Thursday, October 23, 2014

YOU'RE WELCOME

Now that the Archdiocese has "erected" the St. John Paul the Great Seminary in Malojloj, I would be happy to say "you're welcome", but no one from the seminary as yet has said "thank you". In the spirit of charity and good sport, however, I'll give them a "You're welcome" anyway.

Let's review why a "You're welcome" from me is appropriate.

Since 1999, the Catholics of Guam were told that the Redemptoris Mater Seminary was "for Guam". In fact, a 2010 publication celebrating itself declared the seminary to be "A Miracle for Guam." In the publication we are told that the seminary was both diocesan and missionary. There's nothing unique about that, the Church by its nature is "missionary". 

So, no problem. The people of Guam continued to pour lots of money into the seminary thinking all the time that it was their seminary and it was producing priests for Guam. It did occur to some that there were a disproportionate amount of foreigners coming to the seminary. But since we were told that they were coming to serve the Church in Guam, most figured "no problem". 

The RMS folks have many interesting things to say about themselves in their 2010 self-congratulating publication. They speak of the growth of the number of seminarians as if there really was growth of the number of seminarians. There wasn't. There was only growth in the number of seminarians Archbishop Apuron was importing via Kiko Arguello's worldwide vocation machine. But on paper, it didn't matter where they came from, Archbishop Apuron could take the credit for "producing" vocations even though he was only importing them.

Still the Catholics of Guam did not complain, even though they were being taxed ever more heavily for the support of this growing immigrant population. The people of Guam are naturally welcoming and they are quite used to welcoming foreign priests to the island. However, this was a little different. No, a lot different. 

The priests who had come to Guam over the last 400 years of Guam's Catholic history were already priests, trained, formed, educated, ordained, and prepared to go to the ends of the earth. The guys Archbishop Apuron has been bringing in are not trained, formed, educated, ordained, or prepared to go anywhere or do anything. The people of Guam would have to provide for their training, formation, education, preparation, and ordination. 

Still the people did not complain even though we have no idea how many we paid for who simply went home or went elsewhere. Nor did we ask why Guam had 20 times more seminarians per Catholic than dioceses like Boston or Newark (which tells us we are taking in seminarians who are not wanted elsewhere). Nor did they ask if these men had been psychologically screened, academically qualified, or vocationally assessed as would be required of any one entering a seminary and aspiring to the priesthood. We didn't ask any of those questions because we trusted Archbishop Apuron. (Silly us!)

Another funny little entry from the self-congratulating 2010 publication is the phony myth that the Accion Hotel property was acquired for "free":
"When God gives, He gives abundantly! Imagine, a property worth millions acquired by the diocese for free!"
This is such a lie that I am sure that the people who worked so hard to acquire the property just want to vomit when they hear this. Just because the property was acquired without the archdiocese having to fork over its own money does NOT mean it was acquired for free. Many people spent many hours, days, weeks, and months, working to acquire the property. And then after that, hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours were spent turning the former hotel property into a seminary.  

In the matter of the acquisition, the money was given to the archdiocese by a stateside donor who was located through the hard work of a local nun. The money was given on two conditions:
  • That the gift be used to purchase a defunct hotel property for the "purpose of a seminary"
  • That the identity of the donor NOT be made known.

Archbishop Apuron violated both conditions. Amazingly he publicly named the donor, and the money was not used for the "purpose of a seminary", at least not for the Archdiocese of Agana. 

RMS happily took our money for the better part of 15 years, but then in July of 2013, something happened. As we all know, Fr. Paul Gofigan was kicked out of Santa Barbara, but he was also kicked out of his post as vocations director. In his care at that time was a young man named Junee Valencia who was aspiring to the diocesan priesthood and wished to attend a seminary in California as most of the other diocesan priests here in Guam had done before. 

Archbishop Apuron refused to send him to California and insisted that if he wanted to be a priest in the Archdiocese of Agana, he must attend RMS. However, as everyone already knew, RMS was a neocatechumenal seminary and Junee desired a traditional diocesan formation.  (Go herehere, and here for the story.)

During this debate, I decided to check out the Articles of Incorporation for RMS and read clear as day in Article III:
“The purpose of the Corporation shall be to establish and conduct a House of formation to prepare men for the priesthood for the new evangelization following the life and practice of the Neocatechumenal Way.”
Hmmm, this was never actually stated. The 2010 RMS publication congratulating itself only referenced the seminary as "diocesan and missionary", which, as already explained, did not raise any flags. But here we have a constituting document stating that the purpose of RMS is to "prepare men for the priesthood....following the life and practice of the Neocatechumenal Way." 

