Saturday, October 1, 2016

NEO'S DECLARE WAR ON THE ARCHDIOCESE OF AGANA

On June 24 and July 14, 2014, Catholic Cemeteries issued, via two checks, an amount totaling $13,620.00 for the purpose of paying for the 20th Ordination Anniversary of Msgr. James Benavente, who was at the time also the Director of the Catholic Cemeteries. 





On July 31, 2014, that amount (and then some) was reimbursed in full by members of Msgr. James’ family, Jesse and Gabrielle Bamba. 




Normally, an ordination anniversary celebration should have been paid for by the parish. But Msgr. James did not want the parish to pay for it. Instead, his family paid for it. To facilitate the planning, Msgr. James advanced the money to Joshua Perez who was helping to coordinate the event. 

There was no attempt to hide the transactions. The memos on all the documents clearly state the purpose of the transaction. And it appears Catholic Cemeteries even earned interest on the transaction. 

The mistake Msgr. James made was technical. Because the Catholic Cemeteries is incorporated, a board resolution to approve a "loan" to Joshua Perez would have been the correct way to go. However, within church organizations, it is not uncommon for one fund to "lend" to another, if only, as we see here, to facilitate the coordination of an event until the funds can be reimbursed. 

But now, let's talk about this COMPLETELY NEO BOARD:

Dennis Santo Tomas, Chairperson
Roland San Agustin, Vice-Chairperson
Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje, Secretary
Wayne Santos, Director
Lilian Perez-Posada, Director
Rev. Jose Alberto Rodriguez, Administrator

On September 30, just hours or even moments after Archbishop Hon issued a statement declaring that all allegations against Msgr. James - including this one - were found to be "not valid," these NEO's unanimously voted for the following resolution:

Because they chose to report this to the Police and to the AG, they are declaring that they believe that Msgr. James engaged in criminal activity. Per the Board's own resolution, this information was known to them as early as July 2014:


Complete Complaint here

As members of the board, if they believed this to be criminal activity, they had a fiduciary responsibility to report it immediately to the competent authority (police and AG). Yet, they did not. In effect, if they now want to push this forward as evidence of criminal activity, they should also be held complicit in its cover up. But I'll let the attorneys (not trained ones, real ones) figure that out. 

Then there is the matter that this seems to follow a pattern. Bill 326 passes the Legislature unanimously, and suddenly the Neo's organize to have it vetoed. After two years, Msgr. James is vindicated, and suddenly the Neo's want to press criminal charges. 

And then we have a clear example of what we all know: that the NEO's are not only NOT part of our Church, but, as Fr. Jeff stated, they are aggressively interfering with it.
  1. The Archbishop of Agana, who is the sole member of this corporation (like RMS) is NOT on the board (as he is with RMS), effectively creating an autonomous entity, still paid for by the Archdiocese, but completely controlled by the Neo's. 
  2. The Neo's completely reject the authority of the papally-appointed Apostolic Administrator by NOT even copying him on the complaint filed with the police and the AG. 
  3. And filing the complaint on the very day Hon declares the allegations (including this one) to be "invalid," is a direct SLAP in the face to competent authority of the Archdiocese. 

While we laity are free to disagree and even protest the administrative decisions of this authority, the members of the board of an archdiocesan entity are another matter. And acting corporately as they did is a severe statement of separation from the archdiocese - once again, evidencing what we already know. 

In short, the resolution adopted on September 30, 2016 by the COMPLETELY NEO Board of Directors of the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam is a DECLARATION OF WAR against the Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Agana.  


Related News
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS: Hon clears Monsignor Benavente of financial mismanagement; new allegations arise
KUAM: Archdiocese issues statement after news of complaint about finances
PACIFIC NEWS CENTER: Archbishop Hon rebukes complaint against Msgr. James
DAILY POST: Complaint filed against Monsignor Benavente

34 comments:

  1. The Neo's need to be shut down, Monsignor James as the new Parish Priest of SA/SV should stop Rudy from using Chirch facilities for his Saturday Neo masses. Father Paul needs to do the same. No more playing nice and being diplomatic. It's time to escalate and take action within their respective roles as Parish Priests. They are in charge now.

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    1. ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, Anon at 8:53! Just like the Ordinary of a diocese or archdiocese has FULL power (doesn't need Rome's permission) to restrict/control the activities of the NCW within his diocese/archdiocese, so the pastor of a parish has the FULL POWER (doesn't need the permission of his bishop) to restrict/control the activities of the NCW in his parish.

