August 31, 2015
Categories: Books & Publications, Events, Politics, Scandals . Tags: Father Corapi, news, priesthood . Author: Hosted by Doug Lawrence . Comments: 1 Comment
Latest gossip on the Father Corapi affair
A blog for Dallas Area Catholics reports: I got the following update last night from a Montana resident who claims to be in the know. They say Fr. Corapi lives in a gated community in Whitefish, Montana, on Whitefish Lake. He is seen about riding his Harley. He never wears clerics or any religious garb. He is not known to be active in any parish.
Editor’s note: The balance of the post, as well as the various reader responses, shed little or no more light on the subject, which is still an emotional one for many, almost two years after the original incidents.
The Black Sheep Dog (a.k.a. Father John Corapi) website is now empty and dormant.
Today, traveling around the Catholic blogosphere and on Facebook and Twitter is a link to the now defunct website http://www.theblacksheepdog.us/. All of the posts, all of the audios and videos are gone as are the items that were for sale. The “nuking” of the site also eliminated literally thousands of comments. It is all replaced with this:
Seen on the web: The latest info on the status of Father Corapi
According to his most recent office manager, Justin Meccia, John Corapi returned from a hunting trip in September and gave notice to Justin and other Santa Cruz Media staff that he was closing his business.
His website has not been updated significantly since then (with the exception of posts made in his name to promote his post-July products, the series on abortion and Part 1 of the DVD version of his promised biography), phone calls are not answered, and mail is returned. There have been some unauthorized attempts to sell his old inventory on a couple of pop-up websites, but these disappear quickly. There have been no official updates from the SOLT or any other Church authority in this case since July.
Apparently he continues to reside in Montana, keeping a low profile and complying with the requirements that he not represent himself as a priest in public. The lawsuit has not been withdrawn, though no action has been publicly announced. The various Facebook pages that rose up to support or criticize him have dwindled to a few members each, issuing regular shots at one another but providing no light.
Christopher Ferrara: EWTN knew all along that Father Corapi was “damaged goods”.
I feel nothing but contempt, however, for EWTN’s calculated decision to make Corapi a star knowing full well that he was damaged goods. Worse, having created this fallen celebrity, EWTN then proceeded to cover his fall as a news item on its pretend network news show, The World Over, on which Arroyo plays the role of anchorman. Sitting in EWTN’s cheesy imitation of a network news set, Arroyo interviewed a reporter from National Catholic Register about the Corapi affair as if he were covering breaking news of the day like any secular newsman, instead of a massive scandal for which EWTN itself is directly responsible. The people who run EWTN are so wrapped up in playing the game of “We’re a TV network just like the real ones!” that they have lost sight of their own complicity in making this troubled priest an integral part of the spiritual lives of millions of trusting Catholics.
But Corapi is only the latest in a long line of priests EWTN has turned into celebrities only to watch them crash and burn to the disillusionment of the faithful.
Latest (improbable) Corapi installment: Follow the money!
A report from January 28, 2011 states that the Diocese of Corpus Christi, others settle in suit alleging molestation. These others are the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), the order of which Fr. Corapi was a member.
A reader at Facebook suggested the following:
SOLT in conjunction with the Diocese of Corpus Christi has just shelled out 1.96 million dollars to a young man who a priest in SOLT raped and then contracted a murder on. Bishop Mulvey then conveniently receives a letter of accusation of everything from sex to drugs – from a pair of down on their luck losers, who for two years were quietly content to live off the departure money they accepted -who are now in financial straits, whose very house is about to be foreclosed while the head of SOLT then orders Father Corapi to “come home” and give his fortune and be a good little priest.
It’s inexplicable. It’s improbable. It’s unbelievable.
More on the Corapi saga: Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.
When giants fall, the ground shakes. Father John Corapi was a giant and many are still shaken at his downfall. I’ve read all the terrible twists and turns in this surreal case of a SOLT (Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity) priest who had many in the Catholic world by their hearts. It’s a great plot for a movie: popular, iconic priest who leads many to God and, in the end, himself falls. Wait, “fall” isn’t a big enough word. Maybe: plunges from meteoric heights of esteem among the faithful.
Mysterious press release appears to detail more Corapi offenses. No confirmation available.
A press release dated July 5, 2011, alleged to have come from Father Gerard Sheehan, SOLT regional priest servant, details a number of long-term indiscretions on the part of John Corapi that came to light as the result of the recent investigation.
Funny thing is … no one has been able to confirm the existence of said release. There’s nothing about it on the official SOLT website, and at least one high profile Catholic blog has already taken down its post on the matter.
If there’s anything to this, we’ll let you know as soon as it can be properly confirmed. But for now … we wait.
More than anything else, the Corapi affair is a “no confidence vote” on church hierarchy.
by Doug Lawrence
As the “smoke” begins to clear on much of the Father John Corapi affair, what has become strikingly apparent is the utter lack of confidence that Father John and his advisers have in the hierarchy and related juridical structures of the Catholic Church.
