TIMOTHY J. ROHR
P.O. Box 9001
Agat, GU 96928
January 3, 2014
Father Jack Wall
President, Catholic Extension Society
150 South Wacker Drive
Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60606
info@catholicextension.org
Tel: 800.842.7804 | Fax: 312.236.5276
150 South Wacker Drive
Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60606
info@catholicextension.org
Tel: 800.842.7804 | Fax: 312.236.5276
RE: MISSION STATUS OF ARCHDIOCESE OF AGANA, GUAM
Dear Father Wall:
We write to you as lay Catholics living the one, true faith in the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam, and not in any official capacity. We write to you as concerned lay persons because we believe our chancery officials would never write this letter.
First, we would like to thank you for your many years of support for the Archdiocese of Agana. Second, we apologize for taking that support because for many years the Archdiocese of Agana has not actually qualified as a mission diocese. And third, we ask you to take us off your list of mission dioceses so that truly needy Catholics may be better served by your apostolate.
I.
There are several reasons why the Archdiocese of Agana is wrong to allow itself to be considered a mission diocese and thus qualify for your grants. We will cover each in detail. But the primary reason is that in 1999, the Archdiocese of Agana established a missionary seminary for the purposes of training priests to serve in a missionary capacity. Here is what is stated on the seminary website (www.seminaryguam.com):
The Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Redemptoris Mater, of the Archdiocese of Agana forms priesthood candidates holistically for the new evangelization in Guam, in the Pacific Region and the entire world. 1
In fact, on December 8, 2013, our archbishop announced the sending of four priests to other parts of the globe. The following appeared in the archdiocesan newspaper:
His Excellency Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM Cap., D.D. has just released four of his diocesan priests to go on mission. Details are being worked out but in a meeting on Friday Nov. 29, 2013, the archbishop blessed Father Santiago Flor-Caravia of Chalan Pago, Father Fabio Faiola of Santa Rita, Father Edwin Bushu of Santa Bernardita and Father Aurelio Stoia of Merizo and Umatac as they embark on a new phase in their lives.
Father Santiago will go to Japan, Father Edwin to Kenya and Tanzania while Father Fabio and Father Aurelio to Asia. They all have been trained in a Redemptoris Mater Seminary which has the aim to form seminarians with a specific missionary spirit, that after ordination the priests are available to go wherever the archbishop sends them. 2
In addition to these four priests, the Archdiocese of Agana 2013 Directory notes that four more priests, incardinated in this archdiocese, also live and serve elsewhere, and presumably still depend on this archdiocese for financial support. 3
One of them is a military chaplain and two appear to be studying in Rome, so some allowance can be made for their absence from the archdiocese. However, one has the address of Neocatechumenal Center, 195 Otsego Ave, San Francisco CA 94112 - obviously another priest “on mission”. So really we have now sent five priests “to the ends of the earth.”
While such a missionary spirit is laudatory, the Archdiocese of Agana cannot both consider itself a mission diocese for the purposes of qualifying for grants from your Society, and YET host a seminary for the purposes of educating and ordaining priests for priestly service beyond our archdiocese.
Obviously if we have the resources to recruit, host, educate, train, ordain, and support priests for service to “the entire world”, we do NOT need to be taking the money of the Catholic Extension Society, given the aims of your apostolate. And shame on us for doing so.
II.
We might also note that the Redemptoris Mater Seminary is located on a palatial seaside estate, a former hotel, worth tens of millions of dollars. While the property was acquired for much less than that and with the assistance of a gift, it is wrong for us to continue to come to you for financial assistance when we possess such assets and when there are so many other truly needy Catholic communities.
The property, if sold, could realize many millions of dollars for the archdiocese, money that could be used to repair our deteriorating churches and schools. Instead, we the Catholic laity, must resort to a regular schedule of car washes and bake sales in order to raise the funds to keep our institutions standing.
Also, there was no need to use the palatial former hotel for a seminary since the archdiocese is in possession of a suitable seminary location just a few miles south of Redemptoris Mater. In fact, this other suitable location, once a Carmelite monastery, was recently designated as a second seminary for Guam.
