THE CHANCERY DECIDES TO CREATE FOUR VICARIATES. IS THIS WISE?

(Posted by Frenchie)

The Archdiocese Newspaper this weekend, published a 

DECREE

Read Here 

Basically the Archbishop, under the recommendations of the Vicar General and the Vicar for Clergy (translate Fr Jeff and Fr Mike) decided to chop the Archdiocese in four regions.

North, South, East and West.

What we end up with is another layer of administration, instead of a lighter and more efficient Church.

I have often argued that Archbishop Byrnes has since the first day he arrived on island been under siege from all corners, and that we should not expect too much all at once.

Indeed after addressing the issue of the make believe seminary, the Archbishop has had to deal almost exclusively with the never ending cascade of lawsuits,  and the putting out of financial fires in many parishes. This is the legacy of 30 years of mismanagement and nepotism at the chancery and in the Archdiocese in general. 

It goes without saying that all these issues would overwhelm any good administrator, even without having to deal with the continuing issue of the nefarious presence of the NCW, and their continued work to undermine everything that is possible. (we shall come back on that subject, later)

All this having been said, the Faithful are starting to ask themselves many questions.

While many have been very pleased with the engaging style of Archbishop Byrnes, specially after having had to deal with the holier than thou approach of Apuron. 

People were expecting the Archbishop to take decisions frankly and decisively, when it comes to issues of administration and priest behavior.

So far it has not been the case. The fact that he has been very busy has been compounded by the Archbishop's desire to govern by consensus and with the participation of the priests of the diocese. He also has delegated a lot of his tasks to the team surrounding him.

This approach has had mitigated results, mostly because the people that should help the Archbishop making the right decisions have for many reasons (too many to be discussed here) been giving him bad advises, or have because of their shortcomings not been capable to bring the help necessary.

Some might argue that Archbishop Byrnes has taken the lead, in arguing against gambling, and against the legalization of Marijuana.

While it is true that on these occasions the Archbishop has been leading the way, Guamanians still have a bitter taste, regarding the mixed signals the chancery sent during the latest election campaign, and the lack of explanation of the reasons, the Chancery and the Capuchins remain so indebted to the BOG. 

Perhaps after the smoke of chapter 11 clears, a better picture of the reality of that relationship will emerge. 

Personally, I am not very positive on that subject, following the well executed co-opting of the Leon Guerrero campaign by the NCW, as well as the messy transition of power since their take over of Adelup, it appears that instead of having a simplified situation, the Chancery might end up with a Gordian knot worse than we have now.

This case of the Vicariates is a perfect illustration of the challenges we, and the Archbishop are facing.

With the installation of four Vicariates, the Chancery has also had to nominate four new Vicars.

One would expect that after what this Archdiocese experienced over that last 30 years, that our leadership would chose men of integrity and consensus.

 Let us look then, who the new four Vicars shall be.

1. For the Northern Vicariate:  Fr. Dan Bien
2. For the Western Vicariate: Fr. Romeo Convocar 
3. For the Eastern Vicariate: Fr. Manuel Tranchera
4.  For the Southern Vicariate: Fr Joseph Anora.

 Both Father Convocar, and Father Anora are well liked priests, with opposite personalities, yet they are engaging and easy to approah. Unless I am mistaken none of them is incardinated in the Diocese of Agana, and this could become a serious issue at a later stage.







On the other hand Fr Bien (aka the traveling priest) and Fr Tranchera are controversial priests who are better known for their negativity and propensity to divide rather than create a consensus.

In fact, Fr Bien has many skeletons in his closet (I shall revisit this separately)

Therefore, one could ask why both Fr Jeff and Fr Mike advised for these two priests to be given that very difficult responsibility of a Vicariate, while there are strong reasons to question their respective  administration, in their own parishes.

 

We shall revisit the issue of Fr Bien in a separate article.

 

The Chancery would be well advised to get their ducks in a row, and come clean regarding this administrative move, and the reasons behind their choice of leaders for said Vicariates.

After all the ultimate task of the priests of this Diocese is the salvation of the souls of their parishioners, that should trunk out all other administrative consideration.

