On Obedience

St. John of The Cross:

‎"On the night of 2 December 1577, John was taken prisoner by his superiors in the calced Carmelites, who had launched a counter-program against John and Teresa's reforms. John had refused an order to return to his original house." "He managed to escape nine months later, on 15 August 1578, through a small window in a room adjoining his cell. (He had managed to pry the cell door off its hinges earlier that day)." St. John of the Cross disobeyed his superior's order because it was unjust, therefore, immoral. For disobeying he was imprisoned, but then escaped since he knew the actions of his superior was not God's will for his life."

St. Thomas Aquinas refused his parents will for his life.

On the other hand, Savonarola was excommunicated by Rome, then imprisoned and burned by a mob for refusing Rome's request that he come and explain himself. Martin Luther refused to obey as well.

So...

Where does Father Corapi fall in this spectrum?

I have no clue.

I don't really have any passionate attachment to Fr. Corapi, nor have I had any interest in his talks or work for years and years.

On the other hand, there's a lot of people who seem disproportionately angry with him. Passionately angry with him.

I Officially Don't Get It

1) I don't understand why SOLT would release an explicitly damaging statement about Corapi and then disappear for three weeks - it's almost like they want to make an accusation and then not answer for it. I find that very odd.

You can argue that Corapi is being irresponsible and I won't disagree, but I can't see how SOLT is acting in a responsible fashion either.

2) As for other commentators, like those who say that there MUST be a big file on Corapi because that's just how the Church works... well, tell it to Padre Pio, who was forbidden to say Mass publicly for ten years.

The Church may well have had a big file on him, but it must not have amounted to much, since he got canonized on the basis of that SAME big file.

3) So, why are so many people ticked at Corapi?

And why do all these people who are ticked at him seem to originate from groups that are used to working closely together? I mean, we've got Mark Shea (Ascension Press), who really needs rabies shots on this one, the NC Register (EWTN octopus) and Phil Lawler (CatholicCulture).

Apart from a wild attempt to grab part of Corapi's audience, what are their respective beefs, exactly?

This is primarily a dispute between a man, his religious order and his bishop, none of whom look particularly good in this go-around.

Why everyone is treating it like the end of the world is beyond me.

UPDATE:

Ah... the penny has dropped.

Or, in this case, several million dollars.

That may well be the motive behind all this brouhaha.

According to this story, SOLT needs money to pay off the rape victim created by another SOLT priest who was also into contract murder.

Conveniently, Corapi is a SOLT priest who happens to have a lot of money.

So, rob Peter to pay off Paul's victim.

That certainly makes a lot more sense than anything I've heard so far.

If it is true, Mark Shea, Fr. Longenecker and several other "Catholic" commentators should get down on their knees, apologize to Corapi and kiss his boots, begging forgiveness.

I'm still not saying I approve of Fr. Corapi's solution, but if that story is correct, the course he chose certainly makes a lot more sense. It also certainly puts Corapi a lot closer to St. John of the Cross (i.e., contending with venal superiors and illicit commands) than any of us might originally have guessed.