You may wonder why such as small place as Guam, hardly larger than a Los Angeles suburb, has TWO seminaries and YET still comes to you in the poor guise of a “mission diocese”. The following was printed in the archdiocesan newspaper on December 15, 2013 and may answer your quandary:
Both seminaries are diocesan seminaries owned by the Archdiocese of Agana; however one will underscore the local mission in our archdiocese while the other will have the added element of availability for the wider mission of salvation to the ‘ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). Now the Archdiocese will breathe “with two lungs, one diocesan and another for the world.” 4
This statement further clarifies that the Redemptoris Mater Seminary is hosted and supported by this archdiocese for the purposes of sending priests “to the ends of the earth” while we continue to pose to you as a needy “mission diocese” ourselves.
Many on Guam are of course quite proud that we can afford such missionary endeavors. But many are also unaware that our archdiocese comes to you each year, “hat in hand”, happily accepting money which we do not deserve, and sadly, money which is truly needed elsewhere by Catholics much needier than us.
III.
Let us now look at some of the other reasons the Archdiocese of Agana does NOT qualify as a mission diocese according to the criteria of the Catholic Extension Society.
The Catholic Extension Society website defines a “mission diocese” as:
...a place where the Catholic Church is emerging, and even thriving, but the financial resources are scarce. A mission diocese is often limited in terms of infrastructure, Catholic educational institutions, professional opportunities, and philanthropic opportunities. 5
Your criteria goes on to require that a “mission diocese” must demonstrate one or more of the following conditions:
- There are many Catholics, but little institutional Catholic presence (i.e. ordained leaders, Catholic schools and church buildings).
- There is a rapidly growing Catholic population, but limited financial means to support this growth.
- Catholics are spread throughout great geographic distances, making pastoral outreach difficult.
- Catholics are located in areas facing economic hardships.
- Catholics represent the religious minority in their communities.
Let us take a look at each one of these conditions.
1. There are many Catholics, but little institutional Catholic presence (i.e. ordained leaders, Catholic schools and church buildings).
According to the Archdiocese of Agana 2013 Directory 6, this small island archdiocese has:
- 68 ordained leaders (the total is now 71 after 3 recent ordinations & not including military chaplains)
- 15 Catholic schools
- 1 Theological Institute
- 2 Seminaries with 30 seminarians (The total is now 28 after 2 were ordained.
- 25 Parishes (not including military chapels)
- 2 Religious communities of men
- 7 Religious communities of women
In short, Guam, has more Catholic parishes and related institutions per square mile and more priests per Catholic than most if not all other U.S. dioceses. And, as per a recent report, our "clergy tend to work fewer hours per week than the average for other dioceses." 7 Obviously we do not qualify on this count!
2. There is a rapidly growing Catholic population, but limited financial means to support this growth.
Guam in general has an almost stagnant population. The 2010 census reported only a 2.9% increase in population over the last decade. 8 In addition, judging by the rapidly growing number and membership of non-Catholic churches and the increasingly empty Catholic churches, we could say that the Catholic population is in steep decline.
3. Catholics are spread throughout great geographic distances, making pastoral outreach difficult.
Guam is an island of 208 square miles. With 25 parishes, that’s an average of one parish for every 8 square miles. Certainly “great geographic distances” is not a factor.
4. Catholics are located in areas facing economic hardships.
Some Guam Catholics may be facing economic hardship but obviously not the Archdiocese of Agana. Not only do we have the money, as already noted, to recruit, support, educate, and ordain men from all over the world, we have enough priests and enough money to support two seminaries and send some of our priests “to the ends of the earth”.
5. Catholics represent the religious minority in their communities.
The 2010 Census reports that Catholics represent 85% of the population. 9
It appears that we do not qualify on any count, and we have not qualified for a very long time. In fact, since Catholicism was established on Guam nearly 200 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence and 300 years before Catholics in any number began arriving on U.S. shores, we should be ashamed of still allowing ourselves to be labeled a “mission diocese” and taking your money.
Please use your resources for truly needy Catholic communities in the United States and beyond. The plight and need of the American Indians on far flung reservations alone should cause us to blush with shame for taking money away from them all these years.
IV.
Though I write this letter on behalf of many others who share this concern and thus do not speak only for myself, I realize you may have some question as to who I am. For this reason I am supplying the following biographical information. You may learn more about me and the current conflicts in the Archdiocese of Agana at www.junglewatch.info. At the very least, you may want to know how your money is spent.
