Something called...

Online Catholic Network is auctioning a rosary for $5000 dollars. The only thing notable about it is a) it was owned by Fr. Corapi and b) it was blessed by JPII, touched to St. Peter's tomb and touched by Mother Teresa. The ad makes special note of these facts and that appears to be the sole reason for the outrageous price.

I find this troubling because what appears to be being hawked here is the various graces attached to the rosary by its blessings. And that is not simony because...? Also, I'm curious to know just who is behind Online Catholic Network. They seem strangely reticent to provide a "Who We Are" page on their site.

Update: Ask and ye shall receive. A reader writes:

Well that was easy.
http://tinyurl.com/44x3ldp

This domain is owned by "Matt Sprinkle" of Kila MT.

Kila is about 30 miles from Whitefish - where the fathercorapi.com domains are registered.

If you search for "Matt Sprinkle" you will find that he is married to one "Tamar" who is Fr. Corapi's goddaughter.
http://tinyurl.com/6bf8kkm

Okay. I kinda suspected something like that. Now the next question is: is the "flatheadmedia" thingie that Mr. Sprinkle runs something that Fr. Corapi is backing like he backs Santa Cruz Media (which was doing all the "Don't listen to that disgruntled former employee or trust those mean investigators" flak work for him)?

In short, is Fr. Corapi profiting from hawking blessed rosaries on eBay?

I don't know that this is the case. It might be, for all I know, that flathead media or Mr. Sprinkle are just strapped for cash, times being what they are. And they may not be aware that this is as dodgy as it looks. But I'd be curious to know whether Fr. Corapi is involved in this, since he at any rate, should know.

By the way, here's an interesting bit of trivia I didn't know (from another of my invaluable readers. In addition to be "absolutely forbidden to sell sacred relics" (which I knew), the sale of any blessed item immediately removes the blessing. A reader writes:

Selling a blessed item removes the blessing (or any other graces an item might have, such as being touched to a holy relic). I worked part time once in a Catholic book store and whenever a priest happened to in there, people who bought stuff (rosaries, holy cards, etc.) would ask to have them blessed. And he or us would always tell the customer: you have to buy the item first, otherwise the blessing will be removed when you pay for it.