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A former Sacramento priest and nationally known speaker has filed a lawsuit against the woman who accused him of sexual misconduct.The Rev. John Corapi, who served as the director of Catholic Faith Formation in Sacramento in the 1990s, filed a lawsuit in the 11th Judicial District Court of Montana, where he now lives. He alleges that his accuser committed libel and that a letter she wrote to his religious superiors contained "numerous false, malicious and unprivileged statements" about the priest. He is suing for punitive and unspecified compensatory damages.Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests on Wednesday publicized Corapi's lawsuit,...

The popular speaker announces plans to leave the priesthood amid an investigation into allegations of misconduct, and his religious superior breaks his silence on the investigation. A Register news analysis. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/father-corapis-bombshell?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register&utm_content=Google+Reader#When:2011-06-20

So, umm, Father Corapi. Yeah. Wow.For those of you who aren’t familiar with the situation, here’s a summary. Long story short, the ministry of the great Fr. John Corapi as we know it has come to an end. He says he will continue to serve under the name “The Black Sheepdog” for now, and of course there’s always the possibility that he could one day return to his role as a priest in good standing with his religious society (as unlikely as that may seem at this point, nothing is impossible with God!) But I think it’s safe to say...

1. Based on an agreement with the founder of his order, Fr. Corapi established a Montana-based media business under his financial control. 2. At some point, Fr. Corapi pays several persons who have business dealings with him to sign non-disclosure agreements regarding events during their term of employment. 3. There is a falling-out with one non-disclosure signer, an employee (presumably 2 occurred before 3, though this is not absolute). 4. The disgruntled signer from 3 complained to religious or ecclesiastical superiors (specifically: the current bishop of Corpus Christi), alleging sexual and drug-related charges against Fr. Corapi. 5. The current...

Of all the bizarre comments contained in John Corapi's rambling speech on Monday, there was one that struck me as especially strange, and particularly sad. Near the beginning, when he makes clear that he's not actually leaving the priesthood, but only suspending his public work as a priest (and dropping the title "Father"), he shrugs off the impact this will have on his life. Nothing much will change, he says, explaining that he really had little to do with the sacraments, anyway—saying mass, hearing confession, anointing the sick. "I didn't do very much of that quite honestly in the twenty...

If you are lucky, you may have missed the current debate rippling through the Catholic interwebs. Actually, it is a debate that comes up from time time to time, this time it just happens to involve video provocateur Michael Voris. Voris contributes to the website RealCatholicTv.com. He produces several videos a week talking about issues related to faith, politics, and culture. No big deal, lots of us speak or write about these subjects every day. What makes Voris a hot topic of debate is mostly style and occasionally a little substance. Having only watched a handful of Voris’ videos, I...

The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity is in the spotlight, following the allegations of misconduct against one of its members, Father John Corapi. The Register spoke with Father Gerard Sheehan, regional priest servant, based in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, to learn more about the charism of the order and its rules for members. What are the distinctive elements of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Blessed Trinity? The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Holy Trinity (SOLT) is a society of apostolic life. We were founded in 1958, and...

Father John Corapi of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), among the nation’s most popular Catholic evangelists, was placed on “administrative leave” following allegations of misconduct leveled against him by a former employee. Announced on the priest’s personal website, the news shocked Catholics who have been inspired by his robust articulation of Church teaching, and his powerful personal conversion story. He stated, “On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult...

Santa Cruz Media, Inc. is the owner of all of Fr. John Corapi’s intellectual property and the DVDs, CDs, and books that flow from it. We are a secular corporation and not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way. As such, we are not under the jurisdiction of any bishop or other official in the Catholic Church, although we have the utmost respect for Church authority. We fully support Rev. John Corapi in this terrible trial, not surprisingly having begun on Ash Wednesday. Through the sacrifice and struggle of the desert and all of the dark moments that this...

A Call for Prayer On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult women. There seems to no longer be the need for a complaint to be deemed “credible” in order for Church authorities to pull the trigger on the Church’s procedure, which was in recent years crafted to respond to cases of the sexual abuse of minors. I am not accused of that, but it seems, once again, that they now don’t have to deem...