One could say that there’s about 2 billion reasons for that lack of confidence, since that’s the approximate amount of cash that has been paid out as a result of the clergy abuse crisis … much of it the result of a widespread, recognizable pattern of various types of malfeasance, stalling, cover-ups and outright duplicity … by certain bishops and their staffs.
Then there’s the critical difference between the absolute infallibility of the official teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, as compared to the all too fallible judgments and petty politics pursued by many Catholic diocesan chanceries, across the nation.
Finally, there’s the unfortunate distinction between the Catholic Church as a real, divine institution … versus the the often flawed or totally failed human implementation of that God inspired ideal.
To put it very simply, and for whatever the reasons, many Catholics … including those in authority … rarely seem to practice what the infallible, official Church has always preached.
This is not a new development. Just ask Saint Joan of Arc.
The simple fact is, “witch hunts” have never really gone out of style, people in authority have never really changed, and even after some 2000 years of practice, the Catholic Church still has a hard time dispensing anything near the quality of justice and charity that it should.
Thank God for the universal, standardized simplicity
of the seven sacraments, since if we had to rely on
the various and particular judgments of such indeliberate and imperfect men for the grace which routinely sanctifies us, we would all likely remain in eternal darkness, forever!
In light of all this, who is fit to criticize Father Corapi for refusing to simplistically entrust his fate to the Church and (possible) divine intervention?
And what about the traditional wisdom of “Acting as if everything depends on us, but praying as if everything depends on God”?
Happy Independence Day!
Corapi law suit contains lurid details of accusations
To me, the most astounding thing about the lawsuit is the lurid details Corapi decides to include, details that, while showing she is not exactly a saint, do not do him any favors either.
For example, the brief argues that “[her] Letter contained numerous false, malicious and unprivileged statements about Corapi including…Corapi met [her] when she was sent to meet him by an escort service whom Corapi had contacted; Corapi was a regular drug purchaser and user who…did drugs with [her] and…three of her sisters; Corapi engaged in sexual acts and sexual intercourse with [her and] … one of [her] sisters; Corapi punched [her] in the face; and Corapi currently has a ‘new mistress.'”
Corapi’s religious order had been trying to get him to come back and “live in community”
CORAPI AND COMMUNITY LIFE
The bigger focus for many now, surrounds his life within the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. There were changes to the constitution in 1994 and they wanted him back in community. In the first interview you will hear Joan Frawley Desmond, who interviewed Corapi’s superior explain that in the beginning, when the founder permitted him to live in solitude and to preach, the arrangement was not for him to live in his own home. I am not entirely clear on how long SOLT has been trying to get him to live back in community, so if someone catches that, please drop it into the combox, and cite the source. Watch that interview to hear it explained by Desmond. This move to live in a home was a later development that he apparently took on himself, and may not necessarily have been what his community desired.
In the end, we learn that attempts to bring him back into community life did not get anywhere. This would not have meant giving up preaching as seems to be the assumption in some writings online. We see members of other communities like the Fathers of Mercy traveling all the time to speak, as well as members of the Dominicans, among others. What it would have meant was giving up the assets: the money, the ranch, the sports car, the business, personal possessions, and perhaps the most difficult of all, the power to do what he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted. I suspect media produced would have been more in line with what we see out of other religious orders.
This goes directly to the vow of obedience and I offer this most especially for those who are discerning a vocation. If a founder or religious superior makes a promise to a member, a future superior is not bound to honor that agreement. Rather, it is the other way around.
Father John Corapi’s Kafkaesque Catch-22
When a good priest’s good name is under siege these days, the situation he faces is best summed up in a combination of two terms from classic literature used in my title. What Father John Corapi and other accused priests face is an all-too-familiar “Kafkaesque Catch-22.”
“Kafkaesque” refers to an oppressive, nightmarish situation from which there seems no escape. It’s a reference to the fictional worlds created by Czech writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924) who wrote in German. “Kafkaesque” is today used to describe a scenario like that in Kafka’s most famous novel, The Trial (1925). It’s the story of an innocent man accused and facing trial, but subtly prevented from offering any defense because the tools for doing so elude him at every turn while prosecutors lurk in the shadows with agendas and motives that are never clear.
A “Catch-22″ is also a situation with no hope of resolution because two mutually incompatible conditions are imposed, each countering and contradicting the other. The term comes from the title of a famous American novel, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (Simon and Shuster, 1955). In Catch-22, a World War II U.S. Air Force pilot desperately wants to avoid combat duty. The only way to do so is to be judged insane. But wanting to avoid combat duty is itself seen as evidence of his sanity. So in the end, a claim of insanity to avoid combat ends up proving his sanity and fitness for combat.
Editor’s note: This article was written by a priest who is presently serving out a jail term, and who claims innocence. The article contains a number of related links that are both interesting and informative.
