Monday, January 2, 2017

THIS IS "YOURS!"

Even though the letter from Antonio Palacios about Alberto and the Neo's taking over the Santa Ana chapel was posted on 12/30/16, it received the second highest number of pageviews for the month of December.





This means of course that there is a tremendous amount of interest in this issue and Mr. Palacios is encouraged to file a formal complaint with Archbishop Byrnes, detailing everything that was laid out in the letter posted on this blog, and signed by as many members of the group which raised the money to build the chapel. 

I suspect that there is a lot of interest in this issue because there are many who feel that the same was done to their parishes: the RMS Kikos (like Alberto) have come in, abused the parishioners, abused the facilities, abused the money, abused the generations-old pious sensibilities of the faithful, and said "Screw you. The Pope sent me." 

It's great that Mr. Palacios has now stood up after several years of abuse in Agat. However, it cannot end with a post on this blog. It is time to take this to the new archbishop's front door, and the same for others who have been similarly abused. 

It is time to stop depending on JungleWatch, CCOG, LFM, the picketers, or anyone else. This is your battle. This is your church This is your parish. This is YOURS. And since Archbishop Byrnes recently claimed "I am yours." Then he needs to know WHO you are and what you are sick and tired of. 

Call the Chancery to see when he is scheduled to return and get busy. 

17 comments:

  1. Onward Christian soldiers! This is why we were confirmed. We must defend our Church and demand that these Neos get out of our parishes! Apuron is on his way out. So goes his enablers and Neo protectors.

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  2. Kudos to Mr. Palacios for your letter regarding the Santa Anna Chapel. Please, Mr. Palacios, follow up with Abp Byrnes and/or the chancery by sending or presenting your letter of complaint to them. It does no good to make a legitimate complaint and then not take the next step and go through the proper channels to resolve the issue.

    More people need to have the courage to step forward and make their voice heard. This has been one of the things that has led to our present situation. People don't want to rock the boat, ruffle any feathers, make waves, etc. What has been the result? Those in power know the people are timid and will not oppose their evil schemes. Well times have changed and the people have had enough. We won't take any more abuse from anyone!

    For years I sat on the sidelines and watched the church become divided and crumble. I remained silent. Then things really started to boil over and get worse. That's when I had enough and decided to join CCOG and participate in the LFM protests. By some miracle people in authority started to listen. The long suffering victims spoke about their abusers. Our protests made the headlines and were published around the world. Those courageous LFM ladies went to the RMS in Yona and exposed the clandestine influence of Cardinal Filoni. Joseph Santos took up the cause and got the bill to lift the statute of limitations on child sex abuse passed by the legislature and signed into law. Members of the CCOG and other local catholic faithful worked with the chancery to get the Yona property back into the patrimony of the archdiocese. Nothing is impossible with the help of the Holy Spirit and a strong faith to guide you.

    To the person reading this comment right now, yes I am talking directly to YOU, what are you doing to solve the problems in the church? Are you waiting for the other guy to do it? Are you afraid? Get over it and DO SOMETHING!!! If we fail at least we can take comfort in the knowledge that we did all that we could.

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  3. And His Excellency wonders about the reluctance of parishioners to contribute to the offertory?

    No, it is not solely to the influence of this blog, as informative as it may be.

    And, no, the shortfall cannot be made up by charging more to the faithful who are barely scraping by to send their children to Catholic schools.

    Enrollment will plummet. Check out what happened on Saipan ten years ago as the economy collapsed. The demand curve for a Catholic education is not inelastic.

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    1. Catholic Education can be home schooled. You don't need elite Catholic Schools on Guam. Elite school are a thing of the past.

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    2. Parents send their children to Catholic Schools not to be elitist but to prepare their children for a bright future. It may seem elitist to some who are unwilling and unable to make the financial sacrifice and long-term investment by actually paying for quality education and not ride on the coattails of taxpayers. Is it any wonder why even government employees and public school teachers send their children to Catholic schools?

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    3. Elite schools are far from being "a thing of the past". They're more prestigious and more expensive than ever. I graduated from three elite ones: Catholic grade and prep schools and one of the world's leading secular universities.

      I refused to attend a Catholic college because most of them are way behind the academic power curve. Given their deplorable condition, I wouldn't send a dog to a Catholic school.

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    4. There is nothing wrong with Catholic schools. But, if the tuition fees are increased past the point of affordability (real or imagined), parents will have no choice but to send their children to public schools, which are just as good or even better, in some cases.

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    5. 12:11 AM, don't flatter yourself. Your dog will never be accepted anyway unless baptized a Catholic, just focus on purchasing quality dog food for your canine child., or your elitist mind. Just because sister mary caused blisters on your palm does not mean you have to be ungrateful for your past.

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  4. Mr. Palacios, if you need help, contact Tim Rohr. He will direct you to people who can help you.

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    1. Pls read Andrew Camacho's comment at 6:56 PM.

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    2. Not exactly related to the above mentioned issue, but my sister in law who lives in Barrigada came to visit us here in the mainland and while we were talking the topic of the Barrigada Rectory came up. They all helped out in raising money and now they would like to know what ever happened to that project. What ever happened to the money they raised. Everyone seemed to be hush hush. Why? Can somebody from the Barrigada Funding Raising Committee. What happened to the hard work we have done? Show us the report.

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    3. I believe Alberto Salamanca diverted the rectory raised money for Kiko and NCW advancement. Good luck getting honest answers from that committee.

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    4. I say that a parish should have a finance council not under the control of the parish priest but is fully accountable to the parishioners. If such a finance council is not present, then parishioners should STOP THE MONEY!

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    5. I think that every parish should print their financial records quarterly. Sometimes people question where all the money goes from the collections and if you try to ask the priest he simply says for the care of the church. But father, the question was where? Don't you get tired of priest who think that the parishioners are not educated and cannot figure out that the parish is either racking in the dough or spending with their eyes closed. And what is worse than a priest who thinks their parishioners are not educated, is the staff he hires who think they are God's gift to creation.

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    6. On the mainland, many parishes post their quarterly financial records online.

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    7. Rose de los Reyes (Seattle, WA)January 5, 2017 at 4:41 AM

      In the Archdiocese of Seattle parishioners are registered with their parish as either an individual or a household. Registered parishioners or registered households are assigned a parishioner number. Sunday donations and other donations outside of the Sunday envelopes are tracked by the parish by use of the parishioner number together with the parishioner’s name. Every quarter I receive a quarterly statement from my parish office itemizing my donations for that quarter broken down in categories of Sunday envelopes, donation to the parish school, special collection for the food bank, etc. The statement encourages contact with the parish office if the statement is different from your personal records so that the record can be reconciled on a quarterly basis. Before January 30th of each year, a final statement from the parish for the previous year’s financial donations is issued (to use for your tax return filings). While cash donations are still in practice, donations by check or online donations are encouraged because they are more trackable if there is a discrepancy between the parish office’s record and the parishioner’s record. The Archdiocese of Seattle issues a separate annual donation statement before January 30th of each year to a parishioner if that parishioner donated monies to archdiocesan causes such as the annual catholic appeal. When parishioners are upset with their parish and withhold Sunday donations, because of this record keeping, the parish office can tell which parishioners are upset enough to withhold their donations and the amount of the donations that are withheld.

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  5. Also fundraiser at Santa Rita for new building supposedly because of foundation concerns, where did the money go?

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