Friday, January 17, 2014

NO APOLOGY

And then I have some notes after.





All of us have been in situations where our desire made us hear what we wanted to hear, only to realize later just how wrong we were. Unfortunately this seems to have happened to Fr. Paul. Fr. Paul wants nothing more than to be a priest and to serve the people of his home. He has been praying earnestly for reconciliation with his spiritual father. Upon receiving the call to meet the bishop this past Wednesday, he expressed his hopes for the meeting and for reconciliation to a few friends. He earnestly believed that the Archbishop wanted to talk things out and at the very least work out a truce. As we now know, there was no interest in reconciliation or a truce, only the order to "cool it", or more specifically, "call off Tim Rohr." 

MORE NOTES


Some are disturbed by the increasingly hostile tone of these posts. They only see the situation before them. They can't be blamed. They can't know that for twenty five plus years, and especially for the last ten, that letters begging for help have been going to Rome about many hurtful matters, with hardly a grunt of acknowledgement from Rome. Guam? Where's Guam? You know the drill. 

Unfortunately Rome will not act until division becomes visible and it gets into the press, and even then there is often nothing. The only thing that seems to work is law suits. The clergy sex scandals are glaring evidence of that. For years, lay people had gone to their bishops telling them what was happening, begging them to do something about it. Several posts back I recounted my own experience with this in Los Angeles, a diocese which eventually has had to cough up nearly a billion dollars in damages because they had no one like Fr. Paul. Read it here

For nearly 50 years, children were molested and abused. The bishops knew. They were told. But they COUNTED ON THE PEOPLE BEING SILENT. And they were, for nearly 50 years. But then came the law suits. And guess what? Rome responded. Had bishops and the hierarchy in general been doing their job in the first place, the massive damage done to the church and the horrific loss of souls could have been avoided. 

During the Arian heresy, St. Athanasius is purported to have said: "The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops." One has to wonder whether the molestation and abuse of children, often known to, and often covered up by bishops, will not be judged as worse than the episcopal defection to Arianism. 

Some people are critical of Fr. Paul for taking action against the Archbishop and for allowing his case to be made public. But most people are thankful. For nearly three decades the chancery door has been slammed in their face. Finally, one priest, ONE PRIEST, had the courage, the humility, to sacrifice himself for the good of others. And, make no mistake: there would be others!

In Fr. Paul's letter to his congregation of July 20, 2013, he advised that he would not take the easy way out and just resign, but would take the hard path and challenge the Archbishop's actions. Those who know him know that he is not taking this path for his own aggrandizement. 

Fr. Paul knows the history of persecution of Guam's priests. He knows how faithful priests who have served this archdiocese for many years have been denied incardination, sustenance in their old age, and even health care. He knows how some priests have been discarded and abandoned while others, who cater to the Archbishop, are treated like royalty and put on the payroll. He knows how some priests, who served Guam faithfully for many years, were threatened to either engage in the illicit practices of the Neocatechumenate liturgy or GET OUT! 

He knows that the lies and abuse used to discredit him and grind his name into the dirt would be used on the next priest, and the next. He knows that good men like Aaron Quitugua would be lied to and kicked to the curb because they desired an authentic priestly formation and not the pseudo formation of the Neocatechumenal Way whose leaders lie to their own members about what the pope has approved. 

He also knew he would be maligned by laity who would simply see him as disobedient and proud. Well, he's not. He has chosen to suffer the "arduous and painful" path that the Archbishop promised he would suffer in the hopes that Rome might finally hear. But apparently it's going to take a lawsuit. 

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5 comments:

  1. Mr. Rohr,

    I know this has nothing to do with the information you posted above but I just wanted to share something.
    Did you see the i matuna si yu'os (January 12th edition)? Did you see where they placed the 50th golden jubilee invitation announcement for Fr. Gordon Combs, OFM Cap and Fr. George Maddock, OFM Cap? The newspaper only had 16 pages and yet they placed it on page 14. A special occasion which is considered a milestone for these 2 priests was placed towards the back. Monsignor David Quitugua who celebrates 30years got page 5 granted he is Monsignor the least they could have done was put the celebrations side by side...both Monsignor and next to it the 50th jubilee. Guam Technology Associates Inc. article got the whole page 6 and the ND placement testing advertisement got page 9. Wow! Even the ND placement advertisement was more of a priority compared to a priestly celebration milestone!
    Guess who is the publisher of this newspaper? Our famous archbishop apuron. He, himself, a capuchin, should have given the jubilee invitation a better placement in the newspaper. Everything else in the newspaper had a greater priority over this momentous jubilee occasion. Page 14... wow... I bet even the invitation to "come & listen" for the neocatechumenal way would not be placed that far back!
    My opinion, I see this as a division...the archbishop pushing the capuchins aside ...that is just my observation.
    Btw, thank you archbishop for being present at the jubilee mass along with your sidekicks...and thank you for leaving so quickly afterwards to attend your clergy dinner at Chalan Pago church ... We sure felt the love coming from you! (Sarcasm)

