Father John Corapi: Will He Succeed as "The Black Sheep Dog"?

About three years ago, as I was pregnant with my third son, I sat on my family room sofa flipping channels in the middle of a weekday as my contractor worked in the background preparing our home for our new bambino.  I flipped over to EWTN, and there before me was a phenomenal speaker; a priest.  But this was a priest like none other I had ever seen or heard.  His voice was very deep and he spoke as if he were St. Michael here on earth.  I turned the volume up so high as to not miss one word - not one inflection.  I listened intently as he spoke of the beauty of the Catholic Church and of his conversion of heart and entrance into the priesthood.  It was such a great thing to watch and hear that when it was over, I was left with that same feeling one gets after having a fabulous dessert...thank you, but can I have more?  I wanted to stand up on my sofa, big belly and all, and yell "Heck yea, that guy's on our team!"

I followed Father John Corapi off and on throughout these past few years...watching and listening.  God surely blessed him with the gift of public speaking.  If you watch him, he will rarely look at notes or even stumble over a word.  I don't think I've even heard him say "um" or "uh", which is hard to do when publicly speaking.  The conviction with which he spoke and the decided spirit was something to behold.  He did not mince words - I believed in his message about spiritual warfare.  I believe spiritual warfare is all around us as we whiz through our lives like spinning tops, bobbling to one side then the next as things slow down, only to be set spinning once again by one of life's peaks or valleys.  Father Corapi fought the good fight against evil; against Satan.  I have seen firsthand the games Satan and his minions enjoy playing at the expense of our souls.  It is serious business.

So, here we are now at the onset of Father's Day weekend and a day away from Trinity Sunday.  Coincidentally, Father Corapi was ordained a priest on Trinity Sunday, and he announced today, after twenty years as a priest, that he would be leaving the priesthood due to unproven claims (as of yet) that he was inappropriate in some manner with a woman with whom he worked.  He vehemently proclaims his innocence.  He says the Bishop would put him in a state of indefinite suspension, and I think the idea of that is intolerable to him.  I have read the early blogs that are being written in response to his statement.  Many are ready to leave him in the dust as he walks away from his priesthood.  I understand that sentiment.  He is supposed to submit to the Church and to his Bishop.   I too wish his statement had been more from a point of humility.  He sounded more like a man of this earth, than a man of the cloth.

This is a man, however, who had at one time been very wealthy - successful, if you will, by our modern standards.  He is a go-getter.  He's probably not one to stand idle.   His latest book, an autobiography, "The Black Sheep Dog", was due to be released soon, so apparently he will be parlaying his ministry from a priestly one to one as a public speaker as the Black Sheep Dog.  He says he wants to reach the world.  Will he be successful?  He was a successful businessman at one point in his life.  Will his followers follow him into this venture or will they eventually fall away from him?  Scarier still, will his followers fall away from the Church in anger?  I, for one, will continue to watch and listen, but I stand firm in my faith and in my Church and its decisions.

What has happened to John Corapi?  Only he and God know with certitude.  Shouldn't he stay and fight for his priesthood with the same fervent desire that he has to speak publicly?  We don't know all that goes on or is said behind closed doors, but I find his decision troubling.  His fight with Satan has ultimately culminated into an attack on his character and either his submission to the Church, thus silencing him at least for some indefinite amount of time, or his walking away from his vocation, the vocation that gave him life and purpose.  Satan has surely won either way.  There will be followers of his who will, in their minds, lump this into the sex-abuse scandal and walk away from the Catholic Church altogether.  Truly faithful Catholics know it is only the excuse they've been looking for, as the Church is so much more than the people in power...but it is sad all the same.

Christianity was founded on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  His life was one of humility, His death was one of swift persecution, and His resurrection was God's saving grace.  I pray that John Corapi, "The Black Sheep Dog", will continue to live as Christ in humility, though he has been persecuted, and that God continues to send forth grace upon him and his followers.  As for the Church and its faithful believers, we will not allow Satan to stand in our way and "the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."



Matthew 16: 16-23
"Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.  From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."  He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."