Thursday, March 27, 2014

THIS IS NUNCIO LEVEL STUFF, BUT....

Absent an explanation from the Chancery as to our question about the Liturgy of the Word, we must assume that the Archbishop has either created a new liturgical event or he has simply misnamed it. All searches for the term reference the Liturgy of the Word as the second part of the celebration of the four part Mass: 1. Introductory Rite, 2. Liturgy of the Word, 3. Liturgy of the Eucharist, 4. Concluding Rite. 



A search for the term in the Statute of the Neocatechumenal Way produces one instance which is copied here:
“Celebrations of the Word of God are arranged for their benefit, and at Mass they may also attend the Liturgy of the Word with the faithful, thus better preparing themselves for participation in the Eucharist in time to come. (Art. 24 §2.)
Notice that the Statute distinguishes between "Celebration of the Word" and the "Liturgy of the Word" which occurs "at Mass". The weekly celebration of the Word in the NCW community, which is essentially a study of four readings, is authorized in the Statute. (Art. 11, §1.) It is NOT the Liturgy of the Word. 

Since the weekly celebration of the Word is recognized in the Statute, and a stand alone Liturgy of the Word is not, it would be helpful if the Chancery would either clarify or correct the instance of this in the DECREE on the Boys' Chapel as posted in last Sunday's U Matuna. Meanwhile, we will have to assume that it was a mistake.

But it is a "telling" mistake. It tells us two things:  1) that the chapel, while closed to most normal sacred uses, is permitted to be used by the Neocatechumenal Way;  and 2) that the "chancery" is so entrenched in the Neocatechumenal Way that its internal erroneous language has been adopted to the extent that it actually now appears in an episcopal decree. 

This is "nuncio level" stuff. But I have a feeling that the powerful people who financed the Boys' Chapel will have much more to say, and say it sooner, than the Nuncio. 





29 comments:

  1. Please post interior pictures of this chapel for readers overseas. Thank you.

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    1. Google Boys' Chapel Father Duenas. It is a traditional Catholic space, albeit post-Vatican II

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  2. The designs and painting in the FD Chapel was done by Chito Santos. I doubt that anything came from the Kikochumenal store!

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  3. The Perez Family - BarrigadaMarch 27, 2014 at 4:24 PM

    Our family went to visit on the opening evening. Very nice chapel, but not big enough for the entire school, but maybe for each class. Still a work in progress as mural on ceiling and walls needs finishing, but impressive. No Kiko red carpet, no double deck Kiko tabernacle, no Kiko lectern cover, no Kikofix, no Kiko icons, no Kiko clear plastic chairs. I can pretty much guarantee Kiko and his conglomerate of business vultures did not get a penny from this project. I believe the architect and engineers were also local FD alum, so our money was well spent. Too bad the big bad wolf will not let the benefactors benefit from their generosity. I guess they must be mad that Kiko didn't get to play a part so this is how they punish people. Shameful! Shame on you Archbishop, shame on you Monsignor David, and shame on you Fr Adrian!

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  4. My understanding is that the main benefactor of the FD Chapel, made it clear that the money was to be placed under the jurisdiction of the school itself and not that of the archdiocese. Wise move I may say on his part.

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    1. Yes, however the archbishop can control what happens there once it is consecrated. Time for the main benefactor to go see the archbishop.

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    2. Main benefactor was an off islander who was part of the accreditation team.

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  5. This is exactly why one should not donate to the church on Guam.

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    1. The benefactor gave because of what he experienced while on a school grounds. Read the story under Father Duenas Chapel. His donations has nothing to do with the NCW.

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    2. No! That is dangerous logic. Be specific with your donation, but by all means, if you are Catholic on Guam, while you are not obligated to donate to the AAA, you should always donate what you can to your parish, your favored Catholic group, organization or charity.
      To not donate to the Church because of the present situation is to cut off your nose to spite your face.

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    3. Well said 1:40 a.m. Thank you!

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    4. At 12:06. The donor (2 million dollars) who gave for the purchase of the Yona property thought he/she was donating towards a true diocesan seminary.

      At 1:40am. There are some smart people working on a way to make contributions to our parishes without the money being funneled off to Kiko.

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    5. Yes, please continue to donate to the Parishes, they do need it. What I don't understand is why aren't collections at the weekly NCW community celebrations not turned in to the Parish. Not doing so makes the Traditional Catholic Church goer fund their use of our Parish... That is just not fair.

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  6. We will give to the parish if there is away to do so that it does not go into parish accounts. Once it goes into parish accounts Apuron takes the money for NCW. In our parish already the pastor gives us some billings, and we collect ourselves to pay and not put through the parish. When Father needs to order things we order it in our names collect pay for it. Not going through the parish accounts. It's a gift. This way the money stays with us and not passed to kiko.

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    1. The non-NCW priest at my parish thanked me last night for the donation I made to the parish's GPA account. He said my donation to the parish's GPA was the first. So now we know it works. And he confirmed that none of the donation will go to the NCW seminary.

