But I received an e-mail this morning from a Catholic priest upset over my "Mr. Corpai Goes. I Stay" post. As you will find in the sidebar, I subscribe to the well known Welborn Protocol when it comes to correspondence. So here is the note in it's entirety followed by my reply.
Frank,
Your comments regarding Fr. Corapi are remarkably cruel. Once an accusation is made, the priest is automatically suspended period. The suspension is indefinite. It is not the priest's choice in any way. He may not wear clerical garb, use any honorific titles, preach or engage in any sort of sacramental ministry. The priest is at a disadvantage from the get-go and rarely if ever is vindicated. Thank the good Lord Corapi is a religious in that he can return to his community so he has a place to live and food. Diocesan priests in his situation do not have that to fall back on.
The magnitude of the injustice is hard to fathom. Everyone has a right to his reputation and his good name.
Whether or not Fr. Corapi's message, style, and ministry appealed to you is beside the point. Yes, life will indeed go on whether or not he is preaching, etc. But to write in such a cavalier fashion about a priest's life and ministry that is now thoroughly destroyed is really mean spirited.
You do no service to the Faith by writing as you did regarding Fr. Corapi.
In His Name,
Fr. B
Dear Father B,
I appreciate your note, though I am at a loss to see how I was as "cruel" with Corapi as you feel I was. Actually, I didn't even get warmed up. Indeed, the post that I believe you are referring to is only the second time I have ever even written about the Corapi kurfuffle.
 |
| Help a brother out! |
And in Corapi's case, he knows who his accuser is. He's said so repeatedly, and even said in his latest announcement that she is "the one person that I can honestly say I did more to help and support than any human being in my entire life.” Honesty, after all, is the best policy. As for the investigation process, I look to others for guidance. I humbly know my limitations.
I'm just a simple man, Fr. B, and a relatively new Catholic. One of the many things that impresses me about Catholic priests and religious is that they take vows of Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience. They sacrifice much for the reward of leading people in the faith. The priests bring us the Sacraments, so that our travail in this valley of tears through life on earth are made bearable. Thanks be to God for this.
Later on, I learned that not all priests take the vow of poverty. Though most Diocesan priests aren't exactly wealthy, some are. Either way, the same safety net that is extended to every citizen of this country is extended to priests and religious as well. Unemployment compensation, Social Security, etc. All are covered, including unemployed priests. I'm not sure if Mr. Corapi qualifies for unemployment now that he has resigned from the priesthood though. I think you actually have to lose your job for a different reason than quitting it in order to collect unemployment compensation. I could be wrong on this.
Anyhow, as the Corapi kerfuffle continued to unfold, I ran into other stories about how not only did Corapi not take a vow of poverty, but that he set up a "for-profit" media empire instead. That he lived in a sumptuous mansion and estate out West. Owning multiple homes and, for all I know, maybe he has a private helicopter too. Granted, I don't know whether these stories are all true or not (I hope the truth all comes to light somehow), but I understand that the order he was affiliated with, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, basically didn't make a single penny from all of the books, tapes, and speaking engagements that he sold over the course of his career as a Catholic priest.
 |
| Feed me $$$, sheep. |
As a rookie lay Catholic, I'm not sure why anyone in the Church heirarchy would give any priest carte blanch to make a ton of money off the flock, you know, Elmer Gantry style, that didn't somehow wind up helping the poor in Mother Teresa's mission field, or in some other way that helped spread the Good News to the world. This raises serious questions in my mind. Questions that I hope those who are better versed, and who have deeper knowledge in these matters than I, pursue and bring to resolution. I'm just Joe Six-Pack, USMC. At best, all I can do is handle ridiculous pseudo-dramas like this in a cavalier manner.
As the drama continued to spin, frequently from late Friday afternoon Scud missiles launched from Corapi's lair at Santa Cruz Media, there were other things I heard as time went on. Like when someone in the past had busted Corapi's chops when he had claimed to have enlisted in the Army with a guarantee for Special Forces training. But, as the Corapi version of the story goes, due to a training accident (an unlikely one involving a helicopter) he wound up as a clerk-typist in Germany instead, making outstanding clerk-typists, who serve in the military with honor the world over, look bad in the bargain. If this episode, claiming Special Forces training and black-belt fighting skills, etc. is true Father, then it is just plain wrong.
News flash: No one enlists with guarantees for Special Forces training. Not in my military experience anyway. No, first you endure all the regular training, spend some time in your specialty, and only then can you apply for, and appear before selection boards for, special duties like I did when I became a Marine Security Guard. Anyone who claims that they were guaranteed the Green Beret in the local Army recruiters office definitely does not pass the "smell test." That is unless you're looking for the "Stinky Cheese Man." I am not.
So now, a short three months later, the world learns that Corapi is giving up his vocation as a Catholic priest, and instead is launching a new, and I reckon "improved," venture with a new name and a creepy photograph of a (dyed?) black canine eyeing sheep and wolves with equally malevolent stares. So I said what you perceived as a cruel thing:
As for me and my house, we won't be waiting for salvation via Pirate Radio broadcasts from Mr. John Corapi anytime soon. We've better things to do. And better speeches to read.
 |
| Happy Fathers Day! |
"Yawn."
Have a listen to this classic by Nick Lowe before moving on to the next segment of my reply, if you please.
Yes indeed, I reckon sometimes we must be cruel to be kind, in the right measure. Get angry a bit, because it is no sin to get angry. Christ was angered when the temple was being used as a marketplace. As the scriptures note, He broke out a whip and scrambled that egg with a wrath that cleaned house rather dramatically. Would have made a big impression on me, if I would have witnessed it. That's for sure.
 |
| Eyes like these |
It's that dead look in my eyes, from all the horrors that I have seen, so I'm sort of immune to it. Gentlemen to bed! Gentlemen to bed, for we leave at first light. Tomorrow we battle. We may lose our lives, but remember...Death is but a moment; cowardice is a lifetime affliction.
Yeah, that is a made up speech from a silly movie, but rousing nonetheless. But St. Paul's words from a few days back are the ones that stand us in good stead and last forever. I shared those too, in my alleged cruelty as you may recall,
dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city,
dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea,
dangers among false brothers;
Is John Corapi a false brother? I don't know. He's not a member of the priesthood any longer, that is for sure. Is he still a Catholic, loyal to the Magisterium? I don't know that either. He's kind of vague on that in his announcement. All that is known for sure points to him not being loyal to anyone but himself. Not to his (former) office as a priest (while you soldier on, my brother!), not to his superiors, nor to his order, and not even to his flock of followers, who at last count on his Facebook fan page, stand at 52,800+ souls.
 |
| I wear my gray hair proudly |
He tasks me! He tasks me, and I shall have him! I'll chase him round the Moons of Nibia, and round the Antares Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up! Prepare to alter course!
—Khan Noonien Singh, in Star Trek II, riffing off Herman Melville's Captain Ahab from Moby Dick.
No. I won't be following any comic book characters anywhere Father. Not Darth Vader, not Dr. Evil, Not Kahn nor Captain Ahab. I follow Jesus Christ and His Church. I'm loyal to Him and to Her. I'll continue to study His Word, and His message. That way, see, when somebody goes off-message, I'll be able to recite with clarity and authority, these words of an immortal soldier,
Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling.
As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." —Joshua 24:14-15.
Thank you again for your note. Have a happy Fathers Day and a blessed Holy Trinity Sunday. Please pray for me and for all who have been affected by this unfortunate incident. I am,
His Obedient Servant,
Frank
Update: Following the Black Sheep Dog Down the Rabbit Hole
Breaking News: Corapi’s superior: “We wanted him to come back to the community…”
