While it may look like it, our target is not Archbishop Apuron, though ultimately he must take responsibility. Our target is the shadow people, the real power brokers, the people that have insinuated themselves into chanceries and curias worldwide with all the right whispers.
Some bishops are waking up, like recently in Kathmandu, and at least one diocese in the Philippines where the activities of "the Way" have been either suspended or deeply questioned. The Japanese bishops tried to throw the whole movement out a few years ago. And even though the Vatican denied the expulsion in toto, the Japanese bishops were left free to individually decide the fate of the NCW in their dioceses. The bishops of the Holy Land have also leveled strong warnings at the NCW.
How sad that the NCW has caused so much strife in so many places, but let us return to Guam for now.
We don't reject the members of "the Way". We don't reject the majority of their seminarians and priests. We don't even reject the Archbishop. What we do reject is the obvious foreign control of our Catholic Church on Guam, which unfortunately, is only possible because of the Archbishop. And we pray he will wake up as bishops around the world are beginning to.
How do we know there are shadow people? It's not hard. We see their names on the Articles of Incorporation of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. As already mentioned, they are the "Guarantors" and they have full approval and veto power over the decisions that guide the seminary.
And should the $75 million dollar property on which their seminary operates be signed over to them (if it hasn't been already) they could, as the archdiocesan legal counsel opined, "place a huge cloud on title to real property which would result in a protracted litigation and prohibitive cost to remove such cloud."
We can learn a lot more about the shadow people from the 16 November 2011 letter of the Archbishop to the president of the Archdiocesan Finance Council (AFC). In the letter, the Archbishop states:
After having consulted with the Reverend Monsignor David C. Quitugua, Vicar General and Judicial Vicar of the Archdiocese of Agana, regarding the matter presented to the Archdiocesan Finance Council regarding the supposed "alienation " of the property....I wish to specify precisely that, probably due to a lack of knowledge of Canon Law, it was erroneously understood as "alienation."
The matter is clearly not "alienation" but simply an assigning of the title of a property that is transferred and renamed from one public juridic person subject to the Ordinary to another public juridic person subject to the same Ordinary.
First, there is the matter of the letter's date. It is dated more than two months after the meeting where it was decided, with the Archbishop present, that the request to transfer title to the property would be denied. There was no objection at the time by the Archbishop, and in fact, he instructed the president of the AFC to compose and deliver the letter of denial.
If there really was a "lack of knowledge of Canon Law" and the AFC had erroneously addressed the issue as an alienation rather than an assignment, it would not have taken two months for the Judicial Vicar to weigh in and make the correction. It would have been the next day.
More probably, here's what happened:
The news of the denial went up the chain to the bigwigs in New Jersey and probably to Kiko (since the Yona property is certainly one of the more valuable pieces of Neocatechumenal treasure). They met with their buddies in Rome and came up with the assignment concoction and sent it back down the chain to the Archbishop. And voila! It's an assignment, not an alienation.
The subtext is this: Canon law requires the approval of the diocesan finance council for the alienation of property valued at over one million dollars. The bishop CANNOT act alone. But by renaming the transfer an assignment, the bishop believes he relieves himself of the need for the consent of the finance council, and $75 million dollars suddenly disappears from the Archdiocese of Agana, while we do bake sales and car washes to raise money to buy CCD materials and repair our crumbling churches.
But it gets even more interesting. The Archbishop continues:
The Title holder then doesn't change at all because it remains the same Ordinary, whereas the assignment qualifies the subject regarding its use and, consequently renders the property subject to rights, duties and obligations, including maintenance.
Furthermore, the Seminary is canonically a public juridic person subject in toto to the jurisdiction of the Ordinary. Also, from a civil point of view, the Seminary is a Corporation-Sole in which the Sole-member is the Ordinary with absolute powers who remains, in any case, the exclusive holder of the Title to the Property.
Really? You mean that it's the "same same"? Well then, why the need for the transfer? If the Archbishop is 100% Title holder and has absolute powers in both instances, then why all this? Why did the Neocat bigwigs approach the Archbishop in the hospital and convince him to transfer the Title to them? What good would it do them if the Title would have continued to remain under the "absolute powers" of the next Archbishop? Answer: None.
People can be forgiven for making honest mistakes, but this is not an honest mistake. This is first an attempt to steal and second an attempt to deceive. It is obviously all engineered by the Neocats, but certainly with the aid of a submissive Archbishop and Vicar General.
What's even more amazing is how they believed they could get away with it!
It shows a dangerous arrogance and a grave disrespect for the long serving archdiocesan legal counsel, the donors who made the purchase of the property possible, the fifty plus years of service by those who were eventually fired from the finance council, AND the people of the Archdiocese of Agana who never tire (until now) of giving to and supporting their beloved Catholic Church. And all for a couple of strangers, shadow people! Whisperers!
