Posted on 06/17/2011 6:11:52 PM PDT by Yossarian
God Love You, God Bless You, and Good-Bye.
Jun 17
Posted by The Black SheepDog
This Sunday, June 19, 2011, is both Trinity Sunday on the Catholic liturgical calendar and Fathers’ Day on the secular calendar. It is a day I’ll never forget, and sadly so. It is the twentieth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood in the Catholic Church. For twenty years I was called “father.” I am very thankful for those twenty years. I could have easily died any number of times, any number of ways in my life before that, so I consider it all a bonus, an undeserved bonus. To all of you that have communicated support, ordination anniversary congratulations, and other kind sentiments, I am greatly thankful, and I do not take that for granted.
All things change, only God stays the same, so I have to tell you about a major change in my life. I am not going to be involved in public ministry as a priest any longer. There are certain persons in authority in the Church that want me gone, and I shall be gone. I have been guilty of many things in the course of my life, and could easily and justifiably be considered unfit to engage in public ministry as a priest. The present complaint that you have heard about is, as far as I know, from the one person that I can honestly say I did more to help and support than any human being in my entire life. I forgive her and hope only good things for her. I am not going to get into a back and forth or argument with the Church or anyone else about this matter.
Suffice it to say that I love the Catholic Church and accept what has transpired. Unfortunately, the process used is inherently and fatally flawed, but the bishops have the power, apparently, to operate anyway they see fit. I cannot give a lengthy explanation of what has transpired, but I can tell you that the most likely outcome is that they leave me suspended indefinitely and just let me fade away. They can’t prove I’m guilty of the things alleged because I’m not, and they can’t prove I’m innocent because that is simply illogical and impossible. All civilized societies know that. Certain leaders in the Catholic Church apparently do not.
I accept moving on, but I am not ready to be altogether extinguished just yet. In the final analysis I have only one of only two viable choices: 1. I can quietly lie down and die, or 2. I can go on in ways that I am able to go on.
I did not start this process, the Bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas ordered my superiors, against their will and better judgment, to do it. He in fact threatened to release a reprehensible and libelous letter to all of the bishops if they did not suspend me. He has a perfect right to do so, and I defend that right. Bishops aren’t bound by civil laws and procedures in internal Church matters. I agree with that, and would defend to the death the Church’s right to proceed as they see fit. He is the bishop and he has the right to govern as he sees fit. It isn’t an easy task. Many forces besiege him, including pressure from other bishops.
My canon lawyer and my civil lawyers have concluded that I cannot receive a fair and just hearing under the Church’s present process. The Church will conclude that I am not cooperating with the process because I refuse to give up all of my civil and human rights in order to hold harmless anyone who chooses to say defamatory and actionable things against me with no downside to them. The case may be on hold indefinitely, but my life cannot be. Some of the things that might surprise you about the way some of the bishops treat accused priests are as follows:
1. The identity of the accuser is not revealed. You can guess, but you don’t actually know. Nor are the exact allegations made known to you. Hence, you have an interesting situation of having to respond to an unknown accuser making unknown accusations (unknown to the accused and his counsel).
2. The persons chosen to investigate the allegations normally have no qualifications to do so. They certainly didn’t graduate from the FBI academy, nor do they have any other background to qualify them to interrogate or otherwise interview witnesses.
3. There are no set rules of evidence or norms of procedure.
4. You are for all practical purposes assumed guilty until you can prove you are innocent. This one is truly baffling. No civilized society operates that way. If you are accused of something you are considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
5. The accused and his counsel have no right to obtain and review any of the evidence against him.
6. The accused and his counsel are not provided the names of witnesses, nor are they permitted to cross-examine them.
7. There is a general unwillingness or outright refusal by certain of the bishops to abide by applicable statutes of limitations, both in canon and civil law. There are good reasons for these statutes. Time has a way of clouding memories and distorting perceptions.
By the way, Canon Law does not dictate this. They choose to selectively ignore or violate both Canon Law and Civil Law, as they deem appropriate and or expeditious. Once again, they apparently have the discretionary power to do this, and if that’s the way it is I have to accept that as reality.
