The best analysis and advice yet.
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I would caution any Catholic in his five wits to steer far far away from this guy. Some will (rightly) speak of their gratitude to him for helping them understand their faith better in the past. That is meet and just. But it is one thing to be grateful to him and another to form a faction or schism around him. You must not be of Peter, Paul or Apollos, but of Christ. Dog is not Holy Church. He is not a prophet. He is, rather, Tertullian: a guy with the gift of the gab who is on a trajectory toward complete rebellion against the Church he claims to love and defend. God grant that he repent and come to his senses and that his "fans" not follow him into rebellion. - An Analysis
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Bonus: Memorable quotes from Corapi.
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201. I am a religious priest.
203. My habit reminds me, I am not home, but I am on my way.
212. Freedom is not being able to do anything you want to do.
226. When we abuse freedom, we step outside the boundary set by GOD, and we suffer the consequences.
273. It DOES matter how we live.
277. Many of us would prefer to take the easy way out.
292. I can't be more Catholic than the Church.
111. Do you run when things become difficult?
141. When a priest tries to lead a worldly life, he dies spiritually.
144. A good shepherd doesn't run off when the predator comes.
183. Unless we humble ourselves, there will be a terrible price to pay.
199. When a priest becomes enamored with this world, he is on a slippery slide downhill and his faith is lost.
219. Except for the grace of GOD, there go I.
[Corapi quotes source: here and here.]
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Corapi responds.
SOLT responds +CASE CLOSED+
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Photo: Source
Mr. Nelson, I have to say this--you are one of the better "go to" folks in this matter.
ReplyDeleteMr. Corapi is impaled on his own words, and the Tertulian comparison is apt.
This is sad for me, because the preaching of John Corapi got me started on the path back into the Church. However, he didn't make me his disciple, so I will not follow him into whatever sect he is likely to start.
Red - Thanks - but that first paragraph with Tertullian is from Mark Shea.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it's sad for everyone - he preached the truth.
At least he didn't mention tiger blood...
ReplyDeleteHoly moly. His new mp3 response is frightening. I need a shower.
ReplyDeletePreach always. If necessary, use words.
ReplyDeleteEven a stopped clock is right twice a day. At a recent retreat I attended, the retreat master reminded us that the devil knows the catechism of the Church inside and out. The Smoke of Satan indeed.
ReplyDeleteI don't find Mark Shea's evaluation to be entirely accurate. There's a few things he gets wrong, and to be honest Corapi's evaluation of the tribunals is actually pretty accurate. He isn't the only priest to hold such an opinion about them.
ReplyDeleteThat quote you posted a while back comes to mind: "words won't save us now, only the cross" (or something to that effect)
ReplyDelete"At least the Wolf is devouring our Sheppard away from the flock. If we stay right here we should be alright."
ReplyDeleteThat reasoning is dangerous.
Never let any Priest fall to Satan.
Pray hard for this Sheppard.
Storm Heaven on his behalf.
Pay a Mass stipend on his behalf.
Charity calls for us to pray Novenas privately on his behalf for as long as it takes.
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What if everything he said is true?
ReplyDeleteYes Pablo, we have to pray for him and the untold priests whose struggle to remain within God's good graces is known only to Him and to them. No priests, no Eucharist, and that's exactly why the father of lies wants so badly to claim as many as he can.
ReplyDelete"No doubt the press and media have in recent years publicized the sins of priests on a scale that was not known, or even knowable, before. Nevertheless, no matter how notorious grave public sin may be in a priest, it is still such a "terrible scandal". Why? Because people look to their priests to be holy; indeed they have a right to expect as much.
ReplyDeleteGiven the fact that the deepest sorrows of Christ's Heart are the scandals that involve His "other selves," His priests whom He has so loved and has so desired to draw into the highest sanctity, "How then shall we respond?" It should be the response "that a son or daughter would make; would go over and take the mother's hand and say, 'Never mind, mother, I'll make up for the one that has hurt you. I'll make reparation. I'll pay that bill. I'll take up that burden. I'll lighten your cross." In a word, the evidence of infidelity in priests should arouse in the hearts of Christ's faithful the wish to expiate.
John Hardson SJ
Thank you for sharing that Maria, that really gets to the heart of the matter.
ReplyDeleteWhat made the difference between the repentance of Judas Iscariot flinging his 30 pieces of silver at the feet of the Temple authorities, and that of Peter weeping bitterly at the crowing of the cock?
ReplyDelete(From the writings of Maria Valtorta , as Christ spoke to her:)
"Yes, the vision is horrendous, but not useless. Too many people think that what Judas did was not all that grave. Some even go so far as to say that it was meritorious, because without him the Redemption would not have happened and so he was justified in the eyes of God.
In truth I tell you that if Hell had not already been in existence, perfectly equipped with torments, it would have been created even more horrendous in eternity for Judas, because amongst damned sinners he is the damnedest of them all, nor will his sentence ever be eased through all eternity.
"It is true that he did show remorse for his betrayal, and it could have saved him, had he turned his remorse into repentance.
But he did not want to repent, and so in addition to his first crime of betrayal, on which - such is my loving weakness - I could have had mercy, he went on to blaspheme and to resist every impulse of grace which was pleading with him through each trace and memory of me that in his last desperate chase around Jerusalem he ran into, including the encounter with my Mother and her gentle words.. He resisted everything. He wanted to resist. Just as he had wanted to betray me. As he wanted to curse me. As he wanted to kill himself.
Where a man's will is set - that is what counts. For good or ill."
"When somebody falls without really wanting to, I forgive him.
Take Peter. He denied me. Why? He could not himself tell exactly why. Was he a coward ? No. My Peter was no coward.
In the Garden of Gethsemane he defied the whole pack of Temple guards to cut off Malchus' ear in defense of me, at the risk of being killed himself for doing so. Then he fled. With no set will to do so.
Then he denied me three times, but again, with no set will to do so. For the rest of his life he succeeded in staying on the blood-stained way of the Cross, my way, until he died on the cross himself.
He succeeded in witnessing to me in grand style until he was killed for his unflinching faith. I defend my Peter. His running away and his denials were the last moments of his human weakness. But the set will of his higher nature was not behind those actions.
Weighed down by his human weakness, it was asleep. As soon as it awoke, it did not want to remain in sin, it wanted to be perfect. I immediately forgave him.
Judas' will was set in the opposite direction..."
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Our hope is that the wills of fallen Priests can be changed that they may receive the graces necessary for their repentance and salvation if that indeed is required.
May they follow the example of Peter, and not that of Judas.
Pray hard for them.
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"such is my loving weakness"
ReplyDeleteThank God for that "weakness" or none of us would stand a chance
The quotes from him are haunting... there is a part of me that feels like someone died tragically.
ReplyDeleteI have been honest in my admiration for Corapi prior to all this... so I will argue that I believe he was right before, and he was honest. I wont buy into this: "he was always a fraud" stuff. Did he make mistakes? Yes. Were there "holes" in the Fr. Corapi we knew? Yes. What man doesnt have them. But to take glory in his fall is sick.
This isnt a man that worked against the Church, at least not originally.
I want time to pass and this to move on, I am to weak to spiritually and mentally deal with it.