Thursday, November 26, 2015

My take on Kandra's "From a reader: 'That Corapi account is fake" post












A follower of mine on Twitter sent me a tweet this morning asking me my thoughts about an article written by Deacon Greg Kandra of the Diocese of Brooklyn.  He blogs on Patheos and Aleteia. Anyhow, this article is titled "From a reader: 'That Corapi account is fake.'"

Here is the tweet I received:





The article the deacon wrote seems to cast doubt on the Linked In profile I found which was picked up by Matt Abbott of Renew America after apparently seeing it on my site since I was the first to report on it. Unfortunately, he did not give me credit for the information after being forced to update his article where he does not seem too confident in his 'reliable source,' but that is beside the point.

Deacon Kandra is correct when he writes that "Neither John Corapi nor the people at his religious order, Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T) have made any public statements about the curious LinkedIn account bearing his name that appeared earlier this month."

However, this can be for several reasons:


  1. Why would John Corapi make a statement about his LinkedIn account?  He clearly wants to attract clientele in order to support himself; so why bring drama upon himself and possibly scare clients away?
  2. I seriously doubt his former religious order (SOLT) will make a statement on it since both parties clearly have a tense relationship, if any relationship at all. As a matter of fact, their statement found on http://soltnews.blogspot.com/2011/07/press-release-concerning-fr-john-corapi.html clearly shows they have severed ties.

Therefore, I think it is safe to say that neither party is going to release any statement. Most likely they are not even aware of all of this.  The reason why I even found this LinkedIn profile was after readings several blogs regarding Matt Abbott's claim that a 'reliable source' told him that Corapi is reconciling with his order.  As a former atheist and natural skeptic, the use of the words 'reliable source' without naming names was a red flag for me. Moreover, I have friends at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, CT and neither of them believed the claims either.  They knew him personally, some even taught him!  Corapi did really 'vanish.'

Nevertheless, I gave Abbott's story the benefit of the doubt.  I did some investigating by looking at several social networks and only found groups or profiles defending Corapi and one on Twitter mocking him under his 'Blacksheep dog' persona. Eventually, I came across the LinkIn profile when the  Linked IN system recommended I connect with people with similar interests as the ones that I hold. When I saw the profile, I was surprised and quickly took screenshots and video before it disappeared.  Next, I wrote the post http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/11/john-corapi-is-back-returned-to-faith.html to share my findings and came to the conclusion that Corapi is really gone and not coming back.

Now, Deacon Kandra writes on his aleteia blog the following:

A few people at the time, as I noted, found the LinkedIn CV a little odd, and one priest wrote to tell me he didn’t think the dates and degrees added up.
Late Wednesday, a reader sent me a copy of Corapi’s official bio, which was routinely used a few years ago in promoting his personal appearances. The reader’s point: “That LinkedIn account is fake.”
Compare the two and you’ll see some notable differences in both substance and style.
Fr. John Corapi’s CV
Dr. John Corapi’s LinkedIn CV
The conclusion is unmistakable: these can’t be the work of the same person.


He seems convinced that the profile is a fake simply because of the wording and the opinions of a priest and reader.  However, all parties failed to acknowledge the photos on the Linked In profile which are above in the heading of this post.  They are clearly of John Corapi.  One appears to be taken in a hotel room and the other is a 'selfie,' or one he took himself while holding a cell phone over his upper torso.

Now ask yourself this,

"How can someone creating a fake profile have access to the selfies and private photos of another person?"

The only person who would have access to a 'selfie' photo is the one who took it: the person in the 'selfie.'  We can say the same of the photo of Corapi in what looks like a hotel room.  Now, one can say that perhaps Corapi texted those photos to someone else and that someone else created the 'fake profile,' but there is problem there too because as you will see in this video, there are actual real people with real secular businesses and positions rating Corapi for his performance as a speaker.







How can other individuals rate a speaker or writer if the person they hired was not the person in the profile?



Also if you notice in the 'selfie' photo, there are poacher trophies in the background on the wall.  This is significant because Corapi was on a hunting site and was photographed with 'kills.'  See:








These images can be easily found if you Google "John Corapi Hunter."  You can also see them here: http://www.visionquesthunts.com/Gallery2013.php.  I am sure PETA would love to see this.  St. Francis of Assisi weeps.

So clearly this LinkedIN profile is not fake and is really John Corapi.

Suppose I hire Deacon Kandra to give a retreat and rate him on a LinkIn profile I saw him on.  How can I rate him on a fake profile if I used that profile to find him in the first place in order to hire him?

I think we can conclude that this profile is real and that those saying it is fake are those Catholics who are still in denial of Corapi's fall and will say anything to exonerate him even if their conclusions do not fit the facts and are irrational.

In this case, they have been proven wrong for a picture did tell a thousand words.

Lastly, if you compare the education credentials of the sources Kandra used, there is not much difference. The sequence of degrees adds up as well as other information. What I see different is the emphasis.  The document sent by the reader Kandra mentions shows Corapi puts an emphasis on his religious formation which would make sense since he was an active priest at the time.  In the LinkIn profile, the tone is more neutral in regards to religion and focuses more on his background as a writer and speaker. This would make sense if Corapi is working in a secular environment.

Here are screenshots of both so you can compare:






Another Twitter user also noticed that the information is pretty much the same and told Deacon Kandra via a Tweet, see:




It is safe to say based on the evidence at hand that Kandra's conclusion and that of his priest friend and reader is erroneous.

Kandra asks "So what has happened to Fr. Corapi?"  Well, I think we can ask those who hired and rated him that question since they have encountered him and gave him high ratings post 2011.

Let us pray for Corapi and wish him well on his new career as a speaker and writer. He sinned, I sin, you sin; God forgives.


UPDATE 1/26/2024 here: Sacerdotus: John Corapi is back? Returned to Faith? Not Quite it Seems...






6 comments:

  1. Sacerdotus, though I appreciate your PI work on these Corapi articles, I wanted to point out that LinkedIn endorsements do not necessarily mean these folks hired the profile owner. If you use LinkedIn as I do, friends of the profile can endorse random categories about a person. I think the case for the private pictures are sufficient evidence however. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I know, that is why I added other pieces of evidence. However, those endorsements were not there before when I first found this profile. This is why I wrote: "Kandra asks "So what has happened to Fr. Corapi?" Well, I think we can ask those who hired and rated him that question since they have encountered him and gave him high ratings post 2011." We can contact them to find out more details. :)

      Delete
    2. why doesn't someone just 'hire' him foe a secular talk and confront him?

      Delete
    3. He can sue for breach of contract, perhaps.

      Delete
  2. Every once in awhile I check in on Fr. John Corapi. His journey to redemption is a very tortuous one. His love affair with the devil, the flesh and the world has taken him to the heights and depths in life. Clearly a warrior (but still battling the whirlwind) when I see his hunting pic’s. I heard him speak in RI once on spiritual warfare – very compelling words. Some of his examples were “out of the ordinary” – he spoke like one who was living in a war zone. He spoke of his training with the Green Berets – how other’s lives depend on you doing your job. Also, how one night while sleeping, someone was approaching his house in MT in an attempt to kill him. He told us he always slept with a gun nearby. He talked about his life being threatened because he was a priest. In light of his living a double life, his words carry a dual message. It must be torture wanting to live in heaven and hell and not knowing which is better. Fr. Corapi is an exquisite example of someone trying to serve two masters. I hope Christ wins!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we must pray for him and the many others who may be going through something similar. None of us are perfect. Hopefully, the year of mercy last year inspired those in the Church to be more merciful. God will find a way to bring our brother Corapi back in some fashion.

      Delete

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