Author’s Bio:
I moved to Guam in 1987. Since then my wife and I have raised eleven children who are currently ages 27 to 5 years. We have five boys and six girls. Our sons have served and still serve as altar boys. Our daughters have been involved in a variety of Catholic activities as writers, speakers, and pro-life activists. One of our daughters has recently completed the incorporation of a Women’s Resource Center to engage and help the women who go to Guam’s abortion clinics daily.
In 2004, I was involved with establishing the Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam to address the mass exodus of Catholics from Guam’s Catholic churches. In 2005, I opened John Paul the Great Bookstore in order to serve the Catholic population which had little access to Catholic literature. I have spent many hours and years keeping this store open while making a living elsewhere because I had to.
In 2008, I and a friend formed the Esperansa Project 10 to introduce and support legislation aimed at doing something about Guam’s nation leading abortion industry and a companion organization, GuamOpenGovernment.org, 11 to track and expose legislators who oppose saving children from the death sentence of abortion.
So far we have assisted in passing a ban on partial-birth abortion, a parental consent law, informed consent legislation, and a ban on the killing of infants who survive a failed abortion. We have been able to do this even though we are heavily opposed by major community figures, some of whom are recognized and lauded by our local Catholic institutions.
In 2009, the Archbishop requested and relied heavily on me to defeat a same-sex union bill. The bill was defeated, but only after many months and at great personal cost and danger to my family due to my having to publicly engage pro same-sex marriage senators, lawyers, homosexual activists, and an unfriendly media. 12
In 2010, I engaged a hostile senator bent on punishing our Archbishop and penalizing the Archdiocese with legislation aimed at lifting the statute of limitations on sex crimes and making the Archbishop personally responsible for them by requiring him to be a mandated reporter. 13 The legislation was eventually amended to exclude any specific mention of the Archbishop.
And for many years, I have defended the faith, our Church, and specifically our Archbishop through many letters and articles in Guam’s print media, 14 and engaged detractors to the faith publicly on the radio and television in a variety of internet-related media.
I have done this, often alone and at a great personal cost of time and money, simply because it was the right thing to do. And I write this letter to you for the same reason.
Thank you for your attention to our concern and keep up the great work of your apostolate.
(Signature page attached as Exhibit F)
Tim Rohr
Catholic Layman (speaking for many others)
Footnotes
1 The statement is attached as Exhibit A in case the statement on the website is modified after this letter becomes known.
2 Editor. “Four Diocesan priests go to the mission.” U Matuna Si Yu’os, December 8, 2013. (Story attached as Exhibit B)
3 Archdiocese of Agana 2013 Directory, pg 19. (Attached as Exhibit C)
4 Editor. “A new diocesan seminary for Guam.” U Matuna Si Yu’os, December 15, 2013. (Story attached as Exhibit D)
5 http://www.catholicextension.org/funding-request/faq-and-policies%23elgibility4
6 Archdiocese of Agana 2013 Directory. (Attached as Exhibit C)
7 Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Cultivating Unity: Research Findings. A Report for the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Agana. December 2010. Pg. 2 (Attached as Exhibit E)
9 ibid.
12 Tim Rohr, TheMassNeverEnds.com, Bill 185-30, Same-sex civil union and domestic partnership bill,http://1timothy315.blogspot.com/search?q=185
13 Tim Rohr, JungleWatch.info, Chancery v Gofigan: The SNAP Endorsement,http://junglewatch2.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-apuron-gofigan-affair-and-snap.html
14 Tim Rohr, TheMassNeverEnds.com, Published Articles,http://1timothy315.blogspot.com/search/label/Published%20Articles
Link to ALL EXHIBITS
Count me in as one of the "many others"
ReplyDeleteI, too, would like to be counted as one of the "many others".
DeleteFr. Wall,
I am also a concerned lay person of the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam. I agree with Mr. Rohr...please use your resources for TRULY NEEDY Catholic communities in the United States and beyond. We not only have been taking money from you ...but given certain calamities that have been happening around the world in the past decade...we, as lay parishioners, have been asked to give money to help those in need and we have contributed generously to every cause!
Because this island is small in size and most everyone is practically related somehow...I will just sign my first name.
Thank you for your time. May God continue to bless you and your ministry.