Monday, March 21, 2011 Fr. Corapi's "deep pockets" There is an aspect of the abuse allegations against Fr. Corapi and the accompanying lawsuit that many people have overlooked. Qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit  Corapi filed a qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit against Redding Medical Center cardiologist Chae Hyun Moon after Dr. Moon informed Corapi in 2002 that he was in immediate need of triple bypass surgery, but then told Corapi the procedure could wait three weeks. Corapi decided to seek other medical advice, and it was found he had perfectly clear arteries. Corapi ultimately went to the FBI...

Father Corapi, the dynamic and well known evangelist, broke the news on his own website this weekend that he has been placed on ‘administrative leave’ following wide ranging accusations of misconduct by a former employee.  Fr. Corapi is adamant that the accusations are baseless and he decries the de facto policy that now finds accused priests guilty until proven innocent so as to avoid further embarrassment as he puts it, “just in case.” There seems to no longer be the need for a complaint to be deemed “credible” in order for Church authorities to pull the trigger on the Church’s...

Father Corapi -In speaking with faithful Catholics all over the world for the past twenty years there is a consensus among them that the average Catholic doesn’t know much about their faith. Likewise there is an overwhelming consensus that if we did, the world would be a very different place. In the United Sates of America we have over sixty million Catholics. If these Catholic citizens knew their faith and then voted and lived their faith, this country would be incalculably better off. In turn, so would the entire world.

To Bear Witness To the Truth: An Unequivocal Moral Obligation for All Christians by Rev. John Corapi, SOLT, STD Every Catholic and, indeed, every Christian faithful to the Gospel, has the moral obligation to bear witness to the truth, “in season and out of season, convenient or inconvenient,” accepted or rejected. This mandate is nothing new, of course. It’s as old as the Old Testament, and as new as the New Testament. Nonetheless, I’m afraid that it has become more necessary than ever to remind ourselves of it. The Magisterium formally teaches in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2471,...

Holy Week and the Rest of Your Life As I write this it is safe to say that there is more fear, insecurity, uncertainty, and distrust of authority than at any other time in my lifetime of over sixty years. This can be said for the United States and for most other countries in the Western world, probably the entire world. Why? The secular and worldly thinker will come up with a veritable flock of cackling, screeching, barking, whining and screaming excuses. They will all be wrong. To understand our tenuous position, one must go to the order of causes...

At a time when it surely seems that capitalism has run amuck and poised the world on the edge of economic ruin, the temptation is very strong for the pendulum to swing too far left into the failed and immoral territory of socialism. Historically pure socialism has never worked, philosophically it cannot work, and morally it is inherently evil (because it undermines the right of private property ownership, an inherent human right) and hence should not be given a chance to work. The response might be that what we have at the moment isn’t pure socialism. The problem is that...

This particular novena is to pray the Rosary (5 decades) beginning October 27-November 4 (9 days) that God's will be done in the election for President of the United States of America, and that the most innocent and utterly vulnerable of our brothers and sisters will be protected from the barbaric and grossly sinful blight on society that is abortion. If you are reading this after October 27th, just start praying the rosary for the cause anyway, every prayer will help!

This particular novena is to pray the Rosary (5 decades) beginning October 27-November 4 (9 days) that God's will be done in the election for President of the United States of America, and that the most innocent and utterly vulnerable of our brothers and sisters will be protected from the barbaric and grossly sinful blight on society that is abortion. If you are reading this after October 27th, just start praying the rosary for the cause anyway, every prayer will help!

Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good Every Thanksgiving we are reminded to do for at least one day what should be a constant dimension of our spiritual life: Give Thanks. The prayer of thanksgiving is one of the major forms of prayer, along with adoration, reparation, intercession, and impetration (asking for what we need) to name some of the major categories of prayer. This year, as always, we should count our blessings whoever we are and wherever we are. In the United States of America we should carefully and clearly think of what makes this country great,...

The American people have now made it abundantly clear who they want to lead them, and the policies and practices that this president-elect has represented for some time, they can now claim as their own. Actions have consequences, and I am sure God has duly noted what our priorities are in the US of A. Economic matters would seem to take precedence over moral matters; money more important than life itself to most people (I guess they don’t consider almost 50,000,000 innocent children murdered by abortion part of life). Now we shall see what the fruit of such a tree...