Archbishop Apuron was giving Junee Valencia NO OPTION to be any other kind of priest other than a neo-priest. No other diocese in the world forces its men to be neo-priests. Neo-seminaries, where they exist, exist alongside regular diocesan seminaries, and for the most part, neo-seminarians are required to take their studies at a traditional diocesan seminary. However, in the Archdiocese of Agana, not only is it the other way around, the Archbishop permitted NO OTHER OPTION. 

And then I decided to make something else public, Article IX, which gives Giuseppe Gennarini and his wife Claudia, a New Jersey couple, 50% of the decision making power for "the most important affairs" of the seminary. And what are the "most important affairs" of the seminary? The formation of priests.  

The other 50% of the decision making power is divided up between Archbishop Apuron and a neo-priest who doesn't live here. So Archbishop Apuron only has 25% of the decision making power over who becomes a priest and who doesn't. That's dangerous. Two lay people and a priest who have nothing to do with Guam get to decide who is going to be a priest FOR Guam. 

So not only was RMS never a diocesan seminary as we were told, it's not even ours. 75% of it is controlled by people from somewhere else, who along with Archbishop Apuron, their only goal is to grow the Neocatechumenal Way whether we like it or not. 

So how much has this cost us? 

The spread in the U Matuna promoting the most recent annual appeal stated that it costs nearly One Million dollars a year to run RMS. The Archdiocese of Agana, meaning the Chancery, puts up 10% of that and the rest is said to be funded through gifts and fundraisers. Given that the annual Seminary Gala is the seminary's major fundraiser, and that the Gala is attended and funded by Guam Catholics, we have no reason not to believe that the better part of those gifts and money raised through fundraisers comes from the PEOPLE of the Archdiocese of Agana. 

So given that the seminary is 15 years old, and allowing for increasing expenses over that period, it is not unreasonable to believe that the people of Guam have coughed up close to Ten Million Dollars over the last 15 years to support a seminary because we were told it was ours.

Amazingly, as if to say "Oh no, we've been found out!" Archbishop Apuron, after I made these revelations last year, announced in December of 2013 "that he has decided to erect a diocesan seminary for Guam."

Oh, wait, you mean for 15 years we did not have a "diocesan seminary for Guam" when we were told that we did? Well, yes. And I didn't say that. HE DID when he announced that would "erect a diocesan seminary for Guam."

Obviously the erection of a "diocesan seminary for Guam" is a BIG admission that RMS is NOT a "diocesan seminary for Guam", even under the guise of its being "both diocesan and missionary" as the 2010 self-congratulating publication stated. So, by the erection of this other seminary, Archbishop Apuron is admitting that RMS is NOT "diocesan" in any way shape or form otherwise there would be no need to erect a "diocesan seminary for Guam."

Of course, we knew that about RMS already. Their formation is so completely neo that their products stumble and bumble through a simple Mass. And those that eventually get the hang of it, clearly show their preference for their separate "celebrations" with their small communities. 

We can't blame them. They did not sign up to be parish priests. They signed up to be neocat presbyters. But Archbishop Apuron needed to perpetuate the ruse that RMS was a diocesan seminary (vocations are the currency of clerical advancement), so he ordained them and made them fill the traditional role of a diocesan priest even though not only are they NOT formed for the diocesan priesthood, they are actually taught that parish-based Catholicism is dead.

Now back to Junee Valencia. 

Having exposed all the b.s. about RMS, we were thrown another bone. There would be a separate seminary for Junee, the "seminary" in Malojloj. Except that it wasn't a seminary. It was an abandoned monastery. And Junee would be made to sleep and eat there while his RMS counterparts wined, dined, lounged and slept in the palatial former hotel after having sucked up nearly ten million dollars from faithful Guam Catholics. 

And while he would live and eat apart, Junee still had no other option other than to take his classes with the neo's at the neo-seminary. And the same is true of the other 4 men who recently joined Junee in his Malojloj boarding house. 

Almost a year later (this week), the new "seminary" was finally officially "erected". But despite all the hoopla, off the record, while he said all the right things about the seminary in public, Archbishop Apuron referred to the seminary as something "they wanted", meaning of course it is not something "he wanted". 

But actually, no, Archbishop. These men did not want an old monastery to sleep in. They want an authentic formation for the diocesan priesthood, and an "erection" (sorry) does not a seminary make, especially now that we see who you put in charge of it: three un-incardinated priests (who you can control or tell to get out), Msgr. Arroyo, who is nice enough but not in a position health wise to take on any more duties (though he will always do your bidding), and the infamous Fr. Adrian who is the one who lied for you to Aaron Quitugua about his not being able to attend a real diocesan seminary.