Susan
Should there be a time when signatures are needed, I too will sign but for now I need to stay anonymous
DeleteMaybe now there will a just accountability of cash flowing in and out. Thank you Mr. Rohr for taking a stand on what I believe is truly right.
ReplyDeleteWe are In agreement with Mr.Rohr and we share his grave concerns with Archbishop Apuron. We will be responding to this page after we have informed archbishop Martin Krebs what we intend to write.
ReplyDeleteFor a number of years we have questioned the financial ethics of archbishop Apuron and catholic extension. We have confirmed reports that show archbishop Apuron has used catholic extension funding to pay huge salaries including himself and his chancery staff. This along with much more is of grave concern to many on Guam and beyond.
ReplyDeleteSo why do EACH of the parishes then give 10-15% of what they collect on Sundays monthly to the chancery? I thought this was to pay for the salaries of all who work there plus their overall bills? Let us say that the average collection is 20,000 a month. 20,000x16 parishes total 320,000. So 10% of this is 32,000 x12 totals 384,000 give or take a couple thousand dollars more for the other extra collections for fiestas, confirmation, holy communions, etc. you can expect that probably almost 600,000 is is given to the chancery on a yearly bases.
DeleteIf the archdiocese sells the former hotel property in which the Yona RMS sits, I would think it will make enough money to pay off all of the debts of every parish and school in Guam, and still have a surplus to develop a seminary where that one seminarian now lives. Doesn't that make sense? Shouldn't the archbishop concentrate on relieving the debts burdens of our schools and parishes first before sending priest to far flung places? I am not sure how our archbishop applied to receive grants from the Catholic Extension Society if we did not qualify, unless there was some "stretching" in the application? It would be interesting to see how the archbishop represented how we need the money because we are not poor and in need? Wow! If you misrepresented facts or hid facts in your bank application for a loan, that is a federal crime!
ReplyDeletePart of the grant is to educated the seminarians that are recruited majority of our seminarians are not recruited, they were sent here on a mission. Like I stated in a previous posts the diocese where these men come from should fork out the funds for their education. Why can't they be educated in their homeland and then send them on their merry way to do their missionary work? When we send off island we take care of our own. Sometimes the parents give when there isn't enough to give. Charity begins at home.
DeleteAdrian. You Are correct. Archbishop Apuron has been economical with the truth. If you were to read the detailed application forms that catholic extension require of all dioceses receiving grants you would certainly see how economical the archbishop has been for years. The applications are very detailed. If catholic extension knew the truth, Im certain the board would not agree to payments to Guam as its unjustified . Many poor dioceses in rural america in mountain regions need that money for basic survival. Guam is a super wealthy diocese and archbishop knows it. Yet he continues to fool people. Thanks to mr. rohr these days are over.
ReplyDeletecorrect. Over 600,000 USD a year is paid from parishes into the archdiocese of Agana chancery office. An archdiocese receiving that amount from parishes does not need to apply for funding to train seminarians. This money is used for some ministries yes, but has been largely used to pay salaries, and you will find archbishop, and other chancery priests have been accepting huge salaries. The archbishop should give a full accounting of every year he has served as archbishop of Guam. Then we will see the truth.
ReplyDeleteWow, perhaps we need to call for an audit?
DeleteI thought priests were only to receive an honorarium?
I also didn't know the Archbishop received a salary!
Wow, Just Wow...
The people of Guam need to take action against archbishop Apuron. Letters need to be written to the congregation for bishops informing them of what archbishop Apuron is doing with finances. archbishop Apuron has lost his moral certainty to lead this local church.
ReplyDeletehow can the archbishop be so dishonest with the money of American Catholics who give to,super mission dioceses of america. the statues of Guam as a missionary diocese now needs to be lifted by catholic extension and the Holy see. Guam has huge wealth and clergy it has not been a mission diocese for years. What other funding is being given to the archbishop by people who think there helping a mission diocese. What about the mass intentions. This needs to be looked at next. The thousands of USD made by Apuron each year in mass intentions from the community, but he still receives mass intentions from overseas claiming he is a mission diocese.
ReplyDeleteIf we move beyond the"missionary" stage how do you think people will take it when told their can only be one intention per mass?
