Monday, September 1, 2014

CHURCH LEADERS, EMBRACE THE INTERNET

In today's Pacific Daily News

By Steve Martinez

It is curious to many why Archbishop Anthony Apuron has recently warned high school students and faithful Catholics not to go to the blogs. On the other hand, Pope Francis is the latest pope to emphasize the necessity for the Church to reach people through social media. Early in his pontificate he called the Internet "a gift from God.

Read more:
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20140901/OPINION02/309010009/Church-leaders-embrace-Internet

38 comments:

  1. Well, that took guts, Deacon Steve. But bringing up your ideas to your bishop even if it is loud was also recently recommended by Pope Francis. Good for you! Wouldn't this whole ugly scenario be different if we heard more to us as adult Catholics than snippets through our high school kids? Steve, all so well said and referenced. Thanks a million. Prayers for you, can't be easy.

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  2. Good write-up Mr. Martinez! My hat's off to you!! Wonder how the neos will spin this to defend the archbishop's direction to stop reading the blogs.

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  3. Your time is coming, Tim. You will be hearing from the Pope.

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    1. "Will be" hearing from the Pope? Where do you think Tim gets all his information and documents?

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    2. Anon @ 8:14. As if you're trying to scare Tim & the rest of us! Please! Tim has done nothing more than open our eyes to make us form our own judgment on the issues. This is something that can't be taken away from us, so please spare us your threats.

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    3. Tim Rohr voice of Tuth in the corrupt church of Guam.

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  4. Thank you, Deacon Steve for your write-up. I mean, thanks a million and one. It couldn't be lesser than Anon Sept 1, 7:49.

    "We have to be able to dialogue with the men and women of today, to understand their expectations, doubts and hopes, and to bring them the Gospel, Jesus Christ himself. ... To dialogue means to believe that the 'other' has something worthwhile to say, and to entertain his or her point of view and perspective." A wonderful quotation from our Pope Francis. I hope the Archbishop heeds this call from the Pope.
    I also like the article of Gaynor at PDN last Saturday. The Archbishop repeated his allegation of financial mismanagement by Msgr James and at the end Gaynor added the rebuttal of these allegations by Mr. Joe Rivera and company in front of the cathedral. This exchange has not been advanced an inch. At this point there should be rebuttal to the rebuttal. If the Archbishop keeps at it this way, it will be like a broken record (for the young ones, record is what is CD nowadays. Assuming some of the young ones continue to read this blog) where the music keeps jumping back to the beginning. And since the last word on that controversy is that of Mr. Joe Rivera and company, can I be blamed from believing the allegations are false. Until I hear somebody say that Joe Rivera and company are lying, can I be blamed to believe that the allegations are not true?

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    1. You are so right Ebet Sapida! Just like the story of the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Santa Rita Church. Since no one has come out to deny the allegation that Archbishop Apuron is the one who disapproved her return to her niche in the church because he wants to keep the neo painting there, many will believe it is true.

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  5. It is an act of desperation. As an observer, it seems to me that some time ago in some back room somewhere, there must have been a secret master plan drawn up for the total conversion of the catholic faithful on Guam to the NCW way. What other reason explains why the archbishop has been quietly infiltrating the NCW itinerary into our parishes hiding his agenda in the shadows for many years now. Why not pronounce this change with trumpets blaring? Because he knew it would invite questions and be met with resistence and criticism from the catholic faithful. He had hoped to first biild his NCW army before this battle took place.

    Perhaps because he was behind schedule in following the master plan, he gambled on the removal of Fr. Paul and Msgr. Benavente, hoping no one would dare to challenge his authority. But he was wrong and a resounding number the parishioners of Santa Barbara and Agana along with the courage of folks like Tim Rohr, threw a wrench in his plan that he didn't have a contingency for. Now he finds himself back-pedalling. No longer free to operate in the shadows. So now he goes to our schools trying to bolster support from children and young adults who are still impressionable. Indeed, our Church is at war. The question is whether the archbishop has the resolve to escalate it or the wisdom to surrender his position in the pursuit of peace. The NCW cannot prevail here. For many of us faithful practicing catholics, we pray for divine inspiration to open your heart and eyes to the error of your ways. Remove yourself from the constant presence of your neo influence and pray in solitude. Remember where you came from, remember your faith. You do not need the neo and as archbishop you should not need the neo. They latch on to you like a parasite because they need you.

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  6. I'm wondering if AAA can humble himself and admit he was wrong and ask for forgiveness with the pledge to be the shepherd of ALL the Catholics in the Archdiocese. His penance would be to right the wrongs he's committed.

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    1. Because he doesn't think he is wrong. He has surrounded himself with people who keep telling him he doing the right thing. Even if he sees that his actions are hurting us and are wrong, Pius, Monsignor David, Adrienne and AAA seem to believe that "means justify the end".

