First up, Max Lindenman<\/a><\/strong>, who says something a few people have wondered about in e-mails to me:<\/p>\n The man is deeply distraught \u2014 that much is obvious. I\u2019ll also venture the guess that he\u2019s either over-medicated or \u2014 perhaps worse \u2014 under-medicated. He strikes too many discordant notes, sends too many mixed signals. Corapi is a very polished and very experienced public speaker; in his right mind, he\u2019d know the importance of consistency. Perhaps he was under some sort of pressure to put out this statement in a hurry. But even if he couldn\u2019t recognize the bizarreness of his message, you\u2019d think somebody close to him would step in and say, \u201cSay, John, don\u2019t you think we ought to tweak that?\u201d<\/p>\n Makes me wonder whether he\u2019s getting bad advice, or more likely, is getting good advice, but disregarding it.<\/p>\n Corapi\u2019s a survivor. He said so in pretty much exactly those words, and that\u2019s a good thing. But what terms is he going to survive on? He\u2019s got a history of addiction and a gramdiose notion of himself \u2014 not a good combination. With his whole world caving in on him, I don\u2019t think it takes a Jewish mother to wonder whether he\u2019ll return to old habits. After all, he no longer has any superiors to answer to. He\u2019s his own man, with exactly as much rope as he\u2019ll need to hang himself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Deacon Bill Ditewig<\/a><\/strong> is also suggesting the best prescription at this juncture may be prayer:<\/p>\n No matter where you fall on your opinion of this man, it is time now to pray for everyone concerned. In particular, we should be praying for the many people who placed so much faith in his ministry. They are finding all of this quite devastating.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Frank Weathers<\/a><\/strong> is unimpressed:<\/p>\n As for me and my house, we won\u2019t be waiting for salvation via Pirate Radio broadcasts from Mr. John Corapi anytime soon. We\u2019ve better things to do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A few people saw this coming, including Lisa Graas<\/a><\/strong> and The Anchoress.<\/a><\/strong> And Mark Shea<\/a><\/strong> is unsparing in his criticism:<\/p>\n He protests his innocence, slimes his accuser and investigators, urges you to buy his stuff in celebration of his 20th Anniversary as a priest<\/a>, while simultaneously abandoning his fatherly vows on Father\u2019s day <\/em>, covering himself in self-pity for his choice and ditching all the people who trusted him, all apparently to transmogrify himself into some sort of Talk Radio\/Internet superhero called \u201cThe Black Sheepdog\u201d so he can reincorporate, start bringing in the bucks again, and convince the suckers who follow him into his new incarnation as guru to blame the Church for his troubles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Another person who is not impressed is Jimmy Akin:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Fr. Corapi\u2014or \u201cthe Black SheepDog\u201d\u2014or whatever he wants to be called\u2014chose not<\/em> to stand firm in the face of what he claimed were false allegations.<\/p>\n Instead, he chose to defy authority and set up his own shop, claiming as a \u201csheep dog\u201d to protect the flock whose leaders he is defying.<\/p>\n Unless something very improbable happens, he has thus abandoned his priesthood in a way that will from here on out bar him from serving as a Catholic priest.<\/p>\n By the way, I had no idea what the result of the investigation would be prior to this announcement, but in view of it, and in view of what was previously known, I am in no way<\/em> surprised.<\/p>\n I wish I had been, but I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n Dang.<\/p>\n I wish things had gone better.<\/p>\n Fr. Corapi has \u201clost it.\u201d<\/p>\n And by \u201cit\u201d I mean any likely chance of working as a priest again.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t matter if the charges against him were false. By refusing to cooperate with the Church\u2019s process, and by announcing his intention to speak in defiance of that authority, he has rejected any chance of resolving the charges against him on the grounds that he is innocent.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And I have to throw out a few questions still waiting for answers:<\/p>\n How come we didn\u2019t see him on that video?<\/em> Conspiracy theorists are arguing in some comboxes, here and elsewhere, that it might not really be him and maybe the whole thing is a huge hoax. And, I gotta say: the imagery used on that tape was creepy to the point of being diabolical.<\/p>\n What does his order have to say about this?<\/em> It would be helpful to get some confirmation from them.<\/p>\n Is he going to stay a Catholic? <\/em> While it appears he is choosing to be laicized and released from his vows,\u00a0 in Catholic theology, Corapi is \u201ca priest forever.\u201d\u00a0 Is he going to encourage his faithful followers (\u201cfans\u201d) to stick with the Church, the institution that he fought for and which he has consistently proclaimed as the sole source of salvation?\u00a0 Or does he have something else now in mind?<\/p>\n What about EWTN?<\/em> They took an enormous amount of heat \u2014 and quite a few heat-seeking missiles \u2014 for taking him off the air when the investigation began.\u00a0 Corapi\u2019s fans have been merciless in condemning the channel for that (even though they had no choice, under the circumstances) and have blitzed the station\u2019s management with petitions and phone calls.\u00a0 I have no doubt a lot of people have stopped giving to the network over this debacle \u2014 and that may be one reason they are pleading for donations right now.\u00a0 The fact remains: EWTN helped make Corapi the media star that he became; inadvertently, that may have contributed to his fall.\u00a0 But he can\u2019t deny that it was their support and encouragement that put him on the map.\u00a0 They gave him the international platform from which he launched his media empire.\u00a0 It would be gracious and generous for him to encourage his fans to keep watching the channel, and to continue to support the invaluable work of EWTN.\u00a0 Somehow, though, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n UPDATE and Mea Culpa:<\/strong> I took out an earlier reference that I\u2019d made to some speculation by a couple of priests.\u00a0 It was gratuitous \u2014 and, as more than a few commenters have pointed out, both unfounded and uncharitable.\u00a0 I\u2019m better than that.\u00a0 And Corapi deserves better than that, too.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/56\/2011\/06\/corapi-300x209.jpg\")
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