The announcement* that now Guam will have two seminaries and that four locally incardinated priests will be sent "on mission" is astounding. Guam Catholics are going to have some VERY SERIOUS QUESTIONS!
But for now, just a couple of small items.
I
The article (U Matuna 12/8/13) entitled: Four diocesan priests go the missions ends with the sentence: "Archbishop Anthony is on the right track."
Aside from the fact that the "right track" is yet to be determined (we will see how the people of Guam respond to their money being spent elsewhere - more on that later), the appearance of a blatant subjective comment in a supposed news item is jolting, completely out of place, unprofessional, and, by the use of the overly familiar "Archbishop Anthony", evinces that the author (unnamed) is simply waving the flag for a particular group.
II
There is also the question of the appointment of Rev. Fr. Danilo D. Ferrandiz as Parochial Administrator of Santa Bernadita Chapel, Agafa Gumas.
A parochial administrator is responsible for a parish. Is Santa Bernadita a parish or is it a chapel? If it is a chapel then canon law requires that it be assigned a rector, NOT a parochial administrator:
Can. 556. Rectors of churches are understood here as priests to whom is committed the care of some church which is neither parochial nor capitular nor connected to a house of a religious community or society of apostolic life which celebrates services in it.
Under Can. 516, Santa Bernadita could be considered a "quasi-parish", in which case it could be assigned a pastor. However, the 2013 Archdiocesan Director lists Santa Bernadita as a "chapel" AND as part of the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Yigo:
Our Lady of Lourdes, Yigo AND Santa Bernadita Chapel, Agafa Gumas (Pg. ii)
Thus, at least according to the Directory, Yigo has both a pastor (Fr. Jonathan Alvarez) and a parochial administrator (Fr. Danny Ferrandiz). Canon law does not allow for that, but then, who cares? (It has been pointed out that Santa Barbara, since Fr. Paul was not properly removed, has had the same situation since July 17.)
The chancery should. It may appear to be a small point, but chancery officials are expected to be aware of such points. The fact that they don't appear to be, says much about the "other issues."
* In this weekend's U Matuna
Tim-the Chancery doesn't care about the rules...unless it serves their purpose. If what you say is true about only one person in charge, then they violated that with Santa Barbara Church, where they had a pastor and parochial administrator since July.
ReplyDeleteBorn a Catholic, my grandma taught me from the earliest of age that a Catholic cannot choose which rules to follow and which to ignore. If she is right, and we should believe that she is...then can we suggest that some in the Chancery are no longer Catholic?
This is a really frightening thought.
I think they got caught them with their pants down when this blog exposed the true mission of the Yona seminary. Many were gushing with joy that the archbishop was producing more priests for Guam, which this blog corrected. Now, they had to figure out a way to combat the argument that we are funding foreigners to be trained in Guam only to leave Guam to foreign places. So, they concocted the new seminary!
ReplyDeleteHow can you justify economically opening a seminary with one student? And to hide that huge economic problem, they threw in the fact that there are 13 aspirants out there. So what? It’s like a 80 year old man building a 10-bedroom home because he is looking for a wife and one that will have 10 children! The economic numbers are not there no matter what they do. Substantial funds and resources of this archdiocese will be diverted just to maintain this seminary and the Yona seminary. Think Black Hole! I mean, if other seminaries in the States are under financial pressure, imagine what we need to do here, unless they don’t really care what happens to the new seminary. They just want the façade to make it appear that they are building and growing and doing something.
ReplyDeleteNow, they quoted the Pope to camouflage allowing these 4 priests to go on mission(I am sure the Neo Powers put the pressure on to start sending out “their Neo priests”.) Well, if they want to talk about missions, there are plenty of missions in Guam that have been neglected or ignored over the past 25 plus years. We have the mission of the homeless which at last count is in the thousands. There is the mission of the thousands of Micronesians emigrating to Guam, and have been easy pickings for Protestant groups. They are the poor, homeless, and vulnerable and we ignore them. There is the mission of the aborted, the abused, the divorced, and the abandoned. Guam social problems are growing and the Church decides to send her priests to Asia Africa, and Japan! Just look in our backyard, if not in Guam, how about Chuk, Palau, Yap, etc.? Who picked the locations for these 4 priests? Why Africa? Why Japan? Why Asia? Giving back is great if we are prospering and overflowing with priests, but considering that our abortion rate, divorce rate, and abuse rate is in the stratosphere and that we are doing nothing as our Chamorro blood is being aborted out of existence, we have nothing to give, unless of course the archbishop has written off Guam and her neighbors from his list of duties to shepherd. Don’t forget that he wants to look good and he wants to retire with a glowing legacy and he thinks that this is the way to insure that.
ReplyDelete"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil. and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make expiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted."
ReplyDeleteHebrews 2:14-18
One must remember that these four priests are of the Neo group and therefore are missionaries. They can get sent anywhere probably under the advisement of Father Pius Summit with the approval of the Archbishop.
ReplyDeleteMy question is why didn't Pale' Richard Kidd get assigned as pastor of one of these parishes? He is first and foremost a local priest who a is very knowledgable of the culture and the language. Just how many are actually interested in incorporating the teachings of the church and that of our culture, language and hereditary?
Take Father Alberto from the San Vicente/San Roque parish, for as long as he has been here the only phrase he can say is "ai adai". Yes, ai adai, he is the laziest pastor, I have known.
I guess that once a Neo parish always a Neo parish and the old school pastors will soon be forced out to pasture and replaced with the new.
Who knows what's next!
somebody help me...i dont understand the idea of two seminaries for diocesan priests. we have a seminary for those in the NCW. We have on e for those not i the NCW. Will we create a separate seminary for those who are vegetarian? Maybe we shud have another for those with hazel eyes, and another for those with a weight problem.
ReplyDeleteThey all go to classes together, right? So why can't they all live in the same house in Yona. Are the seminarians in the NCW so superior to all other men that they cannot mix with the OTHERS?
And remember who is paying for this...we are when we give to the parish each sunday because once a month the collection goes to the Chancery, and this is how they spend it.
go to other diocese web sites and they have hundreds of ministries to help all kinds of people and issues. what do we have...multiple seminaries for brothers who cannot get along. When these men at the Yona seminary graduate and become priests, will this same segregation continue. Are we heading to a day when Neo priests only serve the NCW people? Seems like this is the next logical step in this slippery slope of the US vs THEM syndrome.
Norman, not in the Neo and starting to really dislike this group!
You know so little. I'm go both parish and the so called "neo mass" all the time. There is no segregation. I know ,any seminarians who have nothing against those who don't want to follow the "neo". You "hearsay" accusations against the "neo" is false. You never know.. The person you sit next to in mass could be a member of the "NCW".
ReplyDeleteATTN NCW....HELLOOOOOO...
ReplyDeleteI wonder why???
Why is it that the EX NCW members on island and around the world are actually the ones that are letting out all the so called "secrets" that you claim to deny?
Why is it that EX NCW members on the island and around the world are speaking against the things you do?
Why is it that the people on this island who are NOT NCW members are complaining about your so-called "communities" just like in all other places around the world?
When you have your own celebrations ...or what you call "Eucharist", especially outside the church, you have broken away from the church founded by Jesus. You have become like the baptist, the Mormons, etc....