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  7. this was posted today on Diana's blog:

    Sometimes we fail to see the obvious.  While many islands in the Pacific are languishing because of a serious lack of vocations, here in Guam we are thriving because we have an overflowing of youths who desire to become priests.  This is an awesome blessing.

    there is only one local boy (Filipino) the rest are not from our island. So what blessing are they talking about??

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    1. This was also posted on Diane's blog:

      Then we have six youths from Guam studying at the Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary Redemptoris Mater seminary; two others are studying in Japan and Miami respectively. These youths come from Barrigada, Agana, Yona, Yigo, Asan and Mangilao. What a richness!

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    2. I only know two boys, one from Yigo and one from mongmong

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  8. Internet and blogs are an importat part of keeping up to date with world news events. Tv is less important but the iPad is a constant to follow news. Archbishop, thousands of people each day read about you on Junglewatch, thank God for the blog, as it confirms to the world what a fake you are. Provides greater information on the church on Guam than you do as the so called archbishop. What a joke you have become!

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  9. Agree, the NCW cannot prevail here.

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  10. Apuron is a desperate man clinging to remain in power.

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  11. NCW will not prevail here in the long term . But the NCW made such in roads it has become difficult to remove them. As cleaning up their mess will take at least another ten years to resolve, the next archbishop of Guam will spend his first years returning order to the archdiocese.

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    1. Removal of apuron is the only solution, then the kiko robots will not be able to infiltrate our church.

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  12. this statement alone:

    "be our shepherd and communicate with us"

    ... is enough to remove any remaining doubt that there's a deep and wide chasm separating archbishop apuron from his own ordained clergy, even a deacon who has served him closely!

    that separation must now be so wide that deacon martinez had to resort to writing a public letter to the pdn to try to get his message across to the archbishop.

    how can the shepherd have, as pope francis says, "the smell of the sheep" when he's so distant even from his own priests and deacons?

    the bishop is supposed to imitate Christ, the Good Shepherd. from the events of the past year, i'm failing to see apuron living up to the model Jesus describes in john 10.

    on the subject of blogs ... yes, it would be great if some of guam's clergy and religious get online and interact with the people there. fr robert barron runs a popular online ministry. and manila's cardinal tagle has been one of the most popular online bishops for quite a while.

    of course, blogs and social media are not a substitute for personal, face-to-face interaction. but in the 21st century, that's where a lot of people spend their time, and to me the internet counts among "the ends of the earth." i think of st paul preaching at the areopagus (acts 17). today, the areopagus is online.

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    1. Well said, Rey D. at 11:43am. By the way, click here to check out Rey D's review of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) book, "The Spirit of the Liturgy" on the Thoughtful Catholic.

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  13. Professor Zoltan to the rescue for the Neos AGAIN! What an idiot!

    Get out of our University! Better yet, get off OUR island! Brainwashed "professor"

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    1. Father Matthew Blockley.September 1, 2014 at 5:30 PM


      Thank you Deacon Martinez for your informative and valuable letter in PDN.

      I hope your not beheaded in the coming weeks. But if you are you will be remembered as clergy who stood for truth and Justice. . Better to be remembered as someone who did something than someone who did nothing. For that is how History will judge.

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  14. Deacon Martinez is saying more than just that we should all embrace the internet as a gift of God. He is telling the archbishop to get his head up underneath the sand and to see what is going on around him. There is a massive and discontented division within the Church in Guam, and the source of that division is the archbishop and the only person who can heal that division is the archbishop, unless Rome intervenes. It looks like Rome has no other choice but to intervene. Our archbishop has shut down his capacity to reason, to love, and to govern wisely and fairly. Kudos to the Deacon and we hope that in your next letter, spell out the problems of this archdiocese as you see it. Being the former Chief Financial Officer of the this archdiocese and then the Personal Secretary to the archbishop, you must know a lot!

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  15. Thank you, Deacon Martinez, for your letter. It's the first time in my recollection that a member of the ordained clergy in good standing with the Archbishop has acknowledged in the public media that there are problems. I hope that you will not face any reprisals for what you have written.

    My prayer for the Church here is that its many secrets will be replaced with an honest transparency and that our evangelistic and catechetical efforts will reflect the legitimate diversity of Jesus's flock.

    Chuck White
    http://thoughtfulcatholic.com

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  16. Thank you Deacon Steve. I am in complete agreement that communications is the only way out of this mess. And I have a suggestion for Archbishop Apuron.

    It has now been 7 weeks since the Apostolic Delegate was here. It would be a good first step by our Archbishop to bring us up to date on what he has done in that time to build bridges, and implement some of the suggestions brought up in the meetings with the priests.

