I have to think this through, but I thought I might post some of the things running through my head.
One the one hand, if the process is anything like what Corapi describes with secret accusers and secret accusations and no due process, the Church is acting in a grossly unfair way.
On the other hand, it has only been three months and he throws in the towel on the whole priesthood? Rather than suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Corapi answered the ‘to be or not to be’ with a resounding ‘not to be.’
The process may be grossly unfair, but it really has only begun. Throwing in the towel so quickly, unfair process or not, is not the only thing that stinks in Denmark.
Leaving the priesthood so that you can continue your (profit making?) ministry after three months says that he does not hold his priesthood in very high regard. How can a priest give up saying the Mass so easily?
There are priests in China who suffer much more than Corapi has in these last few months at the hands of a much more unjust system but would never consider giving up their legitimate priesthood. Never.
This quick decision to abandon the priesthood by Corapi cannot help leave one with the impression that the priesthood was only a means to an end. When the going got rough, he quickly dumped the priesthood to move on. This does not speak well of him.
I have a tendency to think in analogies and metaphors to help clarify my thinking. I know this is not a perfect parallel but imagine…
I have unfairly been accused of adultery. My wife ignores my protestations and moves out and will not even pick up the phone. What kind of man would I be if I said after three months, I guess divorce is my only option?
What about pray, suffer, persevere? And then pray some more?
I don’t think that quitting the priesthood necessarily means that Corapi is guilty of what he has been accused (but it doesn’t inspire confidence.) That said, quitting the priesthood may mean he was not a very good priest or man.
June 19, 2011 at 2:31 am
"He did not ask to be made into a "big star". All he did was travel around preaching, the Catechism. That his audience grew and grew, not for his asides about his past history or his comments but for the truth, for the Catechism"
Not exactly.
Corapi tweaked his image and enhanced his CV. He did not reach fame by teaching about the Catechism – he did it by flogging his suppose life and conversion story.
He built a career putting himself at the center.
He also built a career of preaching being very selective and demanding of those who hosted him. That's how it's done. You don't become in demand by being easy and available. You create a persona of a rock star and then people treat you like that. So…Corapi wouldn't go into a parish to do a mission unless he was guaranteed a 15K take for the week.
And so on.
June 19, 2011 at 2:36 am
Goodbye Corapi. Enjoyed your talks but no more (even if your innocent).
June 19, 2011 at 2:46 am
Never trust a man who dyes his hair.
June 19, 2011 at 3:06 am
Paul and Peter disagreed. Corapi and Peter diagree.
June 19, 2011 at 3:58 am
I started listening to some outstanding homilies on-line.
In order for a priest to have a homily posted, the requirement is that the priest whose homily is posted must remain anonymous. The purpose is to be edified by preaching of the Word, not attachment to the preacher.
After this story of Fr. Corapi, I respect this policy so much.
Based on my own sin and weaknesses, I now see how this wisely protects the preacher as much as the listener. We are all susceptible.
I humbly remain in awe of Jesus and His Blessed Mother. Think of the crowds he commanded and the choice He made…
Thank you to all the priests who remind us to focus on Jesus and His mother, no matter the state of their souls. We entrust that to God.
May these priests remain anonymous on earth and receive great reward in Heaven. If called to public attention, may God Himself sustain them. Nothing less will do.
June 19, 2011 at 4:20 am
I'm from Texas and so won't push the sheep metaphor very far, but we do have a Shepherd, and Mr. Corapi ain't it. Neither are the keyboard commandos. Just goin' to Mass in the morning to listen and to receive.
June 19, 2011 at 6:27 am
obviously most people have never been falsely accused of anything. for those of us who have it can be right unsettling.
but the question remains – has he taught anything contrary to the deposit of the faith.
June 19, 2011 at 2:30 pm
the Bishop of Corpus Christi is not an evil man. He's orthodox and loyal to the Magisterium. This is the damage that Corapi is doing. He's poisoning people to believe that he's been treated unfairly by the Bishop of CC.
Sorry, but I don't follow Fr. Corapi. I follow Jesus Christ. I am not going to let this sad event in Corapi's life destroy the obedience I have to the Shepherd of the Corpus Christi Diocese.
June 19, 2011 at 2:52 pm
I'm a Catholic and a convert of 25+ years. I've said it many times and I'll say it again: CATHOLICS TREAT EACH OTHER LIKE CRAP. Many Catholics are just judgmental and silly and a lot of them are just plain mean, and that's a fact. You have to wonder if they just inherited what religion they say they have. YOu have to wonder if they've ever read any scripture at all for themselves, EVER.
About the popular Catholic bloggers who have said such awful things, knocking someone else in order to increase your readership is not Christian. In fact, most of the pagans I know would not stoop that low. Seriously. It's disgusting.
PS. I'm not a fan of Fr. Corapi's. He's not my type of preacher, but that doesn't make it okay to treat him like crap in public no matter what he's done or not done, Catholic or not.
