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Fr. Corapi put on administrative leave

Catholic News Service

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Father John Corapi, a popular author
and preacher who has had speaking engagements all over the
world, has been placed on administrative leave from priestly
ministry over an accusation of misconduct.

“We have received an allegation that Father Corapi has
behaved in a manner unbecoming of a priest and are duty-bound
to conduct an investigation into this accusation,” said
Father Gerard Sheehan, a spokesman for Father Corapi’s
community, the Texas-based Society of Our Lady of the Most
Holy Trinity.

Father Sheehan, who has the title “regional priest servant,”
issued the statement March 18 on behalf of the community.

“It is important to keep in mind that this action in no way
implies Father Corapi is guilty of the allegation,” Father
Sheehan said. “It is equally important to know that, based on
the information we have received thus far, the claim of
misconduct does not involve minors and does not arise to the
level of criminal conduct.”

The matter will “be investigated internally,” he said. Father
Sheehan did not reveal the exact nature of the allegation.

In a March 19 statement, Father Corapi said, “All of the
allegations in the complaint are false, and I ask you to pray
for all concerned.” His statement was posted on his website,
www.fathercorapi.com.

He said he learned on Ash Wednesday, March 9, 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.”

Father Sheehan told Catholic News Service that Bishop William
M. Mulvey of Corpus Christi has instructed the religious
community to ask two priests who are not clergy of the
diocese and who are not members of the Society of Our Lady of
the Most Holy Trinity to investigate the allegation. The two
priests have not yet been named.

In his statement, Father Sheehan added that “unless and until
information suggests otherwise,” the allegation made against
Father Corapi “will not be referred to civil authorities.”

If officials of the religious community learn that the
accusation involves a violation of criminal civil law, he
said they would refer the matter to civil authorities.

In his statement, Father Corapi complained that the bishops’
procedures to protect minors from sex abuse by church
personnel are “being applied broadly to respond to all
complaints,” whether the complaint is deemed “to be credible
or not.”

“I’ll certainly cooperate with the process, but personally
believe that it is seriously flawed, and is tantamount to
treating the priest as guilty ‘just in case,’ then, through
the process, determining if he is innocent,” Father Corapi
said. “The resultant damage to the accused is immediate,
irreparable and serious, especially for someone like myself,
since I am so well known.

“I am not alone in this assessment, as multiple canon lawyers
and civil and criminal attorneys have stated publicly that
the procedure does grave damage to the accused from the
outset, regardless of rhetoric denying this, and has little
regard for any form of meaningful due process,” he added.

It was not the first time Father Corapi has criticized the
zero-tolerance policy mandated by the U.S. bishops’ “Charter
for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

In an address at the Call to Holiness conference in Michigan
in 2002, Father Corapi called the policy “unjust.” He said
there was no question the church needed to remove serial
molesters or any priest who posed a threat. But he said there
was “a radical difference” between a child-molester priest
who “just wallows in it” and a priest removed because he was
accused of one long-ago incident but who repented and went on
to have 25-30 years of fruitful ministry.

According to his website, Father Corapi has traveled more
than 2 million miles preaching the Gospel since his 1991
ordination by Pope John Paul II. He has preached in 49 of the
50 states, all of the Canadian provinces except Newfoundland,
and several other foreign countries.

Father Corapi often tells audiences his story of his late
vocation to the priesthood and his life before that, when he
knew both success and failure, from gaining millions of
dollars in real estate to being penniless, homeless and
addicted to cocaine.

Besides television and radio, he also preaches about the
Catholic faith using the Internet and various other
multimedia formats. He is the author of several books and has
produced a number of multimedia products.

A native of Hudson, N.Y., he makes his home in Kalispell,
Mont.

Father Corapi, 63, is widely known from his appearances on
the EWTN cable TV channel, as a guest homilist in churches,
and his many speaking engagements.

Founded in 1958, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy
Trinity is based in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. It is
comprised of priests, brothers, deacons, sisters and laity.

Its website says the community’s “primary apostolate is to
serve the areas of deepest apostolic need.”

Its members serve in missions around the world, working in
parishes, and ministering to migrants, refugees, homeless
people, among others. They also are involved in education,
catechetics, evangelization, and marriage and family life.
The community also has an outreach to prisoners and drug
addicts.

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