Corapi, John

Buzz on a famous Sacramento priest.
.
See how much better he looks when he doesn't dye his beard and get himself so tanned up?  He looks great in civvies too - and he looks much more rested.  I want to read his autobiography when it comes out.  (I smell a movie-script here too.)  I'm hoping he reveals who the starlet was he had with him in the fancy sportscar drive to Vegas.  I keep thinking it could have been Tatum O'Neil - although maybe she was too young at the time - additionally, she could have been too wasted to remember.
.
Anyway - the first secular press mention of the lawsuit against his whistle blower that I have encountered has come to light today - making it a 'public' issue now, and not just a 'private' ho-hum mind-your-own-business Catholic priest scandal.  It's 'civil' now, man.  I wish it could get on Judge Judy.
.
Here's the deal from The Sacramento Bee:
.
A former Sacramento priest and nationally known speaker has filed a lawsuit against the woman who accused him of sexual misconduct.
.
The Rev. John Corapi, who served as the director of Catholic Faith Formation in Sacramento in the 1990s, filed a lawsuit in the 11th Judicial District Court of Montana, where he now lives. He alleges that his accuser committed libel and that a letter she wrote to his religious superiors contained "numerous false, malicious and unprivileged statements" about the priest. He is suing for punitive and unspecified compensatory damages.
.
In the lawsuit, Corapi said the success of his ministry depends on his reputation and his position of a priest in good standing.  Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/30/3737877/former-sacramento-priest-files.html#ixzz1QmEsTHVO
.
Works for me.
.
For a synopsis of what's been happening regarding the Corapi affair I've found Diane's reporting at Te Deum to be helpful - she also has an amazing photo of Fr. Corapi at the top of the post.  The Anchoress has her good objective commentary as well. 
.
The Black SheepDog website hasn't been updated for awhile.  I'm thinking TMZ might get a hold of the story pretty soon and we'll maybe get better coverage.  I'd love to see photos of the ranch.  What?

UPDATE:  1 July - there has been an update.  A patriotic update no less.  Black SheepDog

The Anchoress confronts the mob...

Elizabeth Scalia tells it like it is.
.
She's a very smart lady and has just about the best perspective possible on the Fr. Corapi phenomenon.  Scalia pretty much articulates all of what I have been thinking regarding the scandal, especially as it concerns Corapi's defenders - who have been acting like agents of the Inquisition.  The Anchoress sums it up beautifully here:  The Corapi Story; Devil's Delight 
.
Photo:  The "Anonymous Commenter".

Great quote.

*Repost.

Regarding the failure of leadership by bishops and other Catholic leaders, Fr. Corapi, states, "I sympathize with anybody's dilemma who is in authority - but I only sympathize with it to a point." He explains, "If you don't have a backbone, you can't stand up straight. And if you can't stand, you're apt to fall for anything." - Source
.
FYI:  I'm actually beginning to think that Corapi is most likely innocent of the charges against him - whatever those entail.  But as far as I'm concerned, this little upset to the 'brand' is certainly good for the soul.
.
*Originally published October 9, 2009

Defenders of Fr. Corapi attack EWTN.

Biting the hand that feeds the many.
.
EWTN is a rare commodity in media - the network offers good Catholic programming, yet some Catholics in this country like to paint the network as utterly given over to Modernism.  There is nothing wrong with critiquing a network and its programming, but to condemn and attack it as they do many of the more non-Traditional bishops, priests and various liturgical abuse seen in the Church, seems to me to be like biting the hand that feeds many Catholics who are otherwise not exposed to sound Catholic teaching.
.
Currently it appears most of the attacks are coming from the devoted fans of Fr. Corapi, based upon the fact the network has seen fit to cancel Corapi's programs for the duration of the investigation into the allegations leveled against the popular preacher.  The network is acting out of deference to Church authority.
.

“A priest, has no right to public ministry in the Church on his own. He cannot function publicly without the express permission of his bishop or religious superior. That is the discipline of the Church.” - Michael Warsaw
.
The Eternal Word Television Network said its decision to halt programming by the popular speaker Fr. John Corapi followed the lead of legitimate Church authority.
.
“EWTN has an obligation to uphold the discipline and teachings of the Church,” president Michael Warsaw said on April 1. “In the network’s thirty years of existence, our practice has always been to discontinue airing programs featuring any cleric whose priestly faculties have been suspended, even if temporarily,” Warsaw said.
.
EWTN pulled Fr. Corapi’s programs following the priest’s announcement on Ash Wednesday that he has been publicly accused of drug abuse and sexual relationships with several women. Fr. Corapi has denied the allegations.
.
In the weeks since then, EWTN has come under intense criticism for its decision.
.
In his statement, Warsaw said that much of that criticism has been “shrill and uncharitable.” He said that many people have threatened to withhold donations and have made personal remarks attacking the network’s employees.
.
“When I see messages and web postings that malign the character and intentions of people who have served this mission for years, often at great personal sacrifice, I cannot allow those assertions to stand unanswered,” he said. - Finish reading here.
.
In the end, 'all will be well' - good will come from this.
.
Perhaps one more good reason for the interruption of the Fr. Corapi business - regardless of his guilt or innocence - may be the opportunity to call into question  the personality cult which appears to have developed around him over the years.  
.
(I wonder if the same thinking was behind the HLI decision to pull Fr. Euteneuer's book?)