Just to let you know. We've GOT YOUR NUMBER:
Mr. & Mrs. Giuseppe & Claudia Gennarini
3 Howard Place
Englewood, NJ 07631
Fr. Angelo Pochette
6502 Jackson Str
West New York, NJ 02093
Note: We neglected to mention that an "assignment" could simply be an internal agreement and thus would not have to be recorded as would a conveyance or transfer of Title. This is why the legal counsel opined that an assignment would produce a cloud on the Title which would result in protracted and costly litigation. We could possibly win the property back but there wouldn't be much left of it in the end. And even if we do a Title search, it would not turn up an internal assignment.
One thing we do know, the fired finance council did complain immediately to the then-nuncio, Archbishop Balvo. Balvo was alarmed enough to order an audit of the archdiocese. If nothing else, it probably halted any shenanigans with the Yona property. However, Balvo has since been reassigned and it is not known if the current nuncio, Archbishop Krebs, has taken an interest in our affairs or has followed up on the results of the audit. It would be interesting to investigate our rights to see the results of the audit. We need an enterprising lawyer.
NICE NEIGHBORHOOD
My sources say that Guiseppe and Claudia Gennarini live in a very nice house with an estimated value of $473,000 and that they've communicated with him in the past at email address is (or was) gibiu41@aol.com.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, there's a house worth $425,000 in Fullerton CA (908 N Valley View Pl) owned by a Giussepe Gennarini. I don't know whether it's the same guy.
There's a Guiseppe Gennarini on Twitter - @GGennarini, but let's hope he's not the one that's in the NCW. That would be a scandal.
DeleteAre you implying that there was indeed a transfer of title?
ReplyDeleteI added a note to the bottom of this post which addresses your question. Thanks for asking it.
DeleteI think it's time to hear from the other side, i.e., the archbishop and his cohorts. As more and more damaging information comes out showing the detrimental influence and hold the NCW has on our archbishop and ultimately the Archdioesce, the Catholic faithful of Guam, the other side cannot remain silent and unresponsive. More and more disclosures of what is and what has been happening has to come out in public and not just on this blog. While there have been some press releases regarding the problems brought out by Tim, it is not enough, it has to be continuous. Also, something has to happen from Rome otherwise all that has been revealed will be for nought. If a major transgression and illicit act has occurred by the archbishop, I find it hard to believe that prominent members of the fired finance council would do nothing and allow what has allegedly occurred to just happen. Not even the archbishop is beyond civil liability when it comes to a multi-million dollar estate.
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate everything that has come out regarding the adverse impact the NCW has had on our local church and how the archbishop has apparently betrayed the people of Guam, nothing will happen or change for the better unless Rome intervenes.
Unfortunately, Rome, by its silence, is complicit at this point. The fired finance council immediately notified the then-Nuncio, Archbishop Balvo. Balvo ordered an audit of the archdiocese but then was reassigned. It is not known if the current Nuncio/Delegate, Archbishop Martin Krebs, has followed up on the audit.
DeleteThis is why we may need to take things into our own hands. One of the keys to doing this is the establishment of a non-profit organization to which we can contribute and which will direct funds to entities and persons within the parish at the discretion of a board. Thus we can starve what we don't want and feed what we do want. The organization is being put together as we speak.
There is already the matter of the defamation suit against the Archbishop by Fr. Paul and possibly by the family of the other man also libeled by the Archbishop. We'll be hearing more about that soon. But there will need to be other suits relative to the administration of diocesan properties. Even suing for transparency and information is a start.
We can't wait for Rome to act.
Following all rules of establishing a nonprofit organization with by laws and all I am game for it.
DeleteI love this idea but unfortunately the Chancery will still demand from the Parish. Case and point, in a comment from another article, about the church that was charged the $70k for back payments.
DeleteSounds like the Iglesias in Christo where they demand that you give your 10% or they come looking for you to pay up or leave the church.
DeleteI won't say that he lied because that would imply a knowledge and intent that I'm not privy to; however, I can tell you for certain that the archbishop's analysis in respect to the legal effect of the assignment is flat wrong. One must remember that under Guam law a corporate sole acts like a trustee of a trust. As such, the trustee must manage the trust assets for the benefit of the trust's beneficiaries. So, as corporate sole of the archdiocese, the archbishop is legally bound to manage the assets of the archdiocese for the exclusive benefit of the members of the archdiocese. Likewise, as corporate sole of the local NCW entity, the archbishop is legally bound to manage the assets of the local NCW entity for the exclusive benefit of the members of the local NCW entity. Thus, once an asset has been transferred over to the local NWC entity, the archbishop does not have the power to transfer it back to archdiocese without the consent of the members of the local NCW entity. Put succinctly, if the seminary has been transferred from the archdiocese to the local NCW entity, then it's long gone (not just encumbered); and the fact that the two entities share the archbishop as their respective corporate sole does not matter one bit. Also, "assignment" is a well recognized word of alienation. The real question is this: has title to the property actually been transferred? That's the burning question; and one that can only be answered by conducting a title search.