For a leader to have the trust of his wards, it is essential that said leader be beyond reproach.

 

 
 

REQUEST FOR PRAYERS FOR JOHN TOVES

(posted by Frenchie)

Back in December of 2014, a courageous man made the long trip from the San Francisco Bay area to Guam, to accuse Apuron of having abused his cousin while he was the pastor in Agat.

The Name of this man is John Toves. His trip and his confronting the Chancery powerful and evil administration of Apuron, soon became the ripple which grew to a tidal wave.

Because of his accusations against Apuron, which were well publicized in the local media and in the USA, John was soon contacted by several individuals who also had been abused by Apuron while he was posted in Agat as a priest.
They were to become the Agat Boys.

Six Months later, one after the other, the Agat Boys would take the public stand and accuse Apuron.
Soon after, our cowardly Archbishop would leave the island to reappear in Rome, in an effort to  fight the tide, to no avail.


The rest is history.

 
Apuron has not set foot on the island since. The putrid Pius, the man of the shadow, was forced to leave, and Cristobal the evil emminence grise of Apuron is also on the run, after being accused of abuse himsel, by several victims.

John Toves testified for the Canonical Tribunal led by Cardinal Burke, who ultimately found Apuron guilty. John was glad to do so, despite having been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Over the last three years he has fought the good fight, while getting ready for his next life.

Unfortunately for his family he is nearing the end of his passage on this earth, and has taken to an hospice in the Milbrae area.

John has shown us that a single individual who is unafraid could move mountains.

Lets Pray for him, that he can be at peace and pass into a better world surrounded by the people that love him, and the numerous people who appreciate what he did for our Church here on Guam.

Knowing John, he most likely will be as late as possible for his meeting with St Peter.

 

Thank you John for all what you did for us.

THE BEGINNING OF VINDICATION, FOR TIM ROHR? TIME WILL TELL......

(Posted by Frenchie)

Love him or hate him, depending on where you fall in the political debate, President Trump has changed forever the way we look at the media around us.

His relentless attack on the Mainstream medias as "Fake News", certainly leaves no one on the sidelines. Some get very irritated by his constant pounding of his arch enemies, and their mouth pieces in what is called for lack of a better word the Press Corp.

Other are feeling quite amused by the same antics, and relish to see what amounts to a caste of pontificating moralizers, getting challenged by a man, that never backed out of a good fight. 

As a result of not being able to trust our traditional  media sources, because of their very partisan approach , many have turned to what has been described as "alternative" medias.

I have written several times about that conundrum we are facing.

Here on Guam the two major newspapers, are the Post and the PDN

They respectively are part of the Washington Post group for the Post,

and the USA Today group for the PDN.

This explains their constant engagement on the left side of the debate. It also explains, why they choose to run some stories, and ignore others.

On the TV side, KUAM is the main player on Guam.

On the radio, several local actors are quite influential: 

Many people listen to Patty Arroyo in the Morning, or to Ray Gibson.

Who they invite, and how they present their questions influence greatly how people view things.

The result of this situation, is that the local community is highly influenced by the positioning of the few local media actors, on one subject or the other.

If someone understood that well, it was Apuron, who maximized the situation to influence opinion one way or another, depending on his needs.

This is one of the many reasons he got away with his abuse of authority and was able to cover up his sexual sins for such a long time.

If not for the alternative medias, like this blog, the truth about Apuron would not have come out. 

The local journalists only reported the findings the internet sleuth unearthed, but never did much of the investigative work. When they finally published what could no longer be hidden, it was because it fitted a larger narrative in the groups they are associated with.

(the enemies of my enemies are my friends)

Of course the Neocats knew that all along, and probably taught a thing or two to their straw man Apuron. We have seen over the last two years their extensive reach in the media, and how they co-opted several well established outlets, for their own benefits.

Their conversion to politics after their rather embarrassing set-back in the Archdiocese, went a lot smoother that people might have anticipated.

Unfortunately politics are a very dirty business. Lou knew that because she had been a senator in a previous life. Plus, as the the CEO of BOG, she was privy to a multitude of information regarding most of the who's who of Guam. 

