Corapi corrupted part V: an orthodox Catholic schools a modern Lutheran

Fighting Irish Thomas ^ | 7-21-11 | Tom O'Toole

[mlizzy]

It's sad to see the Roman Catholics feed on each other like this. How unsavory! As a Lutheran, I find it more important to look for the positive Christian contributions of Mr. Corapi, which are significant. And while Luther reformed the "pay for indugence" [sic] scams of early Popes, Mr. Corapi may correct the misguided investigation procedures directly related to the anxiety ridden child abuse chronciles [sic] of the Roman Catholic Church. --Anonymous, 7-10-11

[F]irst to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians...Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed...and that all who are able toss in sulphur and pitch; it would be good if someone could also throw in some hellfire. That would demonstrate to God our serious resolve and be evidence to all the world that...if we [cannot] eject them from our country, we would be at fault for not slaying them. --Martin Luther, from "On the Jews and Their Lies"

Dear Anonymous,

Although I have no reason to doubt you are a devout Lutheran or a sincere well-meaning Christian, a brief look at history shows your assessment of the Corapi situation to be not only full of holes but unintentionally full of lies; your seemingly sensible statement is not only nonsensical but downright dangerous. I suppose your founder, Dr. Luther, would be proud that you accept his views (or more likely, a watered-down version of his teachings) unquestionably, since after ridding the world of papal authority he wanted people to believe that he was the infallible one instead. On the other hand, Luther, perhaps the most "unsavory" religious controversialist in history, would no doubt be turning in his grave if he saw the "I'm okay, you're okay" pseudo-Christian rationalism Lutheranism has evolved into. As Luther's one-time hero, St. Paul, once said, "There will come a time when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity will accumulate [false] teachers, and will stop listening to truth and will be diverted to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4). It is my desire to divert you from those myths and return you to the Truth. First, Anonymous, you seem to imply that Corapi would do well in taking Luther as a role model, both in the general way he conducted himself as well as the idea that he was best able to reform the Church by leaving it--and starting his own. I suppose the first misconception is easiest to correct, since Luther's "reformed" life of drunken vulgarity and venomous prejudice is about as far from virtuous as one can get. I guess you can forgive Luther's work "Against the Roman Papacy; an Institution of the Devil," as part of the "potty humor" of the day, but some of its pictures (including one of the pope emitting, then blessing, his own excrement as a papal "bull") would make Howard Stern (if not Satan himself) blush.

And while you can perhaps overlook Luther's incitement of the German peasant mobs to overthrow the country's aristocracy in the name of the new religion, and then doing a 180 by telling the aristocracy (who, in the meantime, had agreed to adopt Lutheranism as the national religion) of the peasant's plan and setting them up for a merciless slaughter as the politics of the day, history cannot ignore the fact that Luther's "On the Jews and Their Lies" was used as a virtual blueprint for Hitler's "final solution" of the Jews (indeed, Luther's book was quoted during the Nazi's Nuremberg rallies) and Martin, if not Lutheranism, must take some significant responsibility for the resulting Holocaust.

And yes, Anonymous, although the error in your second misconception, that the reformers of Christianity could only really reform the Church by separating from Rome, may on the surface seem less obvious, history has proved it just as erroneous and far more deadly. Sure, you may argue, Luther (or Corapi), may not have been a saint, but neither were many of the Renaissance popes. The important thing is that Luther (and Calvin and Zwingli and the thousands of other Protestant reformers who came after them) finally corrected all the faulty papal teaching, and got the Church "right" again.

But revisionist history notwithstanding, the facts again prove the exact opposite to be true. While there is no denying that the private lives of several popes such as John "the Christian Caligula" XII, Paul "My three sons" III, or Alexander "Where's my mistress?" VI compared (un)favorably to Luther or King Henry "Heads up!" VIII, the fact is the doctrine of the bad popes never once deviated from the teachings of the good and saintly pontiffs, whereas the reformer's doctrine not only changed what the Church, through Christ, had taught as Truth for 1500 years, but it contradicted the teachings of each other, showing that at least some, if not most, of their doctrine must be false. As for Luther, his infamous "Sola Scriptura" and "Justification" doctrines contradict themselves. For in putting a book in "authority" instead of the successor of Peter, Luther assured that every person's interpretation of the Bible was now "infallible" and could not be definitively refuted, while the founder of Protestantism had to add words (to Romans 3:28) and subtract books (he tried to drop the Book of James) from that same Bible in order to make his "justification by faith alone" theory fit.

