By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A devastating statement released yesterday by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) says their investigation of Fr. John Corapi uncovered multiple violations of his vows, including the abuse of drugs, engaging in sexual relations, and stockpiling more than $1 million in personal assets.
The press release, written by Fr. Gerard Sheehan, regional priest servant of SOLT, was issued out of concern for Fr. Corapi’s many followers who continue to believe in him.
“SOLT also recognizes that Father Corapi is now misleading these individuals through his false statements and characterizations,” the statement reads. “It is for these Catholics that SOLT, by means of this announcement, seeks to set the record straight.”
He went on to give details of the investigation of Fr. Corapi which began when an anonymous woman sent a letter to SOLT detailing allegations of Father Corapi’s sexual activity with adult women, abuse of alcohol and drugs, improper sacramental practices, violation of his promise of poverty and other wrongdoing.
SOLT then formed a three-person fact-finding team that consisted of a priest-canonist, a psychiatrist and a lawyer. Two were members of religious orders and the third was a lay Catholic. All of them have national reputations and substantial experience in the eccesliastical processes related to priest disciplinary issues.
“As the society was engaging this team, Father Corapi filed a civil lawsuit against his principal accuser. He contended that she had defamed him and breached her contract,” the statement reads. “The contract, according to [Father] Corapi’s lawsuit, contained a provision binding the woman to silence about him. He offered the woman $100,000 to enter this agreement.”
The SOLT team came to suspect that Fr. Corapi may have negotiated similar contracts with other key witnesses who likely had key information about the accusations that prevented them from speaking to the team. When Fr. Corapi was asked to dismiss his lawsuit and to release her and other individuals from their contractual obligations to remain silent, he refused to do so.
Relying upon information acquired from Father Corapi’s emails, various witnesses and public sources, the SOLT learned that the following activities took place during his years of public ministry:
— He did have sexual relations and years of cohabitation (in California and Montana) with a woman known to him, when the relationship began, as a prostitute.
— He repeatedly abused alcohol and drugs.
— He has recently engaged in “sexting” activity with one or more women in Montana.
— He holds legal title to over $1 million in real estate, numerous luxury vehicles, motorcycles, an ATV, a boat dock, and several motor boats, which is a serious violation of his promise of poverty as a perpetually professed member of the society.
As a result of these findings, SOLT has directed Fr. Corapi, under obedience, to return to the society’s regional office and take up residence there. They have also ordered him to dismiss the lawsuit he has filed against his accuser.
The statement concludes: “Catholics should understand that SOLT does not consider Father John Corapi as fit for ministry.”
Fr. Corapi expressed his desire to leave SOLT and the priesthood in a June 17 statement in which he claimed he was being “unjustly accused,” and that “(t)here are certain persons in authority in the Church that want me gone, and I shall be gone.”
Fr. Corapi has not yet been released from his vows although he submitted a letter of resignation to the Society on June 3. According to Elizabeth Scalia of the popular “Anchoress” blog, the reason SOLT has become so suddenly aggressive is because they are trying to become a pontifical Order rather than just a Society and need to take control of the Corapi situation. If their allegations about Corapi’s personal assets can be proven, the fact that they allowed a fully professed priest in their order to live independently and stockpile such wealth could indeed throw a bad light on SOLT.
To date, Fr. Corapi has not been released from his vows.
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