(sorry for the oxymoron)

It is not surprising at all, that the Neocats and their organization, did all they could to get close to the inner sanctum of the BOG.

In Malta the people often refer to the Neos as the Octopus

This is where things get interesting.

Last week a local Blog: the Guamblog, was the first one to reveal the tit for tat in the fake News/ hit job on Tim Rohr, which was engineered by then KUAM major reporter: Kristal Paco, in May of last year. Because of the legal challenges he has faced, this basically side lined Tim until now.  Kristal and her companion have both been the recipients of cushy and well paid jobs in the LLG administration. It looks like despite their best efforts at brown nosing, both Marchesseault, and Therese Mantanane, were bitten to the wire by Kristal.

Perhaps this episode has inspired some at KUAM, who have picked up the flag from our fake news scooper. We can see, that several players have jockeyed to put themselves into the race to step in her shoes.

So few places, and so many candidates!

You can go on Guamblog and read the hilarious,but very sad uncovering of the plot to destroy Tim by the Neocats.

The title of the revelations is A paco lypse

Don't get me wrong, while I denounced Guamblog for their jumping on the ugly bandwagon against the poor kids of the Covington Catholic high school, they surely are an endless source of interesting gossips. (they also uncovered the involvement of our favorite Neo Lawyer, crazy Jacke, in the coverup of our current Lt governor's sister in criminal misdeeds a few years back.)

I guess birds of a feather, stick together.

We have often argued that the Neos often use the dirty secrets of the people they back to get them to play ball with them. Looks like our new Lt Governor, did not want us to learn about his sister.

While I personally cannot condone the nastiness of these revelations during the Lenten period,

the revelations are none the less very important.

It shows that Tim was the Target of a hit Job to defame him and destroy his reputation.

What is more disturbing is that the local media, has the information and the documentation that could exonerate Tim, but they choose to keep it under wrap.

To see, the details go Here

then go on the March 7: Troy house of secrets Pt.2

It is sad to see that the only media willing to uncover the truth on this issue is Guamblog. Simply we are lucky to have an alternative to the representative of the main stream media on island.

PDN: NO WORD ON APURON

Pope ends summit with no word on Apuron, drawing disappointment

For nearly a year now, the pope has been reviewing Apuron's appeal of a Vatican tribunal’s verdict finding Apuron guilty of "certain accusations" involving sexual abuse of minors.

“It was very disappointing and disturbing Apuron’s appeal was not addressed. I feel the pope has let my son, Sonny, and other victims and our island down once again,” said Doris Y. Concepcion, who accused Apuron of sexually molesting her late son, who was an altar boy in Agat in the 1970s. CONTINUED

APURON OUT!

Ahead of summit, Guam Catholics asked pope to sustain Vatican tribunal's guilty verdict on Apuron

Ahead of Pope Francis' much publicized summit on sexual abuse in the priesthood, Concerned Catholics of Guam sent a petition asking the pope to sustain a Vatican tribunal's guilty verdict on Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron in a case involving child sexual abuse. CONTINUED

DEFROCK APURON

U.S. groups: Pope must sustain guilty verdict, defrock Guam's Apuron

Two leading U.S. organizations protecting victims and documenting the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic priesthood have called on Pope Francis to sustain the guilty verdict on Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron in a case involving sexual abuse of minors, and to defrock or expel him from priesthood. CONTINUED

NO! WE ARE NOT ALONE AFTER ALL!

(Posted by frenchie)

Last night, while I was writing about how some in the Vatican were trying to hide Apuron's crimes and the complicity of the NCW with Mc Carrick, I felt a little like St John the Baptist: preaching in the desert. A desert of people not caring about injustices.

Yet, as you would have it, early this morning, an article in "Crux Now" gave us some news from Rome.

Read Here

The group: "Bishop Accountability" gives a list of five prelates, that they judge should be treated in the same manner as Mc Carrick.

Regarding Apuron they declared:

"There is a preponderance of evidence that he has inflicted incalculable harm"

Perhaps this new and strong advocacy for accountability, while the Bishops are meeting on the subject, will re-ignite the debate about our sinful leaders.

