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	Elvis Has Left the Building, but Fr. Corapi Has Not Left the Priesthood A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics June 20, 2011 http://veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/elvis-has-left-the-building-but-fr-corapi-has-not-left-the-priesthood/ And no, I'm not arguing on the ground of the indelible character of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, I'm saying that Fr. Corapi will remain a priest, he will simply no longer speak as one in public (and, of course, cannot celebrate the Sacraments publicly). Retired Bishop Rene Gracida of Corpus Christi, who approved the basing of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (Fr. Corapi's order) in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, and who has many contacts in that order, has some very interesting thoughts on the matter: As a suspended priest he cannot function publicly as a priest, but he can continue to evangelize as long as he does not present himself to the public as a priest. Every baptized person is given the obligation of being a witness to the truth, of being an evangelizer. In Father Corapi's case, the obligation is all the greater in view of the gift of the sacramental priesthood he has been given. Prevented (hopefully only temporarily) from exercising that priesthood in a public manner during his suspension, he is aware of his obligation to be a witness to the truth and to continue to evangelize. He evidently intends to do so until his suspension is lifted not as Father John Corapi but as The Black Sheep Dog. Now, until his suspension is lifted, he is free from the Church's prohibition on clerics participating in the political life of the nation. Given his past outspoken criticism of the current slide of our government to become more and more like the socialist governments of Europe, I think that we can expect to hear The Black Sheep Dog speak out more openly on the burning issues we will face in the election year of 2012. I know from my own experience that God sometimes "writes straight with crooked lines" as the Portuguese put it, and so perhaps God is using this new (unwanted) freedom from ecclesiastical restraint to permit The Black Sheep Dog to say some important things in the next 16 months on those burning issues. I believe that he is justified in not seeking to clear his name through a canonical process; at the present time such processes are very flawed in most dioceses. Rather I would like to believe that he intends to try to clear his name through the civil courts. Since I believe that his accuser is a former manager of his media company who he terminated with some kind termination agreement, and since she has evidently sought revenge for her termination by writing to the Bishop of Corpus Christi denouncing Father John, I believe that it is possible for him to do so and I wish him every success in such an endeavor. The basis for his lawsuit would probably be defamation of character, libel, extortion, breech of contract, or whatever. Reading some of the comments on his blog I am appalled at the viciousness of some of them. [heh.....and hardly just the comments at Corapi's new blog. I think Shea just about blew a head gasket keystroking out his missive, among others. Many seem very happy to dismiss the great good Corapi has done as nothing but 'get-rich' self-aggrandizement.] It is obvious that there is very little if any love in the hearts of some of the writers. [As I was saying.......] It is almost as though some of those writers are filled with hatred for the Catholic Church and/or its priests. It is possible to disagree about almost anything without resorting to ad hominem personal attacks. What many of these hostile commentators seem to be unaware of is the fact that Father John Corapi does not belong to a religious order or congregation. He is not a priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, he is incardinated in the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, a diocesan institute I established in the Diocese of Corpus Christi when I was the Ordinary of the Diocese. He has never held an assignment in the Diocese nor has he ever worked in the Diocese. Following his ordination in Rome in 1991 by Blessed Pope John Paul II he has ministered in many places, but not in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. With the permission of his superiors he established his media company in Montana and has lived there ever since. As a member of that Society (The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity) Father John is not bound by a vow of poverty. He is bound by a promise of obedience to his superior, the General Priest Servant of the Society. Alot of folks, some of whom I think have generally good motives with regard to the Church, are jumping to the easy and self-satisfying conclusion that Fr. Corapi loves Mammon more than Jesus, his ostensibly lucrative media company more than the priesthood. For a fact, none making these claims has any idea where the money from Corapi's media efforts goes – they assume into his pockets, but there is no evidence of that. We don't know where it goes. I'm not in love with Fr. Corapi, and I think some of his 'conversion story' has been exaggerated for effect and that his preaching has gotten somewhat tired of late. But he still has enormous impact and I think was faced with the choice of slipping off into ineffectual silence or going a different route – but he has not 'left the priesthood.' He has chosen to speak out as a non-priest during this time of suspension. That means he can no longer market himself as Fr. John Corapi, which is a huge marketing hit. That means all those videos that sold in very large volumes had to be cleared out of the warehouse at fire sale prices. It means that his future in evangelization is very uncertain, but at least he controls his own destiny. There is another point. It is no secret that the Church is badly divided right now, and this includes the episcopate. Fr. Corapi has many friends and supporters, and many enemies. He referenced in his announcement that there are elements arrayed against him who want to insure he is totally silenced. It is likely he has heard back channel from supporters that this was the intent of the 'suspension.' It may have been that he was told those who oppose him were likely to be successful in their effort, given the current state of affairs in the Church. That could explain the route he took. I defend Corapi because he is a good, orthodox priest, at least as far as his public persona is concerned. I defend him because of the individuals attacking him. I defend him because the self-serving conclusions being jumped to by many are just that – self-serving. Many don't like Corapi for his politics, for his clarity, and for his great success. Many have waited to see the larger than life priest cut down to size. As Fr. Z said, one thing is certain – all of our good orthodox priests need more prayers than ever. There is a serious backlash underway and they are under horrible attack. Please spend 5 or 10 minutes praying for your priests, at a minimum. Pray for them by name. Be specific about your intentions for them, and pray we have more such good men. UPDATE: As always in fast developing situations like this, I am forced to re-apprise situations based on additional information. The additional information comes in the form of comments from Fr. Gerry Sheehan, regional for SOLT North America (Fr. Corapi's religious 'boss,' in lay terms) in the National Catholic Register, which indicate that Corapi did actually pen a resignation from the priesthood and that, more significantly, he has refused an offer to serve God in community with SOLT. Sheehan also implies that SOLT was in the process of changing its 'rule' to prevent people like Corapi from keeping any of the earnings they made in the course of their religious life. This points towards a more self-serving motive for Corapi than Bishop Gracida indicated. I have to say right now that I know Fr. Sheehan personally and trust him implicitly – my father-in-law knows him particularly well, whereas I have met him on several occasions and corresponded with him via letters and telephone. If Fr. Sheehan says that Corapi has submitted a resignation letter from the priesthood, you can take it to the bank. The most positive spin to put on this is that Corapi felt that he knew he would never have a public role as a priest again and knew that the only way he could continue in a public role is to leave the priesthood. How he came to know the above, one can only guess, and it's certainly not 'proven' by any publicly available information. The worst case analysis points towards Corapi self-servingly leaving the priesthood in order to continue his lucrative speaking engagements and video sales. Based on Sheehan's comments, I think this worst case scenario is more plausible than I did last night, when I was just coming back from 3 days out of town completely isolated from any source of news (if you want peace and quiet, I might suggest 3 miles NE of Phillipsburg, KS). I am profoundly disappointed that Corapi would choose to leave the priesthood for any reason. To deny that great gift of celebrating the Sacraments, no matter what good one can do otherwise, points to a lack of understanding of the incredible, beyond human nature capacities that were conferred on him in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Evangelization is of course extremely important, but leaving the priesthood to do so seems a step too far – it says to me that Corapi thinks a bit too much of his importance in this area. We'll have to see what develops at his 'blacksheepdog' site, and what his many followers do. This could be a disaster, or it could be a minor triviality quickly forgotten. Meanwhile, I say again, pray pray pray for our priests, especially those who are striving to improve catechesis, reverence in the Liturgy, and live a simple and devout life. They are under the most severe attack at present! And say some prayers for Fr. Sheehan, he has suffered greatly in this last year – there have been a number of issues outside Corapi that have been difficult to deal with.
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