    Yes, I too have seen the negative things he has done since July 15, but there must have been some positive efforts to reflect on. Therefore, I ask the Archbishop Apuron to bring us up tp date on the progress in the following areas:

    Archbishop Krebs said that advisory boards are non-negotiable. What boards has Archbishop Apuron met with. We know he met with the Presbyterate Board and College Board. But he misrepresented those meetings according to those present. Which other boards has he met with since mid-July? Please be truthful with us on this.

    Fr Eric suggested 30 minute one on one sessions with the clergy. How many of these has the Archbishop had? In the past seven weeks he could have met with at least half if not all of them. What was the result? Were there any suggestions that can be used to help us out, and by whom? If he hasn’t finished meeting them all, when will he finish. After he meets with them all will the process continue so he can stay connected to all his priests?

    Fr Jeff suggested that the structure of the Chancery be fixed. What is the status of this idea?

    Deacon Len suggested a separate vocations director for the NCW and one for regular diocese priests. What is the status of this idea?

    I look forward to hearing from you on these important ideas and the progress made in the last 7 weeks. I am sure every other Catholic on Guam also wants to know you have taken the problem seriously.

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    1. No need for a reply from the archbishop, just more testimonials from the neocats.

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    2. To: Gus Pablo

      UPDATE-
      I have not done anything to build bridges, as that Krebs suggested. The nerve of him telling me what to do. Krebs can't do anything to me anyways. He's no Pope!

      Instead, I actually succeeded in burning down the two areas that needed to be bridged together, so there won't be a need for a bridge of any sort. Am I not just the best Bishop ever?

      FROM: Apuron

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    3. Just watch Anon 8:18: The neos won't see this as sarcasm and say that JW is posting lies. We have to be aware of their level of comprehension.

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  17. I believe that Deacon Martinez's goal has ALWAYS been to unify, not to divide. As most of us who are looking out for the overall health of our Catholic Faith and not one specific Order or Ministry.

    Deacon Steve has been (many times over!) reaching out to our Shepard to lead us over as a good Shepard should. This is not something unreasonable, this is HIS DUTY! As it is Deacon Martinez’s duty to stay true to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, our Catholic Church. This is to say we are universal, not divisional.

    The actions and silence that our Archbishop demonstrates is truly indicative that the NEO-CATS have him under their control. As much as any addict would like to get off drugs and alcohol (aka, KIKO drugs/drinks), it would be VERY difficult for the Archbishop to do so. They've injected so much brain washing that he's reasoning is neither cognitive nor coherent.

    The Archbishop's brain has been overcome with KIKO reasoning that as much as it sounds outrageous to us, it is "common sense" and clear as a good day to the NEO WAY, There should be NO OTHER WAY THAN THE NEO WAY!

    MANY in this blog are at the peak of their tolerance and I for one will not tolerate a NEO testimonial at whatever part of our OFFICIAL EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION it takes place!

    IF anyone wants to stand their ground, get up there right after the NEO testimonial and let them know that it is our DUTY as part of the Faithful majority to let them know they are in violation of REDEMPTORIS SACRAMENTUM [74.] Our action would be properly justified in doing so.

    We are prepared NEO-CATS. No threats, just giving you courtesy caution that we will not stand down when you stand up and give your testimonials. We will start following right after your testimonial and inform you and the congregation of the outright disrespect for the reverence for the Eucharistic Celebration. We MUST do what is appropriate!

    Our response right after ANY NEO-CAT testimonial will be PROPER being that it will be something URGENT that needs to be said before or after the Final Blessing.

    It will be the appropriate time and place for us Catholic Faithful to refute your NEO testimonials during Liturgical Celebrations.

    Please, ANY NON-NEO Priest, any NON-NEO Deacon, ANY NON-NEO Holy Order Person, tell me this is wrong and we will stand down. These are MY and other Catholic Faithful's response to your NEO actions. A number of us agreed that IN our Parish when a NEO testimony is given the okay by the Presider, they should expect a rebuttal.

    I sure hope the Presider is prepared to be a mediator when this time comes, and the Presider better be a DAMN GOOD ONE and NOT TRY TO STOP OUR REBUTTAL!

    No threat, but we will take action. This is not a threat of violence, this is heads up to you NEO-CATS that are about to give your testimonials, be prepared for an on site rebuttal right after your testimony. If you are allowed to do this during any part of the mass or right after your testimonial. I believe this will count as an URGENT NEED to refute your action during our Liturgical Celebrations and is within the bounds of keeping the Celebration consistent with its original intention, to share the Body an Blood of Christ and to receive the GOOD NEWS.

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  18. Anon 5:55, you hit the nail on the head. Thank you for that suggestion.

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  19. Complete and open communication is vital to society and to the Church. I still remember that we here on Guam were told by the clergy not to view the movies "The Priest" and "The Da Vinci Code" as if we weren't intelligent or informed enough not to be fooled by shallow and erroneous "theology" or "facts." Please keep communicating via the newspapers, radio and TV as some are still not computer-literate. An elderly Chamorro woman used to believe Fr. Paul was disobedient until Msgr. Benavente was fired and she listened to Tim Rohr speak on the matter on the TV news.