Let see what comes out of it.

How the media carries or not that important story, should tell us more on  Apuron ever being held responsible for his crimes. Or if we shall have to wait until litteraly : Kingdom comes.

 

WHY HAS Mc CARRICK BEEN THROWN UNDER THE BUS AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME.

(Posted by Frenchie)

It is often said, that being Catholic is a daily struggle. Struggle to be a good Catholic, specially in a modern and increasingly secular, if not openly hostile world. But also a struggle to keep the faith, while facing a constant negative flow about our leaders, and keeping the faith despite or because of the poor example these leaders send us, almost on a daily basis.

It goes without saying, that as a Church, we have had a cornucopia of events that could challenge the most devout faithful.

On Guam in particular, we have been put through a series of ups and downs, in regards to our own clergy, as well as with that colonizing new disease: the Neocatechumenate Way.

Last year, a Vatican tribunal presided by Cardinal Burke at the request of Cardinal Mueller and Pope Francis, investigated allegations against our own corrupt, and deeply flawed former Archbishop, and found him guilty.

He subsequently appealed and unlike Mc Carrick, his appeal was accepted.

What has followed is both unnerving and disgraceful.

Unnerving, because it has left the faithful of Guam, and many in the USA and throughout the world, unable to close that chapter and move forward

Disgraceful, because it revealed, well before the Mc Carrick scandal, the deep level of corruption and back stabbing politics of the worse kind, both in the Church in the USA, and at the Vatican.

Last summer, during his return trip from Dublin to Rome,  Pope Francis himself, faced by the ever developing Mc Carrick scandal, and the revelations (never contested by the Vatican directly) made by Archbishop Vigano (former Nuncio to DC, and former administrator of the Vatican) alluded without being prompted by the journalists, that he would from now on on be handling appeals by Bishops, as in the case of Apuron.

What Pope Francis did in one swift move, was to deny what Cardinal Mueller had wanted: a permanent tribunal run by the Congregation for the propagation of faith.

Instead Mueller was not confirmed in his role, and subsequently retired.

The whole affair, we found out later was the brainchild of one of the most controversial Cardinal in Rome: the now disgraced (another one) Cardinal Coccopalmerio. Also one of these Social Justice Warriors, that have doted the Church since Vatican II

MARCH FOR LIFE ON GUAM FACING THE SAME ISSUES THAT IN THE USA

(Posted by Frenchie)

(March for life, new logo)

We have shown the last two weeks, how weak and soft Catholics leaders of the March for life in Washington DC were, as they threw the Covington Catholic Students under the proverbial bus.

We also saw how the Bishop of Covington  during his very late apology to the same students, blamed having been bullied into condemning them by social media activists.

More recently this past weekend we have witnessed the pathetic reactions of the Bishops of New York, facing the evil actions of the governor of their State: Andrew Cuomo.

We have been subjected to the sad spectacle of Cardinal Dolan of New York, making lukewarm arguments to defend their inaction in the face of Catholic politicians bringing scandalous situation to the Church they claim to belong to.

Of course this is not new. Back in 2004, several American Bishops chose to deny Holy Communion to those "Obstinately Persevering in Manifest Grave Sin" Canon 915

Naturally these Bishops came under question by other Bishops regarding the application of Canon 915, in the case of Catholic politicians who publicly after admonition continue to support legislation contrary to the teachings of the Church, namely abortion and other "scientific practices".
Many of the same leaders, who were consciously dropping a lead curtain on their role in hiding, priests and bishops who had committed sexual abuse, took to the bully pulpit to criticize the actions of their peers who drew a line in the sand, concerning the evils, some politicians were willing to support and/or propagate.

It took three years then, for Archbishop Burke to write a well drafted official document based on Canon law, to vindicate the prelates that had argued in favor of Canon 915, and correct the critics raised in the document "Catholic in Political life" adopted on June 18 2004 by the USCCB.
periodica 96 (2007) 3-58 (published at the Pontifical Gregorian University)

THE REAL REASONS FOR ABORTION