      Father Paul Gofigan did so in 2014 (which was the real reason for his maltreatment by Apuron) - denying the full rein of the NCW in Santa Barbara Parish. And Msgr James COULD do the same now that he is Pastor of SA/SV Church in Tamuning, at the risk - of course - of getting "banged" by AB Hon, like Apuron did to Fr. Paul. Of course, Msgr James might be a bit reluctant to come down heavy on the Neos, just days after he got exonerrated and put in good standing with him. The fact is that Msgr James COULD stop Fr Rudy from using Church facilities at SA/SV Church for Neo activities.

      And following the example of the Philippines bishop who curbed the growth of the NCW in his diocese (without needing the permission from Rome), so too AB Hon could curb the growth of the NCW in our archdiocese, if he wants to! But this is unlikely, seeing that he owes allegiance to his boss Cardinal Filoni. The fact is that AB Hon has the power to do so, if he wants to. (jrsa: 10/1/16)

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    2. Fr. Paul seems to be in good now with the Neos. Posted at DIANA:

      AnonymousSeptember 29, 2016 at 8:46 AM
      Fr. Paul and the Agana Communties had Vespers last night then a nice agape to welcome him as the new pastor of the Cathedral. It was a good evening. Thank you Fr. Paul for being open and willing!

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    3. As the parish priest AT St. Anthony and St. Victor, Mons. James can close the communities.

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    4. Please do not refer to the Saturday Neo gathering as a mass. It is not a mass, it is merely a gathering or celebration but definitively not mass. We should call it what it really is.

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    5. Ugh! Fr. Paul invited the whole island of Guam to Vespers and adoration. He posted on his FB page. it wasn't an NCW activity. Agape is not an NCW activity. The Catholic Church has been doing it since ever since. CFC, Charismatic Groups, on Guam and all over the world do Agape and yes they say Agape. He's the rector, it's his job to be welcoming. Nice of them to ignore the fact that Msgr. James was open for them to hold their heretic celebrations at the Basilica Pfffft. So typical of them to claim credit when it wasn't theirs. I"m sure they'd claim the picket line if they could. I am so disgusted. I can't believe Roland San Agustin and Dennis J. Santo Tomas are part of this board and willingly agreed to this. I am beside myself.

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    6. It's a technicality, but it is and will be an ever bigger part of the problem. A rector is in charge of the facility, NOT the faithful. He has no authority to engage the faithful as a pastor would without explicit and public permission to do so.

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  2. Archbishop Hon, needs to take immediate action and remove the board. They can't even keep maintain the grass. The Neo run board and grass both needs a good cut.

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  3. Tim,
    Thank You for bringing this to light and reminding us again, that these NEO's although they seem to reference that The Pope Said, The Holy See Said, The Vatican Said when it applies to propping up their NCW propaganda, and interests. When it comes to obeying instructions and admonitions from the Pope, The Holy See and the Vatican, they do not obey and are the authority unto themselves. We should focus all our efforts to kick these interfering, heretical, divisive, evil cult out of Guam. We need to include Quitugua, Adrian, Alberto, Rudy.

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  4. I believe someone outside this Board of Directors of the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam is directing this vindictive charge. Someone is sooo jealous of Monsignor James Benavente, the best loved priest of the ACB. Just ask the parishioners, the benefactors, the ministers, altar servers, choirs, clergy, and various Catholic organizations. He was also a great manager, as evidenced by the successful completions of major renovations, including the Pigo cemetery itself! Compare that to the crumbling condition of both the Cathedral Basilica and the Pigo cemeteries presently. I smell the sin of green envy here and I would be so bold as to guess that the Big Boys of the NEO Cats on Guam are directly involved (either Archie, Pius, Adrienne, or Lurch). I believe Jackie and the rest of those board members are just taking orders here. On another note, does anybody else find it curious that Hon was not present at this press announcement? Or is he getting a little gun-shy from all the publicity and probing questions from those pesky media? This was good news, Hon. Hmmmmm.

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  5. He can't handle the open forum. He will be asked where Apuron. So give him a break and a little understanding.

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    1. He can't handle open forum? What business does he have to be the Administrtor for Guam to put out fires, and solve hot issues and confront problems and difficult individuals? That is the kind of trouble shooter/administrator our Church on Guam needs at this time. Any clergy who like to be private and doesn't like confrontations should have joined the hermit monks.

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  6. Tim, you wrote:

    “Normally, an ordination anniversary celebration should have been paid for by the parish. But Msgr. James did not want the parish to pay for it. Instead, his family paid for it.”

    Exactly. Hosting an event confers only a minimal benefit on the honoree, mostly in the form of intangibles such as esteem, recognition, and goodwill. The actual material beneficiaries of the celebration are the guests.

    (Who and how many were there?)