Really, Archbishop. Not a single incardinated diocesan priest who is not a neo (excluding Msgr. Arroyo - for now) to run a diocesan seminary? Of course given what you say about that seminary and those seminarians when you think no one (on our side) is listening, those appointments make sense. 

How sad that the erection of this boarding house is just another lie made necessary by our exposure of the first lie which was that RMS was not what you said it was. The sad part is that some on our side are buying this new lie and giving Apuron the cover he needs while he snickers at you over pizza with Harold. 

Stop the ruse. Stop the charade. Stop hurting real vocations. Send those men to St. Peter Chanel, the regional seminary for the episcopal conference to which the Archdiocese of Agana belongs and where they can have real courses with real teachers and not the junket-happy profs they get at RMS. Oh, and by the way, "You're Welcome". 

Related stories:

CLARIFICATION ON THE MISSION OF REDEMPTORIS MATER SEMINARY and INTERNATIONALITY, August 23, 2013

HOW WAS THE SEMINARY OBTAINED IN THE FIRST PLACE?, November 26, 2013



33 comments:

  1. No doubt these two priests will soon be incardinated!

    As for the 5 men that are in Malohloh, we just need to do what we have to do for them.

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    1. Like get them out of there and stop playing with their lives.

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    2. what is malohoho? Didn't your god Pius tell you not to go on the blog.

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    3. Agree with Tim. The students should leave the boarding house as it is a waste of time and serves no purpose as part of their journey to priesthood. A number of options are open to these guys and I hope the options can be communicated to the students by their parents and friends.

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    4. Do the young men need to be sponsored by the Archdiocese to attend St. Peter Chanel?

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    5. No, they do not need to be sponsored. In fact, any one can go there provided they are accepted - like a regular institution of higher learning. However, to serve as priests in the Archdiocese of Agana, they still need to be ordained by Apuron, and if he doesn't back their education then fat chance of him ordaining them. However, there is fat chance he will ordain the Malojloj boys too. And even if he does, he can assign them to Neo parishes (since that's going to be all there is soon), where they will have to serve the NCW. In fact, he can make it a condition of their ordination. Do you see the problem.

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  2. One word to describe this : SWINDLE !!!!!
    Our Archbishop is a SWINDLER!!!!! Among other things.

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  3. The separation is now obvious.

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  4. Dearest Diana (Neocats), What part of "not everything the Popes condoned were proven to be in the Holy Church's best interest."

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  5. Among other things a totally dishonest individual!

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  6. Suggest students seek sponsorship of a mainland bishop or enter theology courses at a recognized catholic institution which would then be counted as credits in a seminary.
    Students have many years a head and should not waste their valuable time living in a boarding house playing a game with the sick archbishop. To the parents of these students don't allow your sons to be in this position. As parents you are failing your boys in allowing this to happen to them. in all honesty how can you allow Fr. Adrian to be responsible for your boys.?

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  7. Adrian no way should be involved in formation of our priests.

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  8. Adrian responsible for boarding house. Red flags!!!!!!!!!

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  9. Seriously parents of young men at this boarding house remove students immediately before any harm comes to them.

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  10. Students JP2 boarding house unsafe.

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  11. Why should you give the care of the sheep to the wolf?
    Come on Tony !!!! tell us please!!!!
    Are you throwing bones to your minions???

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  12. Good morning Tim and Faithful Catholics!

    Just wanted to go back in time when Aaron Quitugua first inquired in writing about his vocation over a year ago. His back and forth response was well documented in the JW postings. I urge the new Seminarians to review the somewhat forgotten responses to Aaron's questions to the Chancellor, Fr. Adrian. And yes, he was not misled and misinformed once, but several times.

    Link is below:
    http://www.junglewatch.info/2014/02/i-regret-to-inform-you-that-your.html

    We continue to pray for Aaron and that he continue his studies with an accredited university.

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    1. Yes, and the current "seminarians" are being misled and misinformed to even think they are seminarians. What a tragedy.

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    2. Tragic that these poor students have been led to believe they are seminarians. Sorry for them for we have to question their own self awareness and self worth. Only a fool would remain living in the boarding house. One day they will see the truth.

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  13. One of the pieces on KUAM News last night was a short take on the "new seminary". Reporter Krystal Paco stated that the seminarians at JPII take their classes at the Blessed Diego Institute. Blessed Diego Institute is part of Redemptoris Mater. So sad people are being fooled to think it's a separate institution. Same instructors - NEO education!
    Manachang - I join you in praying for Aaron. He is a courageous man!