DeleteIf we knew of and had facts about an individual or entities who were fraudulently misusing Medicare or Medicaid benefits, we would be required to notify the proper authorities. It is the just and honest thing to do because it ultimately not only is an abuse of the Medicare and Medicaid program but could impact the eligibility of more individuals who direly need this program; therefore, if the Diocesan office under the Archbishop's leadership is practicing fraud, why should we stand by and be silent!
ReplyDeleteJust as we would claim mismanaged tax money is mismanaging the peoples' monies, so should we claim that the Diocese's mismanagement of sponsors' and parishioners' financial contributions and monies from other sources is a "fraudulent act" (tantamount to "stealing" in Catholic and Christian language and morality ).
Hold on to your wallets and purses. Tightly.
ReplyDeleteHold on to your land and property as well if the archbishop can get land and property to give to the NCW he will do so. No joke. If you have old relatives watch out he could convince loyal Guam Catholics to sign property to him. Best to be cautious now.
DeleteNo matter what has been written the Archbishop has all his bases covered. I am sure that there is an accountability of how the money was spent when they send in the report to the Catholic extension society. If numbers are being juggled then a can of worms may open. If not then money from the. grant may continue pouring in. For how many years has the church been granted this money? Who initiated that the church apply for this grant? Who is now in charge of writing up this grant? Who decides where the money is to go?
ReplyDeletetrying to enter my name but unable to so here goes nothing, my name is Jesus S.N. Cepeda I thank Mr Tim Rohr for his efforts to expose this fiasco.I will support him and I will pray for all of you trying to get the Church on Guam back on track of evengelizing and helping all the residents of this beautiful island.
ReplyDeleteI am trying hard to see the picture as a whole. A grant is given to the mission. Is the grant used for the education of the seminarians, the upkeep of the grounds and the paying of the faculty members? Father Pius is listed as a faculty member yet he is rarely here on island, so how does he qualify for payment? Do the local churches get funds from the grant to help with the repair of our churches? How much do our local priests get from this grant? There are seminaries open in almost all of Oceania so why are they being schooled here?
ReplyDeleteI understand that every priest at the RMS seminary gets paid a wage by the Chancery, as with every other diocesan priest in this archdiocese. So, will Edwin, Fabio, and the other two priests continue to be paid while they are out evangelizing in far flung places? I also agree with that comment asking why can't the dioceses from where our alien seminarians come from pay our seminary for the cost of education and forming them? We do when we send our seminarians to St. Patrick in California. I guess we are indeed roiling in funds, and unfortunately for the Catholic Extension, the grants they give pay for things not contemplated by their purpose.
DeleteDon't be naive, David Q. Of course these four priests going overseas will continue to be paid by the people of Guam.
DeleteWhen Adrian C was in Denver he was paid by the people of Guam to do Neo only work in Denver. When Pius is off-island he continues to be paid by the people of Guam to do Neo only work.
When (Fr) John Wadeson is ioff-island in SFO to do Neo only work he continues to be paid by the people of Guam (I have to add (Fr) because most people have no idea who John Wadeson is, because while he belongs to Tony, he is hardly ever here except for Neo only Ordinations).
Yes, when these four additional priests go off-island they will certainly be paid by the people of Guam. But let us pray they do something other than strickly Neo work. Maybe they can bring people in China, Africa and Asia to the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
In the meantime, make sure you do your part in stewardship for the upcoming Catholic Charities Appeal (CCA), now concealed as the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal (AAA). They now need our support more than ever because we have more than five fully funded priests living abroad that the people of Guam need to support.
Janet B, careful not to be too naive yourself. Yes they will get paid because they belong to the Archdiocese. But as David pointed out earlier, who pays the seminary professors at Yona? Only Msgr David C Quitugua is from Guam, and all the other priests are from elsewhere and belong to other people. BUT, they get paid by us, and not by the people of (fill in the blank). It just doesn't seem fair that we pay for their seminarians to come to Guam for free, we pay for their professors from off-island to train them, and then we pay for our priests to go elsewhere on missionary or Neo work. I don't know about you all, but I don't have enough money to support all this in both directions. It just isn't fair the burden that is being placed on us.
DeleteHow can we have more say in how our funds are being used? My grandma always taught me that we need to support the Church and I still think she is right. But I am not happy with the Archbishops generosity to only one group, and especially since it seems too one sided. Even our own local Neo communities don't support the Church the way the rest of us do.
What is the solution?
Lord help us be good and faithful Catholics!
