It's somewhat sad seeing the split, between Catholics who try to be faithful, over Fr. Corapi. It seems there are two positions.
- Fr. Corapi is a wonderful person who is being grossly mistreated by the Church.
- Fr. Corapi is a self-promoting egoist who abandoned his vocation when the going got rough.
I think both positions are guilty of partisanship. Group #1 tends to focus on the bashing of the US bishops. Group #2 tends to focus on the bashing of those who criticize the Magisterium.
The problem is, partisanship does not bring us to the truth. This current dispute only serves to deepen mistrust between those Catholics who seek to be faithful. People on the same side are (theologically speaking) shooting at each other – a Civil War.
One thing I think causes confusion is the overlooking of the fact that there are two issues – issues which are being blending into one.
The two issues are:
- Fr. Corapi either did or did not engage in misconduct towards his accuser.
- Fr. Corapi either did wrong or did not to wrong in terms of his leaving the active ministry of the priesthood in favor of becoming a private pundit.
This leaves us with four possibilities:
- He did engage in misconduct and he did wrong to leave the active ministry to become a pundit.
- He did not engage in misconduct and he did wrong to leave the active ministry to become a pundit.
- He did engage in misconduct and did not do wrong to leave the active ministry to become a pundit.
- He did not engage in misconduct and did not do wrong to leave the active ministry to become a pundit.
This would make him one of the following:
- A knave looking out for #1
- Rash by bailing out instead of trusting God
- Cutting his losses and getting out
- Heroically continuing his mission the only way he can
Of these, only one can be considered honorable. The other three do not reflect well on his character.
Since we do not know whether he is guilty or innocent in terms of misconduct (SOLT has not yet determined the credibility of the accuser… and no longer can now that he has left the ministry of the priesthood), the only thing we can ask is whether he did right or wrong in leaving his ministry. Now I admit that I do not know the proper procedure or whether he is following it, so I really cannot at this time determine his guilt or innocence in leaving the active ministry… though I do recognize that the Church has the right and the responsibility to assess both issues.
I would say this however. Regardless of whether or not the current policy of automatic suspension until the truth is found is unjust [which is cited by Fr. Corapi and his defenders], we cannot justify doing wrong in response to wrong being done. So I must say I must disagree with those bloggers and commentators who claim he is justified simply because they think the policy unjust.
I think we need to remember not to engage in rash judgment on one hand and not justify wrong being done in response to doing wrong.
Thus I ask that we who seek to be faithful Catholics stop this Civil War and instead do our best to learn the truth before making accusations.
"Regardless of whether or not the current policy of automatic suspension until the truth is found is unjust [which is cited by Fr. Corapi and his defenders], we cannot justify doing wrong in response to wrong being done. So I must say I must disagree with those bloggers and commentators who claim he is justified simply because they think the policy unjust."
ReplyDeleteIt's sad and unfortunate, but his decision to leave before further investigation is on him. Perhaps everything was too much for him, and even some of the best clergy have fallen in the face of adversity. But outside looking in, the wisest and humblest position would probably have been to await his vindication or sentence depending on whether the accusations turn out to be true.