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
women.”
As Internet pundits reacted to the headlines, his supporters
questioned whether the formal process of investigating such claims
conveyed the impression that the accused was “guilty until proven
innocent.”
SOLT, as well as the relevant diocesan authorities, affirmed the
Church’s guidelines for responding to allegations of clerical
misconduct. But an intense debate on the Internet testified to the
priest’s iconic status among Catholics who relish his homiletic gifts
and charismatic persona.
Critics, including Father Corapi in the past, have argued that the
present framework for dealing with such allegations is a
“one-size-fits-all response” that blurs distinctions between minor
infractions and criminal behavior. That said, in the wake of the recent
clergy-abuse scandal in Philadelphia, the U.S. bishops have been
attacked for allowing priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuses
against minors to return to ministry.
While the Catholic hierarchy struggles to tighten its implementation
of diocesan child-protection policies, the public reaction to the
treatment accorded Father Corapi underscores the equal priority of
protecting the right of accused clerics to due process.
When Father Corapi announced his leave of absence, he noted that the
allegations leveled against him did not include any criminal behavior or
any improprieties involving minors.
While promising to “cooperate in
the process,” he criticized Church policies designed to protect the
vulnerable from clerical predators.
“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,” Father Corapi stated in the March
announcement posted on his website .
Clearly mindful of the priest’s national reputation, Church
authorities stressed the presumption of innocence as the investigation
moved forward.
Father Gerard Sheehan, regional priest servant of SOLT and Father
Corapi’s religious superior, confirmed that he had “been placed on
administrative leave from priestly ministry, in accordance to the Code
of Canon Law of the Catholic Church.”
He referred to the allegation as
“a manner unbecoming of a priest.” But Father Sheehan also noted that
“this action in no way implies Father Corapi is guilty of the
allegation.”
The allegations against the priest, Father Sheehan said in a March 18
statement, would be “investigated internally, and unless and until
information suggests otherwise it will not be referred to civil
authorities.”
In a statement, Bishop George Leo Thomas, the bishop of the Diocese
of Helena, Mont., where Father Corapi resides, also underscored the
importance of “due process” for the accused priest, while describing the
case as a “very complex situation.”
In the statement released by the Diocese of Helena, Father John
Robertson, the chancellor, clarified the priest’s status: “Father Corapi
has a personal residence in Kalispell, Mont. He does not hold priestly
faculties in the Diocese of Helena.”
While Church officials promised justice for the accused, many of his
supporters were disturbed to learn that his upcoming public speaking
events had been canceled.
Tempers further flared when EWTN, which has
long provided a forum for the popular evangelist, pulled his television
and radio shows.
“We are aware that many of our supporters are disappointed in EWTN’s
decision to remove Father John Corapi’s programs from the network during
his administrative leave,” said Michael Warsaw, CEO of the global
Catholic network and publisher of the Register, which was acquired by
EWTN earlier this year.
“We can assure you that it was made with much
prayer and careful discernment.”
EWTN took action, Warsaw explained, after “Father John’s own
religious community placed him on administrative leave from priestly
ministry.”
Father Francis Hoffman, executive director of Relevant Radio — a
radio network that broadcasts Catholic programs on 33 stations in 12
states — and a canon lawyer, said that Catholic media have a duty to
support Church discipline.
“In the case of Father Corapi,” said Father Hoffman, “Catholic media
outlets will assist the process by supporting the indications and
intentions of his superiors with respect to his temporary suspension
from the public ministry of teaching, sanctifying and governing.”
To do otherwise, Father Hoffman added, “may unintentionally undermine
the authority of his superior by leading the faithful to conclude that
the superior unjustly put him on ‘administrative leave’ because the
allegations were not credible.”
Catholics unfamiliar with Father Corapi’s ministry may be surprised
by the intensity of the debate swirling around the allegations against
him. His admirers, however, view him as a source of profound inspiration
and have been quick to rush to his defense.
Many Catholics know the story of his conversion and subsequent
decision to enter the priesthood, after a rapid fall from grace fueled
by drug addiction.
Living on the streets and increasingly desperate, he
returned to the home of his spiritually devout mother and allowed the
power of the sacraments to heal his wounds.
“People love him because they feel they are listening to a man who
has walked in their shoes,” said Joe Condit, the founder and chairman of
CMG Booking, which once managed Father Corapi’s speaking engagements,
and expects to collaborate with him in the future.
Father Corapi and Scott Hahn are the most requested Catholic speakers
in North America, said Condit.
He suggested that highly effective
evangelists were likely targets of the devil, “the master of confusion.
We have to be very hesitant and cautious to judge without knowing 99% of
the facts.”
Condit spoke of Father Corapi’s ability to draw 10,000 people to a
ticketed speaking event, as the priest did last summer at a Cincinnati
engagement. This year, scalpers were already asking $140 and more for
seats at upcoming events.
Now those events, including one this month at Northern Illinois
University Convocation Center that drew co-sponsors like Catholic
Charities of the Rockford Diocese, have been canceled.
Some commentators, including Elizabeth Scalia, who blogs at Patheos.com, and Patrick Archbold and Jimmy Akin, who both blog at NCRegister.com, have suggested it’s time to take a deep breath and wait for SOLT investigators to digest the facts of the case.
But many of the priest’s most loyal supporters and colleagues are
apparently finding that hard to do. Santa Cruz Media, Inc., the small
production company that distributes materials featuring the priest, has
vowed to continue selling his products.
Bobbi Ruffatto, vice president of operations for Santa Cruz Media,
confirmed that the company was “the owner of all of Father 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.”
She said that Santa Cruz Media would continue to make Father Corapi’s
material “available as a service to the Church and the world for as
long as we possibly can.”
Ruffatto stated that the company had “consulted with a number of
canon lawyers. They have assured us that the actions of the Bishop
[William Mulvey] of Corpus Christi, Texas, are, on several points of
canon law, illicit.”
Her statement didn’t outline the contested points, and the reference
to Bishop Mulvey was curious. While SOLT is based in that diocese,
Bishop Mulvey had already acknowledged the responsibility of SOLT
authorities to address the allegations against a member of the society.
Said Marty Wind, Bishop Mulvey’s spokesman, “The actions in this case
were taken by the SOLT superior, and, in fact, administrative leave is
provided for by canon law.”
Yet the accusation serves as a reminder that Church authorities navigate a minefield with unpredictable consequences.
“It is frustrating because the Church is criticized when we do take
action, and we also are criticized when we don’t take action,” Wind
said. “We have no choice but to investigate any allegations.”
Ruffatto alleges that the priest’s accuser is a former employee who,
after losing her job with this office, physically assaulted her and
another employee, and promised to “destroy” Father Corapi.
Her remarks echo the bitterness of many supporters of priests deemed
to be unjustly accused.
And as the Lenten season continues, the public
spectacle of a beloved priest under scrutiny will likely test the faith
of his devoted following.