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    2. If you label your envelopes and your desired intention for your donation, your Parish Finance Council is obligated to account for it and be sure to use it for its proper intention. Now this only happens if your Finance Council or "money counters" are doing an adequate job.
      Personally, I always found this a challenge in donating. I was told by a "non-neo" Priest, that when we give, we should give from the heart, we shouldnt attach a list of requisites of the donation. This priest even challenged us to the anonymity of our giving. So this has influenced my donation through the years. God knows my intention.

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    3. If you label your envelopes and your desired intention for your donation, your Parish Finance Council is obligated to account for it and be sure to use it for its proper intention. Now this only happens if your Finance Council or "money counters" are doing an adequate job.
      Personally, I always found this a challenge in donating. I was told by a "non-neo" Priest, that when we give, we should give from the heart, we shouldnt attach a list of requisites of the donation. This priest even challenged us to the anonymity of our giving. So this has influenced my donation through the years. God knows my intention.

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    4. It is rather a shame that we now have to be selective about our donations. However, this has been necessitated by not just a lack of accountability by the chancery, but our being misled about the nature of the Yona seminary. We were sold that this was a seminary FOR the Archdiocese of Agana, not just IN the Archdiocese of Agana. The Neocatechumenal Way has a completely different mission than does a traditional diocesan seminary, which is what we were led to believe that it was.

      In addition, the Neocatechumenal Way believes and teaches something about the essence of our faith (the Eucharist) that is very different than what is taught in our Catechism. And at this point we can't even be sure that we are funding a Catholic formation. So, yes, sadly, we have to be better stewards of our money.

      Pope Francis has taken the lead in requiring greater financial transparency in the Vatican. This should apply to everyone, even the priest who told you to give from the heart.

      I come from a diocese (Los Angeles) where people "gave from the heart" and later learned that $600 million was used to pay off people to be silent about sexual abuse and damages for sex-related crimes. In my parish, my own pastor was using parish funds to house his male sex partner.

      So yah, things are a little different today.

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  7. Tim 837am. Today it is a very different church. It is not the church of twenty years ago when we had confidence trust in our bishops and priests. If the people of LA had not have been so trusting of bishops priest in 1980 many young people could have been saved from abuse. Today the diocese would not have had to spend millions to resolve cases. It is the sad reality today we cannot give the trust to our bishops priests that we once did. When the loyal Catholics are aware something is seriously wrong in the local church they are duty bound to study the situation, with hold money when required, contact the Vatican with information if serious, and when needed to inform law enforcement. Only this way can we restore dignity and integrity to our local church. Thank you Tim for leading the way to healing restoring our archdiocese.

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    1. Informed statement. The people of any local church now have to take responsibility for their local church. The church in certain periods of history has not been saved by priests and bishops, but by the populace, by the believing people of God. May be this is now the stage we the people of Guam have arrived at. Aware of the growing concerns over our archbishop and the chancery, may be now we have to take responsibility for our church. May be we have to create disorder to restore order in this archdiocese. May be this is what pope Francis is now asking us to do.

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    2. Can anyone tell me why on Guam we have so many names for a mass intention. Is it just fundraiser to place names in one mass. At the same time where can we go on Guam to get one intention per mass. thank you.

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    3. He did say to "make a mess."

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    4. The reading of Mass intentions before Mass does seem to be a local practice. I don't experience it in the states. I am not opposed to it. Recently my father died and it was comforting to hear his name mentioned several times. However, those who feel that it is not important for their intention to be read aloud, especially if it is an oft-repeated intention, could note on the intention not to read. That way there could be more emphasis on the new intentions particularly the recently deceased.

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    5. @anon1:26 a.m. If you are local, why don't you ask your parents or grandparents about mass intentions. Mass intentions have been mentioned at OLMC at San Ysidro Church in San Diego, St. Elizabeth's in Ewa Beach Honolulu, Sacred Heart Church in Honolulu, and many more.

      I guess you are one of those in the NCW who doesn't need prayers because you have been saved. Better yet, why don't you ask the Archbishop to quit the practice of saying masses at our local cemeteries!

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    6. I didn't pick up that the person was in the NCW, probably because he goes to "Mass", and even uses the word. However, his point about Mass intentions is still well-taken. In some cases the reading of them is quite long. Many of us could simply request that the intentions remain unread if only for the sake of emphasizing prayers for those who are in dire need or the recently deceased. God knows the intention and that is what is most important.

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    7. Just for the record, I have been told that at one church on Guam, along with the reading of the name for whom the mass is intended, the name of the person who submitted the intention is announced as well.

      Can this be confirmed? On the surface, I would think this is a bad practice.

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    8. "jose," this is to confirm that at St. Anthony-St. Victor Church in Tamuning the name(s) of the person(s) submitting the Mass intentions are:
      • announced before Mass begins AND
      • published on a sheet of paper titled "Mass Intentions" and inserted in the "I Kilu" weekly bulletin.

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  8. Jose, thank you. Not sure about the reading of the name of the one who requests the mass for a person. It seems like over kill to me to read the intention and then the one who requested it. Will ask priest friends and get back to you.

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