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking this question. One of the reasons why the archbishop defaulted to an "assignment" is because such an assignment would not need to be recorded as would a transfer of Title. It could simply be an internal corporate document which could be produced when needed to frustrate the will of a new archbishop. This is why the legal counsel referred to it as a "cloud" on the Title. We should do a Title search anyway. I'll look into it.
DeleteYes. Nice neighborhood. Gotta wonder what their take is on the Kiko merchandise empire!
DeleteSeeing as that Catholics on Guam contributed financially towards the seminary all these years, misled with the mind that seminarians were not formed only in the NCW and with the mind that the seminary belonged to our diocese and not the NCW, could we not (as members of this diocese) legally petition answers to all these deceitful actions, but especially the title status of the seminary?
DeleteI doubt if there is any legal recourse to petition for that information, but there is nothing preventing us from petitioning anyway. The refusal of our request would be more effective and damning than the actual information. As for the title status, that's already public information, it just has to be looked up. But as regards an assignment, that is something the Archbishop would have to willingly tell us. I'll look into the petition. Just having them say no would be news.
DeleteWe are aware of several more cases coming involving Guam and the Mariana islands. The nuncio will be informed prior to the cases being made public.
ReplyDeleteMay we ask His Excellemcy Archbishop Anthony Apuron of Guam to now please come forward and answer himself the concerns of the people of our archdiocese. This could be done in a public forum in the chancery . All who are concerned could attend the meeting and hear direct from His Excellemcy exactly What the position of the archdiocese is. The nuncio archbishop Martin could also be invited to,attend.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Lord provided the place and the benefactors to make the purchase possible. Seek and you will find! Thus the new facility gave lots of room to accommodate more seminarians and to create new liturgical spaces needed in our formation. Ah! Remember the little house in Tai? Well, God had everything planned, because just two weeks after we moved into the new building Guam was hit by Super Typhoon Ponsogna which caused severe damage throughout the island including the house in Tai which was razed to the ground by the winds. The ten thousand books we had acquired up to that point, from the generosity of many people from around the world were also destroyed. Most likely we would have been killed if we remained there.
ReplyDeleteSince the house had not been used for a while many repairs had to be done. Walls needed to be knocked down to create larger rooms for a chapel and classrooms and also for a new library. Existing rooms had to be painted and rearranged. Fortunately we had the help of many people from the community who with their experience in different fields and good will gave us a hand to transform a hotel into a house of formation for priests.
The truth of the matter is that people here donated a lot of money thinking that the Accion Hotel was going to be used for a variety of Archdiocesan uses - not just a seminary. But the ones in the shadows had other plans.
Deletefrom Guam PDN: This situation impelled us to search resolutely for a new facility. There were some options, but none seemed to be appropriate. Many prayers were raised to God so that He would give us a place, and indeed He did not delay in answering our prayers. He provided us with the building that is now our seminary, a previous hotel, built by Japanese, somewhat along the lines of a Spanish monastery. It was place too big for our little faith, but for God nothing is impossible. When God gives, He gives abundantly! Imagine, a property worth millions acquired by the diocese for free!
DeletePLEASE NOTE BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION: "a property worth millions acquired by the DIOCESE for FREE" D-I-O-C-E-S-E
The expenses to run a seminary with forty seminarians are enormous but the providence of God is always greater. The only fundraiser that the Seminary organizes is an annual Gala Dinner
ReplyDeleteThey can count me out this year.
DeleteCount me out, as well!
Deletemr. rohr, thank you for your continued diligence to bringing these matters to light. and in such a fact-filled, honest way. this is my first time leaving a comment, though i have been following this blog for a few months now. i am pleased to learn of the efforts to establish a non-profit to move some agenda items forward. this will indeed help others pay closer attention (if they are not already) to what is happening in guam and hopefully push rome into action. please continue to update us and provide insight into how we (all of us!) can make a difference. an organization like that i would very eagerly give my time, energy and financial support to. should you also choose to begin that petition, i will gladly sign it and encourage my friends and family to do the same.
ReplyDeletei also can't help but wonder (and wish) that our local media was picking up these stories (on a regular basis) so that these issues could be exposed far beyond the reach of your blog readership. i know they'll run a story from time to time, but there is some real investigative journalism to be had here (which you have done quite finely, btw!) that everyone in guam deserves to know about. perhaps i will make some calls to the media this week to suggest it -as a little attempt to do my part.
i will also write a letter to the nuncio - i intend to ask about the status of the audit and press that the results be shared publicly. in the meantime, is there anything else we can be doing?
thanks so much mr. rohr -- tonight, the prayer upon my lips is that we may all be able to lead with the example you have shown in the things we do for our church. high five for being so awesome! :)
Thank you sir. Please do write your concerns to the nuncio archbishop Martin Krebs in New Zealand. Cc copies to the Vatican secretary of state.
ReplyDelete