DEAR CARDINAL O'MALLEY

Posted by Chuck White

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His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley OFM Cap.
Archbishop of Boston
President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

Your Eminence,

As faithful Catholics from the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam, we write to you out of concern that the four credible accusations of sexual abuse lodged against our Ordinary and your colleague, Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron OFM Cap., were called "persecutions" by the influential leader of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Argüello.

Many of us in Guam saw you sitting very near Mr. Argüello at his Vocational Meeting on August 1st in Krakow, Poland, when he referred to those accusations as "persecutions":

You may listen to and watch Mr. Argüello mentioning the "persecutions" here:

Your Eminence, you undoubtedly heard Mr. Argüello say this in his rough Italian:

Luego che la isola di Guam...fratelli di Guam...ecco di Guam
sotto Giappone, nell'Pacifico
trecento fratelli di Guam.
Coraggio, preghiamo per vostro vescovo
preghiamo per voi e per tutta la persecuzione!

Please accept our translation of Mr. Argüello's words:

Then there is the island of Guam...brothers of Guam...here, from Guam
below Japan, in the Pacific
three hundred brothers of Guam.
Courage! We pray for your bishop,
we pray for you and for all the persecutions!

As the President of Pope Francis's Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, as a Capuchin, and as a friend of the Neocatechumenal Way, we are sure that you are aware of the accusations that have been lodged against our Archbishop, and that Mr. Argüello was most certainly referring to those accusations when assuring the Guam contingent of his prayers for the bishop and the "persecutions".  

Your Eminence, as President of the Pontifical Commission, we beg you to challenge and reject Mr. Arguello's characterization of the accusations against Archbishop Apuron.  They do not reflect the gravity with which such accusations should be treated by the Church and by your Commission.

Si Yu'os Ma'ase (Thank you).

Faithful Catholics of Guam

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Many thanks to LaPaz, JungleWatch's correspondent in Spain.