So far the best thing about the Fr. Corapi story:

Some questions regarding his business and religious life have been answered.
.
1) Fr. Corapi was given freedom to conduct his ministry more or less independently of SOLT.
.
2) Though wearing a habit of a mendicant for a time, it appears he was permitted to have his own private company and residence.  A report from the National Catholic Register:
.
"He made Santa Cruz Media a for-profit company, he told his superiors, in order to have the proper freedom to proclaim the Gospel without any fear of raising issues that might threaten the company’s tax-exempt status.  He said he would pay his taxes and proclaim the Gospel fearlessly. Father Flanagan allowed him to manage his own funds. No one knew it would become so big.
.
Nevertheless, the vice president of operations of Santa Cruz Media, Inc. described Corapi's for-profit production company as a “secular corporation and not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way. As such, we are not under the jurisdiction of any bishop or other official in the Catholic Church.” - Fr. Corapi's Superior offers a look into the SOLT's relationship with the priest.  
.
Then to whom is Fr. Corapi accountable?  I noted on another site that he does not have faculties in the diocese in which he lives.  I'm aware that his superiors are investigating the allegations against him, but he seemed to be acting as a free agent up until now.       
.
"There is great gain in religion..."
.
Link:
Assessing the Fr. Corapi Case  Be sure and read the comments.

The John Corapi Affair.

Some thoughts...
.
One risks being called a bad Catholic if one expresses reservations concerning this very public story about this somewhat famous priest, currently accused of sexual misconduct and drug abuse.  As most of my readers know, the priest, Fr. John Corapi issued a public statement last week concerning canonical, non-criminal investigations into the charges against him as a result of a whistle blower former employee, described as disgruntled, and letters she sent to more than one bishop.  Corapi's superior's, not the bishops, called for the investigation and as is customary, placing Corapi on administrative leave in the process - at least until the investigation is completed.
.
It is hardly an attack upon the Church, priests, or the priest under investigation, to question the one sided version of this story made public by the man accused.  Catholics have been pretty much shell shocked since the height of the sexual abuse scandal and cover-up throughout the Catholic Church.  The stories keep on coming, most recently involving Fr. Euteneuer, a famous American priest.  Not too many months prior to the Euteneuer case, the Catholic faithful were scandalized by the Fr. Maciel revelations of a double life.  Locally a few priests have had their personal double lives exposed as well.  This is stuff Hollywood movies are made of.  Hence, when another accusation surfaces - thinking Catholics actually pay attention to details, and they ask questions, even sorting through possible evidential signs of behavior and statements by the accused.
.
One particular misstatement made by Fr. Corapi's 'company', of which he is the head, owner, director - what have you, states that Bishop William M. Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas, acted illicitly in removing Fr. Corapi from public ministry.  The spokesman for Corapi's company, Bobbi Ruffatto claimed the Bishop acted improperly and that the USCCB's policy of removing accused priests from active ministry after such accusations is wrong.  That statement echoes Fr. Corapi's personal statement regarding the events.
.
The truth is, Corapi's congregation enacted the suspension, not the diocese.  It is curious how that fact could be obscured.  Obviously, I am not the only person to question such things.  From my local Archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Spirit:
.
Fr. Corapi's company...
.
"A representative of the media company owned by Father John Corapi challenged the action to place the popular speaker on administrative leave from priestly ministry, saying that it was illicit under “several points of canon law.”

.
Bobbi Ruffatto, vice president of operations at Santa Cruz Media, Inc., in Kalispell, Mont., charged in a posting on Father Corapi’s Facebook page March 25 that Bishop William M. Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas, acted improperly, according to canon lawyers consulted by the company.
.
The statement offered no specific citations of canon law.
.
However, Marty Wind, director of communications for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, disputed Ruffatto’s claim that Bishop Mulvey placed Father Corapi on leave. He said the action was taken by officials of the priest’s order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity in Robstown, Texas.
.
"We have been clear from the beginning that the bishop of Corpus Christi was notified by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity that the administrative leave was imposed by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, not the bishop of the diocese,” Wind told Catholic News Service March 25.
.
Wind said that although Father Corapi was placed on leave, “it’s been the position of the Diocese of Corpus Christi from the outset that the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise is of the highest importance.”

.
Calls and emails from Catholic News Service to Santa Cruz Media requesting comment from Father Corapi and Ruffatto were not returned.
.
Online records with the Montana secretary of state list John Corapi as the registered agent for the company. A company with the same name also is registered in Nevada and online records in the secretary of state’s office there indicated John A. Corapi holds the office of president, treasurer, secretary and director. - Catholic Spirit
.

Links to other writers who have been objectively and dispassionately watching the case as it unfolds:
.
Elizabeth Scalia

Deacon Greg Kandra

Tom O'Toole

Mark Shea