue to offer penances.

I remember when Fr. Euteneur’s scandal broke out, as a Catholic we (the laity) knew how to respond thanks to the straightforward statements…

 

[JReducation]

Yes, I never said anything about Fr. Euteneur leaving the priesthood. I just posted the picture to show Fr. Corapi’s marketable status.

Yes, it certainly is noticeable.

As I said above, f he didn’t make a terrible decision to go public, it could have been like Fr. Euteneur’s situation…I still don’t believe Corapi should be sensationalized as the worst example of a “bad priest”

Fr. Corapi apparently was once a spiritual adviser to Fr. Euteneur…

My Father in law, may his soul be in heaven, was a big fan of Fr. Corapi. He had seen him many times and had many of his tapes. My wife and I enjoyed several presentations he made in our area in support of a local Catholic Radio station. This would have made him very sad.

This is shocking and another blow to the Church and I feel really bad for people who were inspired by his preaching and materials.

I pray to God that somehow this ends well.

God Bless,

His preaching is still inspiring. The man never preached anything contrary to the faith. There is no reason not read his books and listen to his CDs.

I’m remembering of our Franciscans, Fr. Solanus Casey. His preaching was so bad and so theologically off, that the Guardian denied him preaching faculties. Yet, his case is up for beatification.

One man is an excellent preacher and inspires through the word. The other is an excellent porter and inspires through his charity.

We take our spiritual nutrition where we can find it.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Veridical16]

His preaching is still inspiring. The man never preached anything contrary to the faith.

One man is an excellent preacher and inspires through the word. The other is an excellent porter and inspires through his charity.

We take our spiritual nutrition where we can find it.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

I know, one thing I could say in defense of Corapi, he didn’t really teach error. But I think people tend to put too much emphasis on homilies. Though I would like for priests to at least stay within the truth and give us some red meat at the pulpits rather than bland generalities and just positives ,about Love this and that.
The yearning for good speakers, leaves the laity with a tendency to forget the Eucharist sometimes when they go to Church, and expect to be filled with inspirational speeches.

I’m remembering of our Franciscans, Fr. Solanus Casey. His preaching was so bad and so theologically off, that the Guardian denied him preaching faculties. Yet, his case is up for beatification.

At least the Guardian did something about it!

There is no reason not read his books and listen to his CDs.

Kind of reminds me of this :

All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not.

Don’t think I personally would, knowing what I know.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I don’t know if his mother is around still, but I hope she is well hidden, because in this internet savvy world of ours, if someone wants to investigate someone, they can.
It doesn’t matter to some if he lied about military records, or even his stories of conversion, but it does matter and should. He was saying to do one thing, and doing another. He preached on humility, the cross and suffering and people listened. The message, no matter how effective is lame without some show of obedience to it.
Everything but talk is not what most religious preach, what you do without words is more important. He opens the pandora box with doing anything else to fan the flames, believe me, stones will get unturned by angry Catholics, Catholic haters, it doesn’t matter, they will find things.

It’s ourselves at our worst, but no one likes being played for a fool.

Some sterotypes of reverent Catholics is that they are stupid and led by the nose, that worrying about sinning and speaking ill of someone will make them back away and accept things at the surface, but Catholics aren’t stupid and they can think, they aren’t like Father’s FB followers, and they will stay united and not let one person hurt them if the center of their belief is Jesus.

i agree with most of what you have said and i also have wondered if father corapi’s mother is still living. she was an important part of his story about returning to the Church and praying the rosary and deciding to become an ordained priest. having helped her son survive one crisis in his 40’s, if she is still living this must be terrible for her.

 

[Veridical16]

i agree with most of what you have said and i also have wondered if father corapi’s mother is still living. she was an important part of his story about returning to the Church and praying the rosary and deciding to become an ordained priest. having helped her son survive one crisis in his 40’s, if she is still living this must be terrible for her.

Reminds me of St. Monica in a way.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I will surely be shot for saying this, but quite some time ago I heard that this Fr. Corapi was just wonderful. He was then on EWTN, so I decided to watch him. I did a couple of times, and while I might be a little quick to think such things, my fundamental impression was that “here is a man who is full of himself”. So I never watched him again because I did not want to be thinking that of him over and over again.

I don’t doubt that he inspired a lot of people, and it’s good that he did if that’s the case. God performs wonders through some of the worst instruments. But for my money, whatever good he did was God’s acting through a mighty flawed instrument.

if it makes you feel any better, i second everything you have said in your post. i was very impressed with his knowledge of the catechism and the doctrines of the Church, but there were little warning bells going off because i just couldn’t understand how someone who had had such a worldly life - money, possessions, sex, drugs and alcohol - could totally give it all up. i had not heard of any rehab for drug or alcohol, perhaps i missed it. after growing up with an alcoholic father (who never knew sobriety) and other relatives with addiction problems. i had my suspicions about father corapi. since i have only been a Catholic for 3 years, i had not seen him very often or bought any of his dvd’s or newsletters. i feel saddened for the people who followed him and believed in him so strongly. i thought he was teaching the Truth, but now i wonder if he really believed what he was teaching. i guess we will have to wait for the surprise announcement tomorrow and hope that he is giving up all of his worldly possessions and listening to his superiors and returning to the community in texas.

 

[surfinpure]

Worthwhile new blog post from Fr. Dwight Longenecker:

gkupsidedown.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-i-believe-solt-statement.html

 

[7_Sorrows]

Reminds me of St. Monica in a way.

yes, i think so too.

 

[Eliza10]

I am truly dreading tomorrow [Thursday} re: Corapi’s announcement. I feel kind of sick about it. I am afraid for his soul, that rather than an announcement of repentance or apology, it will instead be fighting words and bids for support from his admirers. I would so much rather see a glorious turning toward the will of God, and a turning away from the enticements of the world - which would be keeping in the public eye, keeping his autonomy, keeping his fortunes and his expensive host of man-toys, continuing to seek more mammon in punitive lawsuits, demonizing his order, the bishops, our Holy Mother the Church.

It is going to take a *miracle for him to turn from far-gone life with recent public statements that are lying, accusing and rebellious to suddenly: public statements of repentance!

God does miracles, but not if you do NOT want Him to!

I wish Corapi would just be silent right now rather than speak. I really do.

 

[Donna_Mc]

I am so confused and sickened by this whole thing. I have seen Father Corapi at several conferences and was always so inspired by him. I was really looking forward to his biography coming out. Now tomorrow he is making some kind of statement, I really don’t know what to think but I am very sad.