The bottom line is that the only way a just outcome is likely, in my view and that of my counsel, both civil and canon lawyers, is by accident, rather than as a result of the process.
I will not try to fight this irrational and unjust situation for the simple reason that I don’t want to be placed in an adversarial posture against the Church. For 20 years I did my best to guard and feed the sheep. Now, based on a totally unsubstantiated, undocumented allegation from a demonstrably troubled person I was thrown out like yesterday’s garbage. I accept that. Perhaps I deserve that.
I can’t do what I can’t do. I can only do what I can do. I shall continue, black sheep that I am, to speak; and sheep dog that I am, to guard the sheep—this time around not just in the Church, but also in the entire world. I am, indeed, not ready to be extinguished. Under the name “The Black Sheep Dog,” I shall be with you through radio broadcasts and writing. My autobiography, “The Black Sheep Dog,” is almost ready for publication. My topics will be broader than in the past, and my audience likewise is apt to be broader. I’ll do what I can under the circumstances.
Please don’t bother the bishop or complain because it will do no good and it wastes valuable time and energy, both his and yours.
I hope you stay with us and follow us into our new domain and name of “The Black Sheep Dog.” Through writing and broadcasting we hope to continue to dispense truth and hope to a world so much in need of it. For those of you who choose to part company and go away from us, we wish you well and thank you for your many kindnesses over the years. We’ll miss you in our usual meeting places, but assure you that there will be new places for us to meet, just like in “the good old days,” so for now,
God bless you, God love you, and goodbye.
John Corapi (once called “father,” now “The Black Sheep Dog”)
ping
I don’t see any mention of laicization. Is he requesting it? Apparently his faculties have been suspended.
Father Corapi and Father E. both had groupies, right here on FR and elsewhere. Making a rock star out of a priest (or televangelist or any religious figure) is a sin. It’s called idolatry. Many here need to look inside themselves.
As for Father Corapi and Father E, they too are responsible. There were called to be priests, not rock stars. They should have re-directed the spotlights elsewhere, instead of soaking up the light.
The lesson will be lost, and the next priest/rock star will not fail to disappoint and we never seem to learn.
What is funny is that many who idolize their own religious figures, point fingers at others who do the same thing. Don’t get caught laughing at the Benny Hinns and Jimmy Swaggarts and then swoon at the Father Corapis. Idolatry is idolatry.
pretty judgemental aren't you??? You have no way of knowing the state of Kennedy's soul when he died....our chrch allows for complete reconciliation with Jesus up to the moment that we pass on, so if you believe in the church, don't pick and choose what you want to believe.....that's what protestants do!!
I recommend anyone unfamiliar with Father Corapi to find any of his lectures on youtube.
you were dealing with an individual, who with the cooperation of your wife, had an affair.....what that has to do with the church is beyond me...the church was his place of employment.....if he had worked for G.M. would you forever drive a Ford???
TK was the perfect example of a Cafeteria Catholic as I suspect the majority of American Catholics are today. Examples are too numerous to count even within the church itself. My wish is to have the opportunity to piss on his grave someday. Oh and the wise crack about being "judgmental"; why yes I am! Thank you for noticing.
Hey Arch
Thank You for not choosing Catholicism or Christianity for that matter.
Lurking’
hey lucy
do you actually know what idolatry is?
someone who loves listening to and is inspired by anyone whether Corapi, Hinn or Swaggart is NOT idolatrous.
you need to buy a clue.
Lurking’
Speak for yourself.
From my point of view, and experience, I will state that at least one priest—a Father S.R., whom I know personally—was forced to leave the Church. He hung up his cassock and beret, NOT because he did anything contrary to the Catholic Faith or else violated Cannon Law—but rather because he was a TRADITIONAL priest.
During his priesthood, Father S.R. realized that the Modern Church is in the throws of “Revolution”—and all but consumed by the heresy of Modernism. The liberal PC bull crap, which now substitutes for sound doctrine, creates lukewarm cowards out of once-fervent Catholics. Its Protestant-based liturgy cripples the faithful with a touchy-feely gospel, a constant diet of psycho babble encyclicals, a false and disabling ecumenism that disavows conversion—and a putrid dose of Marxist “liberation theology.”
