On Monday I appeared on Dennis O’Donovan’s Religion, Politics & the Culture Radio Show.
The RPC show airs live, Mondays through Fridays from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm EST. Radio: in Southeast Florida: AM 1040. Internet: www.rpconradio.com.
I think you’ll find it interesting.
March 23, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Extremely well done. Very good arguments, Patrick.
March 23, 2011 at 9:37 pm
Well done, Patrick. I was a little frustrated with the interview because the interviewer was saying the same thing over and over again and using examples which really did not apply – you kept your cool. The process is a bad one. For the protection of children when there is credible information, yes, but for an accusation of impropriety, it is bad. We have the same policy here in Ireland, and I personally think it is an instrument bishops use to protect themselves, to let it be seen that they believe the accuser. For years they did not listen, they dismissed victim's complaints, but now things have reversed: now they are prepared to sacrifice priest's reputation so it can be seen that they are now listening. The "just in case" here is called "best practice". We have gone from one extreme to the other, I hope the Church in the US and Ireland will come back to a common sense position. Fr Corapi's reputation is gone – it does not matter if he is found innocent because there will be people, priests and bishops who will say "no smoke without fire – there must have been something". I also agree with the caller who said that the Church must follow up on those who make false accusations. This does not happen because Catholic priests and bishops are meant to forgive, and so if they pursue a malicious false complaint they will be accused to contradicting Christian teaching, so they do not – they forgive and forget. However, there are people out there who know this and will use it, so making an accusation against a priest is a win-win situation for them. In Ireland we had a former nun, Nora Wall, and a lay worker accused of sexual crimes by two girls. Both were found guilty and jailed for life (unusual sentence). The man died as a result of the pressure. The two girls were found to have lied – the former nun was released. A major miscarriage of justice and a man dead, the two girls were not pursued for their lies – got away with it.
March 23, 2011 at 9:48 pm
The bishops and superior involved made the judgement he has to be suspended. Why do you just assume that they don't deem the accusation is credible? Seems like this very public act says they do. Only Fr. Corapi thinks this complaint isn't credible, and no man is a judge in his own case. Am I missing something?
The host's point that a priest should be more than willing to undergo scrutiny for the sake of the body of Christ is excellent.
March 23, 2011 at 9:50 pm
It is better for a hundred innocent priests to be condemned, than for one guilty priest to go free – the new legal position of the Catholic Bishops.
March 23, 2011 at 10:42 pm
On a related note, I was a bit surprised when I was listening to Immaculate Heart Radio and they continued playing "The Father Corapi Hour."
Praying that the process is swift and just.
March 24, 2011 at 12:32 am
Patrick, thanks for posting the interview here at Creative Minority Report. You were a great guest and gave excellent responses to my questions. The show has a 50% non-Catholic audience. It is my personal opinion that the Church is well-served by a public discussion such as the one you and I had.
Your readers can find a link to our daily radio show on my Facebook page: "Dennis O'Donovan" (with the microphone). Yesterday was Star Parker, coming up we have Professor Robert P. George of Princeton and Senator Rick Santorum.
Thanks again. Peace, Brother.
March 24, 2011 at 1:34 pm
The plaintiff uses nameless "other women" to support her accusation. It may be that these nameless "other women" may not agree with her or they may even support Father Corapi against her. The plaintiff makes it seem that the whole world is against Father Corapi, yet she did not submit the names of the "other women". These individuals will have to be subpoenaed if they truly exist to testify in the liabel lawsuit against the plaintiff and in any perjury action taken by the court.
It appears the plaintiff exaggerated her complaint and assumed that the whole world would accept her say so. This is called "hear say" in a court of law.
Every religious man and woman, priest and nun ascend to a higher calling. The priest and nun do not surrender or repudiate their civil rights as citizens and must, in fact, exercise their civil rights to maintain freedom and Justice in the secular order. I would like to see a legal fund started to defend Father Corapi and prove the truth of this allegation so readily swallowed by some.
March 24, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Fascinating. Why would a nationally syndicated show have to pull Fr. Corapi in deference to a ministry suspension that does not affect the radio or television stations? As a licensed product where payment is made one way or the other or if the program is run gratis with permission from the author, suspension of the author from preaching should not determine if previously recorded programs run as scheduled and any future programs not produced due to the suspension should be replaced by re-runs until the time of re-instatement. I believe we can agree that he is preaching "Truth", so I find it hard to believe that his suspension from the airwaves serves any purpose but the devils. The radio/TV station owners have no more obligation to take hime off the air than a restaurant owner has to not use recipes in a cookbook if the author of the cook book is accused of being an adulterer.
traditionaltroubleshooter@catholic.org
March 24, 2011 at 7:29 pm
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March 24, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Patrick,
I wish I would have heard this live. I was a cop for 11 years before working on my masters degree in Theology, and leaving to work for the Church. I am blogging now over at http://makingthingsvisible.blogspot.com/. In any event, I can promise your statement about the police conducting an investigation before imposing any sort of sanction, is absolute. You were fantastic brother!
I really hope this guy was just playing "devil's advocate." If he actually believes that you should just Lord the law over people without thinking through how to apply it to each individual case, well that is just unreasonable.
You are in my prayers! Thanks for your work.