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  20. WE ALL WALK OUT, WHEN THESE NEO-BRAINWASHED TESTIFIERS WALK UP TO THE PULPIT DURING MASS---ANYTIME, DURING MASS!

    Hey, would that be nicer than covering both of our ears saying, La la la....la la la until they're done!

    Not kidding, we are doing this!!!

    Will you?

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  21. Well, no, I won't walk out before the final blessing. In my opinion, if you do that, you just let someone come between you and Jesus whose real and true presence has just been celebrated is in fact now staring in the face of that person giving their 'testimony'. I want to spend some time with my Lord after receiving him. We are all made one in the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ. We become his eyes, his voice, his hands and his feet as the song goes and if we walk out before the final blessing, aren't we in effect saying that we are not what we eat? We would be no different than those who walk out right after they receive Communion thinking they got Jesus now and they have more important things to do. I don't like the testimonials either, but that is for the presider to correct and make sure that whatever the testifier is going to say is not nonsense or disrespectful to our worship. The 'presider' has control of this whether he knows it or not. Each presider is ultimately responsible for what is allowed in mass. They review and approve whatever announcements are made, don't they? So why don't they review and 'approve' the testimonies as well? Most of the time it's glaringly obvious the testifier didn't prepare well beforehand. But they are not going to keep me from worshipping my Lord because of their ignorance and ineptness. I would suggest that for those parishes which allow these testimonies, the pastors require them to be reviewed and approved beforehand, just like they do for wedding and funeral songs. The integrity of our Sunday worship is of the most urgent importance, it is the central act of our faith and the utmost care should be taken to ensure that every part of it is done well and gives glory to God.

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    1. At 6:47. Your sentiments are understandable. I myself have sat through more than one neo commercial at the end of Mass for the same reason, though I was revolted by what I was witnessing. It is a crime though that our Archbishop co-opts our faithfulness and our desire to spend time with our Eucharistic Lord by not walking out after communion to insert his neo commercials.

      The Eucharistic Lord is still present within us in those last moments of the Mass (See CCC 1377). In fact, this is why the Church is so adamant about the last moments of Mass NOT being abused with announcements etc., unless for "serious reason (RS 74).

      As an aside this is why it is also critical that we “regular” Catholics maintain an attitude of quiet respect at the end of Mass and when we exit the Church. Our bodies, so long as the “Eucharistic species subsist” (CCC 1377) are the temporary tabernacles for the God of all Creation. The Church does not give an exact amount of time, but a biological estimate is at least 15 minutes.

      Yet, we see, almost every Sunday, those sacred moments, erupting into a hand-shaking, back-thumping, grandma-kissing, happy birthday-singing, and the general din of ordinary conversation while Jesus cries: “Let me spend these few minutes with you.” The Neos are not the first to show irreverence to those moments.

      I can also understand your believing that the “presider has control”. Sorry to disappoint you. He does not. When it comes to the Neocatechumenal Way he has no control. These people come in the name of the bishop and say “the Archbishop says”, or the Archbishop wants”, etc. And seeing how the Archbishop has treated any priest who has stood in the way of the NCW, these “presiders” know that it is death to resist.

      Yet, while this is a grave injustice and a horrible abuse of power, the real crime is the rude intrusion into the most precious moments Jesus has with us. But if we are serious about our objection to the Archbishop’s allowing this, then let us first get serious about protecting those moments ourselves. Stay behind after Mass. Learn some “prayers after communion”. Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity is truly within us in those moments. He is “in us” in the most intimate sacred way he can possibly be with us, and us with him, this side of heaven.

      Restore the sacred and the “lost” who the Neo’s say they are here to rescue, won’t want to go anywhere else.

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  22. I agree that we should not walk out before the final blesssing. Instead, I woulf suggest that
    you bring with you a pair of earplugs just in case a NEO IS TO GIVE A TESTIMONIAL
    SO YOU VDON'T HAVE TO HEAR WHAT SHE/HE HAS TO SAY


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  23. Better bring enough ear plugs for your children as well, because they are the true victims of this neo-kiko "my sins are bigger than yours, but now I have found God" fruity message.
    Our innocents are quickly becoming victims of abuse by our baloney-minded bishop and those who desecrate the mass with their filth.

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  24. Janet B- I wonder you and Tim are one person. Yeah he must wear a skirt ........LOL. Earplugs? How many people here on Guam Shack up? Virginity loss in a young age??? This is reality that is going on Guam since. Children knows, so your mockery makes you a person that you are.

    come to Diana's blog and will discuss this in a different level. Janet Ms. Nasty

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