If he upsets you so badly, you should ask yourself why and accept only an answer that's beyond your stupid immature cliches. Think for once. It'll do you good.
June 19, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Mr. Archbold, your thoughts on the whole insane mess exactly echo mine.
Holy Mary pray for us!
June 19, 2011 at 4:07 pm
A+ Patricia!
Mary-May
June 19, 2011 at 9:28 pm
I have written my thoughts here (if I may):
https://mundabor.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/father-corapi-padre-pio-and-the-clerical-garb/
Besides what I have written in my blog post, there is a problem of many Catholics now going around saying that abandoning holy orders can be justified. It cannot.
A priest is a soldier in Christ's trench before being everything else (say: a TV star, or an entrepreneur). He is not supposed to leave the trench because he doesn't like how his commanding officer treats him.
A priest is a victim before being a preacher.
A priest can be sent to Iraq, or to Pakistan, every day. When he becomes a priest, he knows all this. Father Corapi is being disingenuous in his saying that the only alternative to rebellion to his holy orders is to lay down and lie, or such like.
This is why, by all understanding for the difficult situation and the, in my eyes, absurd way the diocese is proceeding with him, we Catholic bloggers should point out to the fact that we are no Protestants, and that by us you don't leave just because you don't like the situation anymore.
Best wishes to him. Wishes that he sees the light and tries to remedy as he can.
Mundabor
June 20, 2011 at 1:01 am
In the absence of knowledge, no judgment is possible.
Prayers, charity, and love are all needed. Let us seek first to remove the log from our own eye.
June 20, 2011 at 2:08 am
First you say, "I have to think this through, but …"
Then you write, "Quitting the priesthood may mean he was not a very good priest or man."
WOW. That may not be character assassination, but it is way out of line. Maybe people should simply quit yapping and speculating when they have no first hand involvement. The truth will come out. In the meantime, does the Internet HAVE to comment on everything instantaneously? Whatever happened to reticence and a desire not to contribute to gossip. I found Corapi's video outrageously out of line myself, but we simply don't know any of the deal. "Not a very good man," and yesterday bell of the Catholic ball. Not a nice crowd to party with. Much less pray…
June 20, 2011 at 3:23 am
Hilarious.
Nobody really knows anything about Corapi's situation nor does anyone know exactly what he intends to do or what he really means by leaving active ministry of the priesthood.
And yet wagging tongues and flailing fingers can't keep from denouncing or praising Corapi…all the while nobody knows anything.
The internet sucks.
June 20, 2011 at 6:48 am
As I pray and my heart cries in sadness today.
The devil is having a field day making the priesthood look like a joke. I ask Jesus to cover Fr. Corapi with His precious blood and protect him from the evil one. How awful to be accused of wrong doing if one is innocent. I shall continue to pray the Mercy rosary for him.
June 20, 2011 at 7:08 am
So, Fr. Corapi will be available on radio, and in print. Frankly, a person needs to earn their daily bread and Fr. Corapi is no exception. Especially now that he's left the RC priesthood.
At this point it would be just fine if Fr. Corapi doesn't turn into another Cutié, who never misses a chance to throw petulant and scornful jabs at the Church during interviews, on print, and now his new "Father Oprah"-type self-help TV show.
June 20, 2011 at 12:52 pm
From the autobiography excerpt on http://www.fathercorapi.com/Webpage.aspx?WebpageId=78&CategoryId=25
"Finally, I knelt before the Successor of St. Peter. His hands rested on my head as he conferred the sacrament of Holy Orders. A thousand dark and desperate moments, like malevolent soldiers from another time, crashed the gate, and at what seemed like the speed of a single thought, my whole life passed before me.
I was terrified, and I had no idea where I was. My head and my heart were pounding from the effects of three days of a cocaine-induced hell. What goes up must come down, and the law of gravity was functioning just as predictably on my body and mind as it does on all material objects. The White Lady is seductive and exotic when first you meet her, but in the end she’s a cruel and heartless lover. She’ll leave you more desolate, cold, and miserable than you ever could imagine. If she doesn’t give you a heart attack, she may convince you to kill yourself, for the dark depths of despair can be unbearable."
What is the man saying here? Hasn't anyone noticed this in all chaos? Is HE saying he was stoned or just off a bender when he was ordained?
I noticed someone earlier said, "grow up no he wasn't high", but it looks to me like he is saying he was. Is anyone else reading this passage that way and if so what if any are the implications?
June 20, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Read it again, Anonymous. He's saying that during his ordination he flashed back through his life. "…my whole life passed before me." The second paragraph is a memory. I would be willing to bet (although I haven't read the autobiography) that there were other events also highlighted by the Life-in-Review that occurred at the moment of his ordination.
June 20, 2011 at 3:57 pm
The scary fact about this is that Fr. Corapi was Fr. Tom Eiutentauer's spiritual director. The beyond scandalous nature of Fr. Tom's evil actions (mostly unknown by the general public)gives me pause. What if this is not just a coincidence?