This priest was dedicated to the pre-1962 Tridentine Mass and Brevery. He was faithful and well-liked. However, the then Bishop of Lincoln, F.B., while feigning an “conditional acceptance” of the “old” right, did act hostile to traditionalist Catholics at every opportunity, including—in violation of Cannon Law—invoking an illegitimate ex-communication upon traditionalists groups.
While Bishop F.B. did allow this Father S.R. to pray the Tridentine Mass, he did so only on condition that the Norvus Ordo and Vatican II were both upheld as legitimate, so as not to “create division among the faithful.”
However, the double-minded approach lasted but a few years, until our priest realized he could no longer hold to such duplicity. His principled mind could not indefinitely sustain the glaring contradiction of living in two worlds—Catholic Tradition vs Secular Modernism. He could not tolerate the “spiritual voyeurism” of praying the Mass while facing the people—nor could he any longer suffer the “barrenness” of the New Mass. As I would often say to him: “Father, you cannot ride two horses with one ass.”
In the end, and to our great sadness, Father S.R. left the priesthood. The irony is that he was fond of saying that the Traditional Mass “saved his priesthood,” else he would have left long before.
It is my contention that modernist Rome despises Tradition—and traditional priests. They would like to sweep under the rug 2000 years of Church history and the constant teaching of the pre-Vatican II popes. It is also my belief that the power brokers within the Vatican labor tirelessly to undermine and emasculate the priesthood, and destroy the Catholic faith by degrees.
It is tragic and a bitter outrage that faithful Catholics have been made to wander more than 40 years in this lifeless ecumenical desert of liberal heresy, and with no end in sight, despite Vatican propaganda to the contrary.
I am of the strong opinion that as long as Vatican II stands intact, and the True Mass—the Mass of all time—is falsely alleged to be “optional” rather than obligatory, then we will continue to lose good priests, faithful Catholics, and the opportunity to save souls. (Read Quo Primum, Pope Saint Pius V) http://www.traditioninaction.org/Questions/E032_QuoPrimum.htm
This thread should never have been in the news section to begin with so why are you bothering me!
And BTW, I'm more than the modern day so-called "Christian". I'm a Roman Catholic!
Go back to the religious section and convince each other that you can be as depraved as you want to be in life, but at the moment of death if your 'soul is in the right place' then you can reap the rewards of life ever lasting in heaven.
Sounds like an entitlement program.
With all due respect, you are painting with a rather broad brush.
Why? The Church, and the people who run it, are worldly entities. Corapi is following the same voice which led him to the priesthood in the first place.
Frankly, I'm glad he no longer has to be an apologist for the Catholic Church's corruption and inscrutable policies. No more will he be required to defend the indefensible.
I am of the strong opinion that as long as Vatican II stands intact, and the True Mass—the Mass of all time—is falsely alleged to be “optional” rather than obligatory, then we will continue to lose good priests, faithful Catholics, and the opportunity to save souls.
Well said, but I'll go you one further, and say that, in my opinion, Vatican II, and the havoc it wreaked, are mostly to blame for the decline of morals in our society. Once-faithful Catholics fell away from the Church and lost their way in the trackless wilderness, and everyone who had once relied on their guidance was influenced for the worse. This ripple effect spread to society as a whole, until all constraints on behavior were lost. The damage done by Vatican II is incalculable and irreparable.
Allow me to provide a glimmer of hope for your consideration ...
I am a member of an SSPX Church, located in Watkins Colorado. Like many of the Traditionalist Churches, it has steadily grown. More importantly, and as the general rule, these traditional Catholics have very large families—6 and 8 children, and sometimes more! Think about that for a moment ... An exponential growth in the number of Strong-willed traditional Catholics, having the virtue of unshakable FAITH and MODESTY.
Also, you may want to visit Saint Mary’s Kansas — a fairly large community, and most of the town is Traditional Catholic.
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