Toni
Archbishop Anthony Apuron of Guam will shortly be in the international media for the catholic extension story and his abuse of catholic priests. It is not a nice story what is to come .
ReplyDeleteThose in the know will remember what happened to the last person who opened up the catholic extension story over ten years ago. Remember what happened to that person.
ReplyDeleteMost of us don't . We are in the dark so why don't you spill out the beans. You must be in the in group to know what happened.
Delete" if you piss at our cathedral walls the wind will blow the piss back at you " can you imagine a catholic bishop saying such a statement.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it is easy for most of us to imagine our catholic bishop saying this. He hasn't learned how to address key issues in the public sphere, and he never will. That is why he was so reliant on Tim Rohr and others to speak on his behalf. Our Archbishop is what the Navy calls "a loose cannon on deck!" What is sadder is that he is the Captain of the ship. The only way for this to be resolved is to have the Admiral our Captain reports to take a look at all that is going on here on the ship without a rudder we call the USS Guam.
DeleteI doubt the Archbishop will allow Tim and other good meaning individuals to speak on his behalf. All he has now is Msgr David and Fr Adrian, so I suppose he has no choice but to remain silent lest they hurt him even worse!
Rome - - - please help us, we are a voice crying out in the wilderness.
Thank you Mr. Cepeda. Our simple work is only to restore truth, justice, and dignity to the metropolitan Archdiocese of Agana Guam . We simply wish to heal the past wounds created by our archdiocesan leadership. Unfortunately a leadership that now has a dark history.
ReplyDeleteMr.Tim Rohr is nearing uncovering the dark history of our islands. It took a foreign guy to make us see that Guam has become a very unhealthy church to love in because the top leadership is very unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteWe are all somehow related in one way or another...or we may be holding jobs that sustain our livelihoods. We all know a little bit or most of what has been happening within the Catholic Church on this island of Guam. Most of us are scared to speak up...or to reveal our identities because of those reasons. It takes an outsider looking in to take a stand on behalf of the people of Guam otherwise we would have kept on being silent and either let our faith fall to pieces or wait for Apuron to retire or "kick the bucket". I am still a young catholic but I would not like to continue growing in a faith that not only is untruthful as well as confusing! Please fix the mess we are going through before the flock starts looking for greener pastures!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU Mr. Tim Rohr for being OUR VOICE!!!
No matter how fractured our Archdiocese is, there is no greener pasture than the Catholic Church! Our Church cannot be trumped because in her, the Sacraments reside. Man's follies can never and will never diminish that which was created by Jesus Christ.
DeleteTO Anonymous (January 5, 2014 at 12:59 AM): I admit you have piqued my curiosity with your "those in the know … Remember what happened to that person" comment! I was totally unaware, so clearly I'm not among "those in the know." As a result, I find your statement, especially coupled with later ones from Anonymous (January 5, 2014 at 2:15 AM & January 5, 2014 at 2:32 AM) which make references to a "dark history," to be a bit unsettling. I pray that the subterfuge which seems to permeate the events in this Archdiocese will be exposed and the cause excised so that the healing of the division within our local Church on Guam can begin, God willing.
ReplyDeleteHow come the archbishop has his own private home on Guam when he is an off cap. Is he the sole owner of this property or is it held in the name of another. How was this property paid for. Is this property to be given to the NCW. Just trying to understand exactly what the archbishop is owing in his free time.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that he was released from the the Capuchin vow of poverty when he was made a bishop. He is apparently doing rather well. I understand that he receives a $40,000 plus salary over and above the housing, utilities, food, etc., which are paid for by the archdiocese (us). He also receives Mass stipends, and financial gifts for most if not all of the parish and school functions he attends (fiestas, etc. between $500 and $1000 a pop). We also know he receives large amounts of cash from the Neo communities. In one instance at least $50,000. I mentioned the figure of $100,000 per year to someone close to him recently and without thinking the person said "oh, much better than that."