    Criminal theft or embezzlement of funds for “personal use” must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. To suggest that the documents provided by the Cemetery Board do so is untenable.

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  7. I'm still skeptical. Was Hon, the master of double speak, purposely absent from the press conference announcing the vindication of Msgr. James so that he can later deny whatever was said by Fr. Jeff? Or, is he throwing us this small bone to distract us from something else he is doing much larger and more valuable (for the Neos)? Keep your guard up, people!

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    Replies
    1. In this case it was not a bone. I know. But yes, press on.

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  8. I attended 10am Mass at San Vicente last Sunday where Adrian presided along with Deac Larry. I noticed a peculiar thing in that during the prayers of the faithful they named Pope Francis and Anthony Apuron, but did not include Archbishop Hon in the prayers. I immediately thought "they don't recognize his authority here" whereas when you attend mass at some other parishes they do include Arch. Hon's name.

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    1. Maybe because Adrian's upset at Hon for reassigning him to Umatac.

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    2. imagine Adrian assigned to Umatac he will dislike that as it is not a high position for him.

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    3. Asan, Agat, Umatac, and Merizo, up through Rt. 4.... going along the way. A'dai hamyo.

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    4. Anonymous at 10:31 AM, I've been told that Fr. Rudy Arejola at SASVCC omits any reference to Archbishop Hon (or even his title as Apostolic Administrator as others have done).
      I can't help wondering if the Tall David and the other RMS presbyters do the same as Adrian and Rudy — mention only their "Brother Tony" and ignore the presence of Hon.

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  9. Ai yai yai the neo's have problems listening to what Monsignor James Benavente said " it's not a time to celebrate, instead, it is now a time to once again roll up our sleeves and be on our way in continuing the critical work in restoring, reconciling and rebuilding our archdiocese." BTW neo's whether you like it or not BIBA, Monsignor James Benavente is here to stay!

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  10. The trained lawyer must've missed that lesson and that's why she erred when she jumped to conclusions before reporting this to GPD and the AG's office. I'd be very worried right about now having someone like that representing me in a court of law.

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  11. What we are witnessing is the "modus operandi" of the NCW. Let the whole world see the real fruits of the NCW. May their days be numbered.

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  12. neo leaders, which they ain't, cause their heads so far up the arse...

    brother tony, said he waited two years so he could gather more dirt on Father Paul, so trained lawyer terlaje could no less than her evil and mindless brother tony...

    If trained lawyer terlaje is in charge of brother tony in their community, did she train tony in the art of complicity, or is tony totally in charge of that department... or is it inherent of all neo members...

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    Replies
    1. We were tricked into complicity. When eventually we drop out, we complain about having been used, if we are still capable of it.

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  13. With lawyers like this potty-trained, I mean "trained" lawyer and doctors like that pewsebio, and the archdiocese so called can-none lawyer like msgr Quitugua, who needs comedians! What stock of laughables, and they're all neos!

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  14. What an asinine lawyer not getting her facts straight. And she's representing Apurun?

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  15. That's good that Apuron is relying on this "trained lawyer" We have nothing to be worried about. She'll fall on her face and fail in her defense of apuron. Birds of a feather, they are all in the ncw.

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  16. A trained lawyer by the name of Jackie
    Whose interpretation of laws was tacky.
    Her rebuttals were lame, they all sounded the same
    It's what you'd expect from one that's quacky.

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  17. To the board of directors of the Catholic Cemeteries Corporation: Thank You!

    For the last several years those who oppose the true church and faithful protecting her have done so many things to sabotage themselves. The previous administration made so many blunders it could have been a comedy by Mel Brooks. And now we have the proverbial "cherry on top." Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!

    Your egregious action has made our next mission so much easier.

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  18. I wonder how much church donations were used to cover Apuron's $200.00 a plate birthday bash.

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  19. Why did the Board deliberately not mention the fact that the Bambas, family of Msgr. Benavente, reimbursed what was initially taken out? Even if some funds were withdrawn, there was documentaion and intent to repay. What is this Board's problem, save for malicious smearing of Msgr. Benavente's name at the heels if his vindication? Wow, what timing, they can't even allow good news for someone who has been wronged! And they had to hold off Archbishop Hon with their accusation to the point that he had to miss the announcement.

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    1. Knowing that Monsignor James is appointed Pastor of St Anthony; they wanted to smear his good name so they can save thier strong hold thier community has on St Anthony. Monsignor James first action as pastor is to restrict this Cult from abusing the resources.

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  20. Thanks for the details. To apply for church loan in USA the need of right lender is a lot. So churches should get the right lender after proper analysis.

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