Perhaps, Anonymous, you subscribe to the "Yahoo Answers" definition of Lutheranism, "The Lutheran Church does not follow the teachings of Martin Luther; we bear his name only for his role in the Reformation itself." After all, the Lutheran Church (itself a misnomer, since there are now several contradictory denominations just among Lutherans) has no definitive head to answer such questions, and this explanation received the most votes. Yet even this rationalization, polished after centuries of whitewashing, loses its luster when the veneer is stripped away. No pope ever promoted the "pay for indulgences" scam; nor was it ever a doctrine of the Church. A small number of priests did distort the Catholic teaching of indulgences to make it sound like you could buy your way into heaven, but those who spread this abuse or distortion of teaching were already corrected from within by the time Luther split from Rome. So it was not really concern about doctrine, but the chance to be big man on campus, that spurred Luther and his ego's departure from the "one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church."

Indeed, there were many abuses in the practice of the faith during Luther's time (just as there are many abuses in the practice of the faith today) but there can be no comparison between the holy and humble correction of the faithful by the saintly counter-reformers such as Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier and Teresa of Avila, and the contradictory cries of the Protestant reformers, as to who maintained not only the Truth but the unity in Charity (John 17:20-21) of the Church that Christ desired. In establishing a ministry outside the Church, and in trading in the sacramental priesthood for his role as "Harley-Davidson Dude," John Corapi may remember enough of his Catholic studies to still get a few things right. But judging from the half-truths those separated brothers and sisters have filled you with, Anonymous, chances are his Black Sheep Dog talks will get a lot of stuff wrong now too.

To all fans and former fans of "The Black Sheep Dog," check out our new Facebook page, Crying for Corapi, and get your two cents (or two Hail Marys) in.

[mlizzy]

More on The Black Sheep Dog / Martin Luther.

[CitizenUSA]

I hope this doesn’t turn into yet another Catholic versus Protestant thread. Christ’s church is one, united and indivisible. He knows His own.

[HiTech RedNeck]

If even half of what’s alleged about His Harleyness is true, then shame on any “Lutheran” organization that deigned to touch Corapi with a ten foot pole in any capacity other than a common parishioner. In any role of authority he would spell Trouble with a capital T. Too easily temptable an ego.

What this has to do with Martin Luther himself is very, very unclear.

[johngrace]

He sounds spooky with The Black Sheepdog title then with the two eyes pic graphic looking at us. He sounds like he will leave the church as a believer too. He is off the mark. Just sad. His whole look screams out for help.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I guess this is the jalapeno/horseradish version of Catholic evangelism, tying two dissimilar hot matters up into one dish?

[johngrace]

I meant Catholic Church.

[mlizzy]

I hope this doesn’t turn into yet another Catholic versus Protestant thread.

Yes, me too! I've come to the conclusion those type threads shine little Light (on *any* faith), and as such, are pretty much a waste of time ...

[HiTech RedNeck]

Sounds like he has some integrity issues to get straight, no matter what Christian worship body he ends up frequenting. Not to say he has brought all his suffering upon himself, but some of it he apparently has.

Ironically, maybe a biker ministry may end up setting His Harleyness straight.

[mlizzy]

"His Harleyness" is *very* funny ... that being said, this link might help with the tie-in with Luther ...

http://www.fightingirishthomas.com/2011/07/corapi-corrupted-part-iv-black-sheep.html

[mlizzy]

Supposedly (according to online scuttlebutt), he may be soon affiliated with The Skull Church, a non-denom group out of Kalispell, MT. Age demographic of 18-24. One of the young men affiliated with the Church was answering phones at Santa Cruz Media recently, and we've put in calls to them and to The Skull Church to question them in this regard, and we've received no answers. That doesn't make it so (that Corapi will be joining them), but it seems to go along with his new "youthful" image.

Crying for Corapi

[HiTech RedNeck]

This ain’t right. It’s weird.

[sayuncledave]

HiTech, I believe you’ve hit the nail on the head. The general feelings for the former Father seem largely to revolve around a strong masculine voice, from which orthodox (as opposed to heterodox) teachings were coming.

Then, the issues came. But where one might expect the to-be-investigated to cooperate in providing of testimony and await judgement of that testimony in humility and patience, Corapi took another, unorthodox, path.

In his leaving the priesthood and creation of the Black Sheep Dog thing, one might say that he has done the opposite of that which was expected and appropriate. At the least it is curious, but not necessarily in the best of ways. So while it is good to pray for him, as he appears to have lost his way, it is not so good a thing to follow him. And it is always sad to see someone lose their way.

But I guess the primary point is that rather than running off on his own, the exact path he should have followed was to return to his order’s house and to cooperate with the investigation and it’s conclusions.

