Corralling Corapi: Pandora’s Box?

John Corapi has released another statement.

In what has emerged as a pitiful volley of “he said-he said,” Corapi again defends himself against accusations leveled against him by his own order.  The S.O.L.T., similarly, had been defending itself against Corapi’s blunt criticisms.

There has never been any sexual impropriety, Corapi insists.  Never any paid hush money.  Never was deception intended; he was only following the studied advice of his legal team.  His financial independence, he says, was by mutual consent, since the Society of Our Lady was unable to support his ministry with its extensive travel requirements.  He has always, Corapi says, contributed generously to the order and to other charitable causes.

Oh, gosh darn, I don’t know!  Only the Mind of God could skillfully traverse all the twists and turns of this unfortunate story.  I do know this:  It’s an embarrassment to the Church and to the priesthood, and a weighty distraction to the people of God.  Many good people have benefitted from then-Father Corapi’s teachings; but that was then, and this is now.  In the here-and-now, good people are discouraged and disheartened by the challenges and charges hitting the newsstands in this unseemly saga.  Souls are led not nearer to God, but away from His perfect peace into a landscape besmet by dragons.

So today I write to you, John:  Over the past years, as “Father” Corapi, you have inspired us by your incisive analyses of contemporary culture.  You have chastened the sinner, encouraged the saint, and nudged us all along the path toward greater holiness.  But that was then, and this is now.  Please, for the sake of those who have come to rely on your words, to accept your leadership– Please Stop.  You may wish it were otherwise, but in the current situation there is nothing, NOTHING you can say that will return you to the status you enjoyed, pre-investigation and pre-dismissal.  As a lover of souls, please let your people go on without you, at least for now.

May we all come together again, revelling in Christ’s presence for all eternity.