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    Replies
    1. Not to mention that he also came in his Capuchin habit. Is it just me or does anyone else find it funny how someone dressed in a Capuchin habit (supposedly representing humility and simplicity) drives around in a $68,000 car? A bit hypocritical to me don't you all think? Additionally he presided at Mass (not as the main celebrator) in his habit, which is a non-liturgical garment. Even though he presides at a Mass in which he is not the main celebrator, he should be in an alb, hat and pastoral staff but I guess we're all used to liturgical abuse by him anyway so what difference would this be right?

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    2. Dear Maria Rose:

      You failed to mentioned that the clergy dinner at Chalan Pago was a dinner put out in anticipation of the fiesta mass this weekend, and more importantly, it was being hosted by a Neo priest, Fr. Eduvaldo. So, of course, the archbishop would merely make an appearance at the 50th Jubilee(be present at mass) just to show he was there and then run off to show his LOVE AND DEVOTION to his NEO FAMILY who was only throwing a dinner party. Incidentally, Fr. Adrian, the Chancellor, did the same thing. He, like the archbishop, ran off to the Chalan Pago party without as much as setting foot in the reception hall for those two holy priests who devoted 100 years of their life together for Church and Guam. As for Monsignor David, the Vicar General, he of course was not present, as usual. He is either in Chicago convalescing, or in his Neo cave at the seminary. It is truly tragic that the Chancery could not at least send one emissary to the reception of these two holy priests. No one at all, but when it comes to the Neo, the Trinity from San Ramon Hill will be there. I feel like vomiting!

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  2. Eleanor from MangliaoJanuary 17, 2014 at 12:05 PM

    Mr. Rohr:

    You are right. I personally know that Father Paul was praying very hard that the meeting with the archbishop was to reconcile. The fact that it was held at the Carmelite Monastery certainly indicated that the time for healing and unity was about to begin. Father Paul left that meeting totally disheartened, but because of his BIG HEART, he gave the archbishop the benefit of the doubt when the archbishop was giving excuses on his defamatory remarks thinking it was some kind of apology, and even telling that to the media, only to realize upon reflection that the archbishop was not apologizing but making excuses saying that he was taken out of context or that is not what he meant to say. Well, the archbishop spoke to more than 30 members of the clergy and he meant exactly what he said in defaming Fr. Paul. He wanted to show that Fr. Paul was not only disobedient but disobedient for perverted reasons. SHAME ON YOU ARCHBISHOP.

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  3. To sick to my stomach,

    I knew very well that the Archbishop was heading to the Chalan Pago clergy dinner that was being held in anticipation of the fiesta mass that weekend. You are right someone from the chancery should have been there to represent the archbishop.
    I gave it some thought...and I thought...and I thought...and I realized we are both in the wrong! Someone from the chancery should not have been sent to represent the archbishop...HECK NO!!! the ARCHBISHOP HIMSELF SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT THAT JUBILEE AND SHOULD HAVE SAT HIS ASS DOWN THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH !!!
    Why? You ask? ... Because THE JUBILEE FOR THESE 2 PRIEST (one from Guam and one from off-island) only comes once in their lifetime! A clergy dinner is nothing compared to that jubilee celebration! Besides, that clergy dinner was for the Chalan Pago fiesta weekend and doesn't the archbishop go to all the fiestas on the island anyhow and couldn't he have dinner after the fiesta mass with the people like he always has? Every village has a fiesta mass once a year, twice for Chalan Pago, the archbishop could have skipped the clergy dinner this year (which was on Thursday) the night of the jubilee mass and he could have just gone to the actual fiesta mass celebration over the weekend and ate with the clergy and the people of Chalan Pago. SHAME ON YOU archbishop! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

    Fr. Gordon,

    Thank you for being a priest and a shepherd to us on our island of Guam. Thank you for coming back to the island as a visiting priest to celebrate your 50th golden jubilee with us. It has been very much an honor and a great privilege to have shared this momentous occasion with you! I'm sorry you had to endure the lack of appreciation the archbishop and his sidekicks presented to you. Please know that the people of Guam appreciate you!

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