I am not as familiar with S.O.L.T. as with others, but most in religious life take vows of chastity, obediance, and poverty. If Corapi’s accuser is in anyway correct (and I truly have no inkling one way or the other), the first might have had transgressions. In his refusal to return, he violates the second. I believe these alone make for not enough reason to convict in the court of public opinion, but enough that any former fans in the Catholic world should keep a distance. Perhaps a good comparison of how one expects a Catholic priest to deal with accusations, historically, might be found in St. Padre Pio.

[daniel1212]

It diverts attention, as if Protestants must and do follow Luther like a pope, while mischaracterizations of him abound: http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com (see Favorite Entries on Martin Luther” on right sidebar)

[HiTech RedNeck]

This sort of mischaracterization of Martin Luther arises from viewing him through the model of the Catholic church, which automatically assumes there has to be a pope or pope figure in the faith somewhere.

[mlizzy]

In his leaving the priesthood and creation of the Black Sheep Dog thing, one might say that he has done the opposite of that which was expected and appropriate. At the least it is curious, but not necessarily in the best of ways. So while it is good to pray for him, as he appears to have lost his way, it is not so good a thing to follow him. And it is always sad to see someone lose their way. [emphasis;mine]

IMO, you've hit the nail on the head as well, Uncle Dave. Also, I've read (directly from the BS-Dog), that this "name change" was in the works long before the accuser came forward, which leaves open all sorts of speculation, but since it is only that, I'll leave it to the former Father to fill us all in; his book should be out soon. I think the most painful part of all of this is that Catholics (not just weak ones) originally (and even still now) are following his BS, and supporting his new venture. The author of this article feels that group is quickly dwindling down, and Father will have to make a new core group, something that should not be too difficult as he is a charismatic preacher, but as far as Our Blessed Mother, this picture tells it all.

[Tax-chick]

Part V?

Perhaps the blogger needs a vacation in the Real World Out There. Intensive focus on any media figure - building up or tearing down - is not very healthy.

[Campion]

Mr. O'Toole doesn't speak for the Catholic Church any more than I do, so I don't think it makes much sense to draw some sweeping characterization of the Church's position on Luther or Protestantism from Mr. O'Toole's piece.

From a historical POV, it's hard to argue with the evidence that Luther had very little patience with anyone who disagreed with him, whether Protestant or Catholic.

[mware]

But I guess the primary point is that rather than running off on his own, the exact path he should have followed was to return to his order’s house and to cooperate with the investigation and it’s conclusions.

This is what I keep on thinking he should have done.

My parish priest who is from Malta, related to me, a case he was very aware of from his homeland.

He recalls as a child in Malta,listening personally to George Preka (later to become Saint George Preka)

At one point during his priesthood, he too was basically restricted to what amounted to House Arrest by his Bishop.

Preka,submitted to his Bishop for 10 years before,the bishop called him into his office and asked his pardon for what he finally believed were false accusations.

Saint George Preka, was tested, and accepted his cross.

Corapi, should have done the same.

[annalex]

Luther's "reformed" life of drunken vulgarity and venomous prejudice is about as far from virtuous as one can get. I guess you can forgive Luther's work "Against the Roman Papacy; an Institution of the Devil," as part of the "potty humor" of the day

Good riff on Luther.

I don't think Fr. Corapi, with all his failings, intends to replace Catholicism with a religion of his own making, or even has a theological argument of his own, so the comparison has no basis. But to kick Luther a couple of times is always a wholesome thing, if only to remind us what an ugly thing the so-caleld reformation was.

[annalex]

cooperate in providing of testimony and await judgement of that testimony in humility and patience

The process is to bar the priest from ministry and never conclude anything on the subject of the investigation. While generally your advice is correct, in the post-scandal American church it leads to mushrooming allegations becomeing a virtual reality fior too many priests. I think it is good for the accused priests in general to demand a conclusive investigation, and do so with vigor, just like Fr. Corapi did.

I am not as familiar with S.O.L.T. as with others, but most in religious life take vows of chastity, obediance, and poverty.

SOLT is an unusual order in that respect; moreover it had a special dispensation for Fr. Corapi allowing him to do his ministry and derive income from it for SOLT and himself.

SOLT should have, likewise, given Fr. Corapi a dispensation to fight his slanderer in a civil court. Instead it turned against him, and Fr. Corapi left.

At this point all we know are slanders of the accuser and slander or at least detraction coming from SOLT, while Fr. Corapi took on a difficult task to prove the accuser wrong and to prove that her lies were intended to hurt his reputation, in a court of law.