Could one of you guys (and gals) explain to me how a member of an order could have a ministry (using a business model) apparently completely independent of their order. From what I know about orders (admittedly in the middle ages mostly) all work and ‘work product’ would belong to the order entirely.
Is this a case of a lax superior who gave Fr Corapi too much leeway, or does the order act more like tertiaries, or something unique to this order?
Also, I thought he left the priesthood, or was it just leaving a function but he is still a member of the order?
Need some help guys, this is above my paygrade.
Corapi has had his priestly faculties suspended. He announced in June that he was "not going to be involved in public ministry as a priest any longer." He is in a state of disobedience to his superiors but is technically still a priest. He may eventually be laicized, voluntarily or involuntarily.
i don’t know for sure, i believe each order sets their own rules for conduct. i was quite suprised to learn of corapi’s “deal”, i always assumed priests lived in community with each other and any earnings were common assets. i think he left the priesthood, that or he is suspended with the intention to dismiss.
if you have read any corapi threads, you know i am not a fan of his and always thought he was a phony. my acid test is: do you lift up Jesus Christ and draw men to faith in him? to me, corapi was all about corapi. yes, he mentioned Jesus every now and then, but the main thrust of his talks were about how wonderful corapi is/was. also, i went to his web site and if he truly was interested in spreading the Gospel, i would have expected to find a lot of free material on the Scriptures, Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the Church, etc. etc. i found nothing on the site for free, everything was sold and hyped at a hefty price, with the profit going right into his pocket to fund his sinful lifestyle. i was also extremely dispointed that many fellow Catholics on this site felt the need to defend this hypocrite and attack the Church because it exposed him.
we are all sinners and need the grace and forgivness offered to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ. i pray corapi comes to this belief.
I can't. My understanding of the business of the orders is the same as yours. I have no idea how these idiots structured this enterprise. I think that they were simply enamoured of Fr. Corapi's charisma and violated all of the rules in allowing him to be as independent as he was.
Is this a case of a lax superior who gave Fr Corapi too much leeway, or does the order act more like tertiaries, or something unique to this order?
Probably an allowance done by well meaning idiots.
Also, I thought he left the priesthood, or was it just leaving a function but he is still a member of the order?
Ah, that is a little fuzzy. His apparent resignation may not be be as clear cut as a resignation from a job. I have not seen a definite repudiation of his priestly vows published, for instance.
Also, I thought he left the priesthood, or was it just leaving a function but he is still a member of the order?
More fuzz. I don't know.
Need some help guys, this is above my paygrade.
Same here.
Actually, members of religious orders can have ministries that are completely independent of their orders.
(Regrettable) Example: Fr. Richard Rohr and his Center for Action & Contemplation which is: a) outside the purview of the OFMs, and b) according to some (including me) outside the theology of the Catholic Church.
Happens all the time.
The real problem is that lay Catholics have a rather poor understanding of what religious orders are (as opposed to associations of the faithful for instance), and what they do (and can do).
And besides all of that, SOLT isn’t a religious order ANYWAY. It’s a rather new association of the faithful affiliated ONLY with the diocese it happens to be in. Fr. Corapi became a member of that organization before its current rules and constitutions were formulated because he knew the founder in the early days, which weren’t so long ago. Since then, they have adopted some much more stringent requirements in hopes of slowly climbing up the ladder of canon law towards recognition as a secular institute, etc etc. They are VERY FAR from being a religious order in canon law—and I expect after this latest mess, even farther than before....