ReplyDeleteThis is what i learned from a capuchin priest a while back because i was wondering the same thing. he said whenever if a capuchin is made a bishop, even other religious order priests like jesuits, dominicans, and so on, they are no longer obligated to live poverty because a bishop is the head of the church in that place, so he has to earn his own money and pay his own bills and even file income tax like the diocesan priests. He can own his own bank accounts and property. The way this priest explained it it makes sense to me because the financial needs of a bishop is differnet from a regular priest. The order cannot have any financial responsibility for a bishop who was in their order and imagine if the bishop had to turn in that money to his order. No, it makes sense, any bishop has to be financially independent. But yes i agree the bishop has to be financially honest and make his money honestly according to church rules. How he paid for his personal home up in latte heights is a question me and many other people has been asking. If he used his own money which he earned that's his business. But priests have told me he cannot use church money because that's not church property it's his own personal property. For example he can sell it and keep the money or give it to someone in his inheritance when he dies.
ReplyDeleteA nephew mentioned after a few drinks that the house that he owns is his. It was built on family property that he rightly had a claim for his piece. And since he is released from the Capuchin vow of poverty he is allowed to have his own bank accounts, his own income, etc. In other words, he is just like the rest of us.
DeleteOK. I accept that and it seems to make sense. But what I don't understand, if the house is his, why do we pay the utilities and maintenance of his house. Doesn't he already have all this paid for at the Church owned house next to the Chancery? It seems that we are actually paying to maintain 2 houses for him...his official "Public" house, and his private house. Is this what all bishops do? That would be an interesting answer to see how our Archbishop compares to others.
Does anyone know these answers?
You can be sure that plenty of people know. But they are scared like hell to say what they have seen because they fear a more arduous and painful future if they do. Just check with any of the past finance officers for the Archdiocese...they know. Jun Badar has passed away, but if you want to know go ask Dominick Kim (kiss ass), Shaun Leon Guerrero (Neo faithful), Joey Duenas, Deacon Steve Martinez (Neo faithful and gatekeeper), and Deacon Dominick Kim (still kiss ass, twice!). They know and so does the accounting staff and the Chancery thugs at the top. Good luck asking any of them...they won't talk. The Finance Council tried to change his ways, so the Archbishop fired summarily them. But if Rome gets involved maybe they can be forced to talk. Or maybe they will be less fearful to talk. Either way, if we want to find where our money has been spent, only Rome can help.
DeleteThis is so very painful to see the Church literally being torn apart. And since the Archbishop has no response, and no effort to clarify or correct what is being said, are we to assume that what is being said is accurate? Lord, help to restore the dignity of your Church on Guam!
DeleteAdrian C of Maina---does the Governor use government funds to maintain his own private home? I don't think so. GovGuam pays for the public house and it's expenses. If memory serves me correctly, isn't this one of the many charges against the Gutierrez administration when he was Governor, that he was using govt funds to pay for his private home expenses, but in his case it was because the Government house was not habitable, so Gov Guam paid for his personal expenses in Agana Hts. Seems like Tony and Carl, who are very close friends, are competing to see who can get the most from the good and generous people of Guam.
DeleteCarl must be jealous because Tony is ahead by a mile!
To clarify. Deacon Steve Martinez was "let go" from the chancery as of last March. He is not a gatekeeper.
ReplyDeleteCorrect Mr. Rohr. Deacon Steve Martinez was let go. He was not a gate keeper. Infact in my last conversation with him we saw signs that he was beginning to see the truth of the Guam chancery and knew for integrity he should leave anyway. He is not a dumb guy. The gate keep was the poor young deacon who died. He was so blinded by Apuron, it was almost sad to watch. No wonder he died of heart problems, the stress killed him.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone tell us if archbishops private house is partly owned by a former altar server of Agana cathedral now living in San Francisco.
ReplyDeleteIt's very simple when people stop giving money to the church on Guam things will change. There should be one Sunday when Guam Catholics do not give any Sunday collections . Let's then see the results.
ReplyDeleteBut then we would be just like the NCW, using facilities but not paying for them? But if that's acceptable to Tony, I guess it's alright with me.
DeleteBut let's try something a little different. Let's give to another Church. Maybe Saipan who has been suffering from no bishop and horrible economy. Maybe Philippines, they always need assistance. Somebody coordinate and I will gladly send my weekly wherever it is appreciated and used wisely.
Oh Janet, if you go to Mangilao Church, don't let Father Felix suffer with only a few donations. Instead of your weekly donations, save the money and get the church flowers nothing elaborate on a bi-weekly bases. Donate a bottle or two of wine which can be bought at the Friary. Do whatever it takes for you to see where your money is being spent on.
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