Posted by Frenchie
Last Sunday, I asked on this site, if the Catholics of this island had been betrayed once more. Sadly the answer is YES.
Guam's Catholic are in their great majority very nice people. For thirty years, under Apuron, they have endured the corruption, the lies, the misrepresentations and continued to forge forward, thanks to a strong laity and despite its own clergy.
Yet the cracks in the facade, have been numerous and growing.
We noticed often during our struggle against Apuron's chancery, that many people (good people) decided to leave the Church and try to exercise their faith with other christian communities. For those of us old enough to remember Guam back in the 70s or 80s, one of the striking change, has been the strong growth of protestant and evangelical communities. The reason being was the failure of the Catholic leaders to address the tenets of our Church, and abandoning their own flock.
This week, if you have a TV or computer in your household, it was difficult not to be bombarded by the media drumbeats, regarding the ins and outs of the DNC National convention in Milwaukee.
We were sold in an almost biblical approach, the arrival of the 1st woman of color candidate for VP, as if she was a new messiah of sort. This was disturbing, in view of Mrs Harris strong anti Catholic record. This convention also saw the intervention of a pro abortion Nun, as well as a priest advocate of the gay lifestyle, propped up to woo any confused Catholic to support this ticket.
Again, more examples of the wreck that our Universal Church has become.While many Catholics have managed to hold on to their faith and continue to believe in the truths professed by our Church.
" What does it mean to be convinced of the truths of the faith, but completely flummoxed by the institution's insanity, its debauchery, its insularity, its corruption, its mendacity, its feckleness, its uselessness? How does one believe in the Church, but see no visible sign of Sanctity?" (1)
Two years ago, the local Democratic Party advanced unto the electors the notion of modernity in electing the 1st female Governor, as well as the 1st openly gay Lt. Governor. Many local Catholics cheered the novelty, without grasping the kind of evil, we were letting in our midst.
Not that the LT Governor, and/or the Governor are evil people. The testimonies to their being "nice people" are countless. For the many reasons already highlighted on this blog, Guam's mother Church has been left ineffectual and compromised.In doing so, the faithful have been abandoned without true moral guidance, and the candidates with a false sense of laissez faire.
As a consequence of that election, and facing a unique, and mostly avoidable crisis, it has become sadly obvious that the leadership at Adelup are well over their collective heads. Their obvious moral shortcomings have become a hindrance to be able to make the good technical and moral choices necessary to fight this plague, without endangering the well being of the population at large.
Unfortunately our political leaders are being blinded by false science and a total lack of moral compass.
This situation has been reached, because our Church leaders, from the Archbishop to the Chancellor, to the Vicar General, and the many priests sitting on the different vicariates and commissions, or those writing regular opinion pieces in the local press, have failed us, by not leading the intellectual , spiritual and moral fight in the public arena.
Where is the outrage, regarding our government almost total abandonment of the tens of thousands of now jobless guamanians, who once again are being penalized, through no fault of their own?
Where is the famous Catholic Charity in all this?Why don't we have anyone in the Church, raising the standards of St Michael or St Martin of Tours?(the faces of Charity and the fight against Evil)The only things we hear from the Chancery are excuses and false debates about charity and the definition of certain words, while tens of thousands are running our of physical and spiritual food.All the while our youth are being abandoned to despair and lack of guidance.
How can anyone at the chancery sleep soundly?
Perhaps Archbishop Byrnes should read about the works of Bishop Henri Francois-Xavier de Belsunce de Castelmoron, who led his diocese of Marseille during the last black plague that hit Europe in 1720. (2)
The similarities are stricking! Religiously, Economically, and health wise.It shows that a bishop can lead on all these subjects.The black plague had been a constant danger to Europe from the 14th century to the 18th century.The Church did not stay in its corner during that period of time, instead it was a leader in drafting many of the health, economical and spiritual remedies. As St Charles Borromeo demonstrated in Milan in 1567.
Closer to us during the infamous Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, that killed 50 millions people worldwide and 675 thousands in the USA, the Church remained at the forefront of the medical and spiritual battle as embodied by Philadelphia's Archbishop Dennis Dougherty .
This kind of leadership, is sorely missed here on Guam at this time.
Archbishop Dennis Dougherty opened up buildings under his control to patients and medical personnel, so people had a place to be isolated and treated. It does not seem that our hospitals on Guam have reached a saturation point yet. That our archbishop open Catholic schools or churches or other buildings for patients and medical staff in the event that saturation point is reached is not out of line with the church's historical role: monasteries in medieval Europe set aside rooms as "clinics" to serve the sick.
ReplyDelete