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  14. Blame the parents for allowing their sons to be living in a boarding house managed by a dysfunctional catholic priest.

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  15. Anonymous 1:03pm, you mention "a dysfunctional catholic priest", is there something we don't know that you care to share? I've never heard anything about Fr. Romeo Convocar being a "dysfunctional catholic priest".

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    1. Right, because Fr. Romeo Convocar is not the really in charge. He's a cover, just like the "seminary" itself.

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  16. From the Archdiocese of Agana website you have two tabs for the seminary, one being for the RMS and the other being for Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores Catholic Theological Institute for Oceania. Here are the heads of the Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores Catholic Theological Institute for Oceania:

    Academic Dean: Rev. Msgr. David C. Quitugua, JCD

    Secretary: Rev. Pius Sammut, OCD

    Assoc. Secretary: Dr. David Atienza, Ph.D

    Common denominator: Neo
    Now I see the concern!!!!

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  17. The boarding house opened in Guam for four students does not constitute a seminary for the formation of Roman Catholic Priests. It amounts to nothing more than the latest Tony Apuron disaster in Guam.

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    1. Apuron has no interest in supporting JP2 house. He allowed it to open in the hope of making peace with individuals. But in reality Apuron has contributed again to the division of the church in our community. Apuron is so hard heard he fails to see the harm he causes this church.

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  18. Fr.Convocar is not in charge of the boys boarding house. House fails to meet the standards required of a catholic seminary for academics and priestly formation. So the whole house and the one who set it up is completely dysfunctional . if these vocations have substance then please send them to St. Patrick's seminary or the pacific regional seminary but to open a dolls house boarding house in the name of the catholic church insults the church and becomes an international joke.

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  19. Most things tony has done in life are Fake and for show. The latest opening of a boarding house under the image of a seminary is an insult to catholic education and catholic culture throughout the universal church. The parents are the fools here for allowing their sons to live in a boarding house where honestly they may not even be safe to live. To the students, honestly, if you think this path will bring you to priesthood it will not. Stop wasting your life find a bishop to sponsor you and be sent to an established seminary. You are simply pawns being used by a dysfunctional priests.

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    1. Frankly, students look a pathetic group as if they have no other place to go besides a boarding house opened by a misfit of an archbishop. Sorry students but only you are to blame along with your parents.

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  20. There is life beyond Anthony Apuron's dysfunctional managed church. Arrived at the position where Apuron is no longer as a catholic bishop . How many bishops do you know who open boarding houses for boys?

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  21. Red flags with aaa new project.........

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  22. Something certainly wrong to have opened a second seminary in a small island community. Resources from finances to academic staff , to pastoral training education, to the necessary spiritual directors are simply lacking in our structure. What little money we are spending on these projects would better be spent sending seminarians who have the potential to st. Patrick's or a seminary that is established.

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  23. Just a thought here.. Those who wish to go off island to study as diocesan priests are told there is a seminary here. A second one was established for those who do not wish to join RMS, yet these men have to study the same thing as the RMS. Funny how our girls are sent to NJ to join the Carmelites when THERE is an existing Carmelite Monastery on island.

    This says much about the NCW. Pius has the hold. Girls who want to enter are sent to NJ to do their disernment. Why is that? Here is the reason, the NJ Carmelites has pulled away from the main branch. They do not follow the chapter of the Carmelite Sisters. Although they still consider themselves Carmelites, they now a follow the new order of OCD that Pius follows. In other words these girls must follow the leader.

    It is as though they are afraid to lose their flock and have to keep them in place and in check! To think that NCW says dwindling fo vocation life. Sure, AAA bring the boys in from other places to enter RMS, but YOU AAA are responsible for the dwindling of the religious life of the nuns, because YOU have not give. Any of the other religious order for women a chance. YOU, AAA do not control who goes where. It shows!

    To the dear religious sisters, the problem is YOU ALL DO NOT CONFORM TO THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE NCW. This means, you as specific orders do not have a COMMUNITY. YOU as religious orders DO NOT PRAY TOGETHER. YOU as religious orders DO NOT share in AGAPE as a COMMUNITY FAMILY. YOU as religious orders are nothing but a bunch of old fuddy daddies. Most importantly, YOU as religious orders DO NOT celebrate the EUCHARIST as a COMMUNITY.

    As you all dwindle away, maybe the associate members can and will continue the mission of your congregation! God bless you all!

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