One thing is obvious. The Chancery is keeping the situation as opaque as possible. Non NCW diocesan priest, are moved, retired, fired or at best not incardinated if they refuse to bow to his lordship Archbishop Anthony Apuron.
This a perverse game of musical chairs, which seems to accelerate of late. The murkier the situation the more difficult it is for the Catholic of this Diocese to make sense of what is happening.
With the creation of this pseudo Seminary, where the "Way" expedite the education of its "presbyters", there has been a definite will to replace as many of the Parish priests by their creations. At the same time the intimidation of the rest of the priesthood on Guam has been going on for quite a while.
Some of these priests have been here too long and/or are too popular for them to be replaced, straight away, but if they could be scared into silence, the NCW was on its way to fulfill a whole takeover of the island's Church.
Last year's bold strike against a well liked and talented priest (Father Gofigan) was part of this campaign of intimidation. It was a one/two strike. Rid yourself of a strong, outspoken community leader, and by the same token intimidate the others back into the ranks.
The priests survey taken a few years back shows that the resentment from the ranks of the priesthood on Guam was brewing louder and stronger, against what is perceived as an unfair, manipulating Bishop and his acolytes.
Something had to happen to "nip this in the bud". This is where the strategy of the ouster of Fr Gofigan took shape, along with a speeding up of the incardination of NCW seminary graduates.
The vicious nature of the onslaught, the force of character of a single priest who refused to go quietly into the night, the sheer sense of outrage of many parishioners and good Catholics like Tim Rohr and many others, all turned this well laid out plan into a public relation disaster.
It quickly turned into a lifting of the veil of fear and secrecy which had allowed this Archbishop and his minions to do the bidding of Kiko Arguello and his controversial movement.
The Archdiocese of Guam is now (again) at a crossroad. Catholics must take their courage in their own hands and decide to take a stand.
The visit of Archbishop Krebs, the demands for financial responsibility and openness, the feeling of betrayal from the Catholics at large on this island, the decision of Fr Paul to take his case to Rome, are all part of a tidal wave that the faithful here on Guam hope will bring, change, justice and peace for this cruelly divided community.
By lifting this veil of fear and deceit we shall prevail.
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