Priest: Corapi’s actions causing scandal
Briefly… in the hope that I might post more thoughtfully on the subject:
- priests function only by faculty of their respective Ordinaries;
- we all hope for justice in the Church;
- sometimes the innocent suffer;
- this applies to priests;
- priests are ordained to a special consecration unto Christ the Head
- Who was the Innocent Victim
- and if we priests become innocent victims…
- we must be prepared to embrace the suffering involved
- and in humble obedience
- die to ourselves
- even while pursuing the legitimate recourses to which we have a right in Canon Law
- no matter how slowly these may proceed
- or how unjustly we may think we are being treated.
- So Corapi should do the same.
- He should die to self rather than refusing to die (as he puts it on his new website) by “resigning” his priesthood and leading people away from their pastors by the scandal that such a public defection is causing in the Church.
Christina King: I have some information about my dealings with a woman who was Fr. Corapi’s assistant …
One thing I will say, not knowing his accuser or if there was any truth to the accusations, is that when I met a woman working there for him at that conference, I thought her to be odd. I would like to share something only a few people have knowledge of and I do so in case it would help in any way.
When I was at that conference, I could not help but notice the way in which she acted. She acted as if she owned him. I thought at the time that it may have been due to being star struck. I am sure that an assistant of a man of such a charismatic personality would be immune to his ability to inspire and connect with people. She did not realize I was a speaker at the same conference and when I approached her to ask if Fr. Corapi was around and that I would like an opportunity to speak to him and perhaps go to confession with him, she was, in my opinion, not only rude to me, but I felt she treated me as if I was something or someone that she had to “protect” Fr. Corapi from.
Fr. Corapi Filed Defamation Suit On Advice of Fr. Flanagan, Founder of SOLT and Bishop Rene Gracida.
“I filed the civil defamation suit against the accuser on the advice of Fr. James Flanagan, Founder of the Society of Our Lady; and Bishop Rene Gracida, former Bishop of Corpus Christi. They felt it was the only way I could receive justice.” – Fr. Corapi via Facebook
And at BlackSheepDog.com:
“Many have asked, or criticized, me concerning the reason I filed a civil defamation suit against the accuser in this case. It is because the two men I respect most in the Catholic Church advised me to do so. Fr. James Flanagan, Founder and most respected member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, and Bishop Rene Gracida, the former Bishop of Corpus Christi, had a meeting on this matter.
The result was that they advised me strongly to file a civil defamation suit. Why would they do this? Because they felt it was the only way I could receive a fair and just hearing. This advice was conveyed to me through Fr. Tony Anderson of the Society of Our Lady.
Kellmyer: What Fr. Corapi describes is the standard inquisitional process used by the Church for at least 1000 years.
What Fr. Corapi describes is the standard inquisitional process (i.e. the court process) used by the Church for at least 1000 years. Every one of those six points accurately describes how every Catholic inquisition has always been run, except he’s supposed to have the opportunity to list his enemies, so that their testimony can be discounted. Apart from that, he’s pretty accurately describing his situation.
The only people who are shocked by his description are those who don’t know how the Inquisition works. Fr. Corapi is, or rather was, apparently one of those people. He isn’t anymore, of course, but the process by which his illusions were stripped away was clearly unpleasant.
McKinley: Father Corapi’s version of recent events is right on the money.
The accuser does not have to meet any litmus test for ‘credibility’ of the accusation. In fact, their story can be impossible to have taken place, the priest can have witnesses and facts that vindicate him and they are still out of their ministries for over ten years.
During that time, the allegations are withheld from them and their attorneys. They are forbidden from defending themselves.
Their money is cut off so that hiring an attorney relies on getting somebody to do it pro bono.
What do you think the chances are of that?
They bankrupt you financially, morally and spiritually.
There are no rules of civil procedure. In fact, the accused does not have to testify under pains and penalties of perjury while the priests are forced to sign away their right to civilly recover damages for libel, slander and defamation of character. You cannot cross examine.
The diocese, at least here in Boston, provides the accuser with a coach.
You read that right. The archdiocese helps to coach the accuser.
More on the Corapi affair: That “Black Sheep Dog” just might turn out to be a fox.
by Doug Lawrence
One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that the only real power anyone (including the Catholic Church) had over John Corapi was the suspension of his priestly faculties … and once Corapi decided to simply “walk away” … that power was effectively nullified.
Looking to the future, it is also logical (taking John at his word) to assume that his civil suit will successfully prevail, resulting in a retraction of all the allegations against him.
At that point, there will be nothing for the Church to investigate. Then, Corapi and the Church can move towards some type of positive reconciliation/repatriation.
All will appear together, suitably somber and contrite, appropriate sums of money will change hands, and Father John’s priestly suspension will be summarily lifted.
If the sums are large enough, his following loyal enough, and his public relations efforts strong enough, Father John Corapi might even be able to keep living and working on his own. (There is existing Church precedent for all of this.)
In the mean time, “The Black Sheep Dog” will shortly have a new book to sell … and as they say, “You just can’t buy publicity like this!”
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