HIGH DRAMA IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF AGANA - PART 4: THE ROLE OF THE RED POPE

By Tim Rohr

Continued from Part 3

As the Archdiocese of Agana moves forward to a resolution in the matter of its bankruptcy and we watch many church properties, including certain parish churches, placed on the legal chopping block, it is understandable that some, if not many, may resent the most visible players in the outing of decades of clergy sex abuse in this diocese that led to the bankruptcy - including myself and the Concerned Catholics of Guam ("CCOG") as led by David Sablan.

However, it continues to be critical to tell and retell the real story of how this bankruptcy came about since neither I, nor the CCOG, nor any other lay person who came to be involved in this matter began our involvement with the intent to expose clergy sex abuse - since none of us, despite years of rumors, truly had any idea of the depth of the horror that we all later were forced to face. 

No. 

We came to be involved because we saw a gross abuse of power in this archdiocese, which, on the surface, appeared to be the actions of then-Archbishop Apuron, but - as we would quickly discover - were really the actions of foreign agents via the now ex-Fr. Adrian Cristobal.

How Cristobal came to be the actual catalyst in this power drama is a story for another post. For now it is enough to once again demonstrate that it was these same "foreign agents," i.e. "The Kikos," who infiltrated and perverted "the temple" that once was the Archdiocese of Agana. 

For those who need to be reminded, "The Kikos" are the big boys at the top of the Neocatechumenal Way, and so named (by this blog) after their founder, Kiko Arguello. 

On JW, we use the term "The Kikos" to differentiate the "big boys" from the regular folk in the Neocatechumenal Way ("NCW") who simply joined the thing in response to a promise of a deeper faith. (Note: Why that was never possible in the NCW is a topic for another post.)

And so we continue:

The bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of Agana and the loss of many beloved and valued church properties began with the decision by The Red Pope to send his lieutenant to Guam to take over this archdiocese after Apuron ran away in May 2016. 

"The Red Pope" is (or was) Cardinal Fernando Filoni, then-Prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples:

...currently Cardinal Fernando Filoni – is known as “the red Pope”. SOURCE 

(Note: It is curious that this SOURCE also notes that the same Filoni was opposed to the Vatican financial reforms then-led by the now-dead Cardinal Pell. Soon after Pell initiated his reforms, Pell was falsely accused of sex abuse of minors and was locked up in Australia for a time. Upon those accusations being found false, Pell's release, and Pell's return to Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI...Pell died "after undergoing hip surgery at Rome's Salvator Mundi hospital...")

Really?

(Another Note: The moniker "The Red Pope" doesn't belong to Filoni. It's a quip used to characterize a particular cardinal (cardinals wear red) who has undue influence in the Vatican. In fact, the current "Red Pope" is Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila.)

But back to 2016 and when all hell was breaking loose in the Archdiocese of Agana, Filoni was the Red Pope and his lieutenant was Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai ("Hon"), who was then Secretary to Filoni. In Vatican lingo, a "Secretary" isn't a typist or a notetaker, he is more like a vice-president. A powerful guy.

There isn't time to link all the previous JW posts wherein Filoni is clearly identified as The Kikos' godfather in Rome. But he was. (And you can search for all that in this blog.) 

And, it didn't take long for us (myself, the CCOG, etc.) to see that Hon was not sent to Guam to be just an "Administrator" in the absence of Apuron. Hon was sent here to put down the "uprising" that threatened the future of the Neocatechumenal power structure in Guam and more specifically - threatened its Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

TO BE CONTINUED - PART 5