Like many, I was incredibly surprised to hear Fr. Corapi’s statement that he is abandoning the priesthood of Jesus Christ to become “The Black Sheep Dog.” It is a move so bizarre and sad that for the first few hours after his announcement, the opinion among a good number of his fans was that his website had been hacked; this simply could not be him. Much of the analysis of this sad situation has been handled ably by others and you are welcome to see the National Catholic Register’s coverage for details. However, in light of the new statement Fr. Corapi released yesterday, I would like to add something of my own, as someone who once very much admired Fr. Corapi.

Perhaps the thing that most bothered me about Fr. Corapi’s proposed plan of action was that he indicated that he was resigning from public ministry and leaving the priesthood, yet seemed to think that he would just go on doing basically the same things he had been doing. “How on earth does he expect to do that?” I thought. How can someone who spent so much effort teaching people to love and respect the authority of the Church think that he is just going to continue, business as usual, while living a life radically opposed to his own teaching? Does he really think that somehow the priesthood was just superfluous to his teaching the Catholic faith? Does he really hold the priesthood that cheaply?

The answer came in his statement yesterday (see www.theblacksheepdog.us for more). Speaking of the great privilege he enjoyed as a sacred minister of the greatest gifts Our Lord ever gave us, of the supreme call from God he received to make Jesus Christ present thought the Sacraments, Fr. Corapi said simply,

I didn’t do very much of that, quite honestly, in the 20 years that I did minister. About 90% of what I did in the past did not require ordination.

To further answer all my questions, he concluded,

What I’m going to be doing in the future is pretty much the same thing [I've been doing].

No, no, and no. There is absolutely no way he will continue doing “pretty much the same thing” that he’s been doing. This whole situation reminds me of a quote of Pope Paul VI:

Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.

Fr. Corapi was a great teacher of the faith. He proclaimed the truths of the Catholic Church with great conviction. But people listened to him for only two primary reasons. First, because the truth he taught was so attractive. He taught the fullness of the faith to a culture that is often left with only watered down Catholicism. That this truth is attractive is nothing for which Fr. Corapi or any priest should dare take credit. When we give people authentic Catholicism it’s like water in the desert and it’s no great coup for a priest that people drink and desire more.

While it is true that “John Corapi” could go on proclaiming the truths of the faith “pretty much” as before, no one will listen to him. At least very few will listen, and that is because the second and most important reason people listened to Fr. Corapi was because he was a witness. Anyone can read the Catechism. People listened to Fr. Corapi because they found him to be an authentic, credible witness. He could command obedience to Holy Mother Church because he himself had pledged his life to such radical obedience. He had made public promises to God that his life was no longer his but was given totally to God through the Church. This is what made his teaching, and that of any true witness, powerful.

The “Black Sheep Dog” now thinks that he can simply go on doing “pretty much the same thing.” He is like Sampson who has not yet realized that his hair has been cut (no pun intended). The strength of the Catholic Church and her teachings remain, but Fr. Corapi’s strength to teach these truths is gone. He thinks that he can be a teacher without being an authentic witness. The words of Paul VI foretell his future. No one will listen to him any more…and that is a shame. We needed teachers like him.

“The hormone oestrogen could be fuelling head and neck cancers in young women, explaining why the disease is on the increase in that group, a US team says.”

This left me confused. It doesn’t really explain why “the disease is on the increase.” The whole premise of the article is that oestrogen is causing cancer. The logical question would be “what has caused this apparent increase in oestregen that is causing the cancer?”

Alas, the article doesn’t answer that obvious question. It doesn’t even raise it as a question. So, I did a quick Google search on this mysterious cancer-causing hormone. It turns out that oestregen is the main ingredient in the oral contraceptive pill. Who would have thought it?

It seems like the more correct headline would have read “Contraceptive Pill May Fuel Oral Cancer in Young Women.” I wonder why they didn’t just come out and say that. If a chemical taken by millions of women turns out to cause cancer, the media would want people to know, right?

It turns out that much of the false attacks against the Pope initiated by this newspaper were in fact not properly researched (I know…it’s shocking). Apparently they were in such a hurry to find some facts to back up the story they had written that they didn’t even have time to properly translate the key source for their story which happened to be in Italian. Seemingly lacking even one person on a staff of thousands who was fluent in Italian, they instead decided to use “Yahoo translator” to interpret.

Perhaps they also consulted Wikipedia as a source for this story. Thank goodness for journalists who can work to find all the hard facts we normal people could never figure out. Read the sad details below and then say a prayer for the Pope (and maybe think about that job at the NYT).

New York Times Story Based on Gross Translating Error

I decided if I was going to move, I’d go all out. So, I registered this new snazzy domain (Shawn is the Irish version of John and I take John the Baptist as my principal patron saint) and got my self-hosted WordPress site all up and running…including the much demanded homily podcast. As you can see, I still have only the very basic standard WordPress theme and have much work to do. I’m debating about migrating over all the old posts from Xanga, but that could be a chore. We’ll see. Thanks for visiting and stay tuned.

My old blog, Diary of a Pilgrimage

I have finally moved into my new home at Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Topeka, KS. I have been assigned here as the Associate Pastor (Parochial Vicar in church law). I am also the Chaplain for Hayden High School here in Topeka as well as Chaplain to the Archdiocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting. So, I’ve definitely got enough to keep my busy. Right now I’m just working on getting everything out of my boxes and into their new homes.

I haven’t done much with my blog since ordination as I’ve been very busy. Almost immediately after being ordained I returned to Mundelein Seminary in Chicago to finish an advanced degree. I graduated in May with a Master of Divinity degree in the “secular” system and a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology in the “ecclesiastical” system. I returned to complete a Licentiate in Sacred Theology which is kind of like a PhD “all but dissertation” (ABD). I took a couple classes and then had my final comprehensive exam before the board, which I passed. The only thing left now is to write my thesis. I did a lot of research while I was back at school, but now I need to find the time to write.

This next week I am headed to the National Training Center of the Boy Scouts to learn more about being a Scout Chaplain. The center is located at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico where I’ve been backpacking twice before. I haven’t really had much “down” time yet this summer, so this will be good. There will be lots of classes, but just to be out in the scenic beautiful of Philmont will be a refreshing change of pace. When I get back I intend to be more regular in updating my blog. Thanks to all who have made my first two months of priesthood so wonderful.