APURON, THE POPE, AND MOTHER'S DAY

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In this column, I have three topics: The Apuron Fiasco, The New Pope, and, on a happy note, Mother’s Day.

The Apuron Fiasco

After nearly ten years (and little to no action), Apuron’s accusers (the plaintiffs) voluntarily dismissed their complaints. From the news reports, it appeared they were convinced to do so by their attorney because - as their attorney was reported to have said - Apuron had “very little financial resources.”

As this was a civil liability case and not a criminal case, and Apuron had no money to sue for, there was no point in continuing the case.  In fact, it’s safe to speculate that the plaintiffs agreed with the dismissal out of  mercy towards Apuron since they were constantly told that he was too old and sickly to continue.

But being “old and sickly” didn’t keep Apuron from immediately running to a camera to slam his accusers and proclaim the dismissals as evidence of his innocence - even though the cases were never about his guilt or innocence, only his liability.

Archbishop Jimenez jumped on the matter right away. In a letter to clergy a couple days after Apuron’s video victory romp, Jimenez put the slap down on Apuron stating: “our counsel has confirmed that a dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) does not operate as an adjudication about the merits of a particular case.” In other words, nothing was proved, either way.

More importantly, Jimenez reaffirmed the Vatican’s clear verdict on Apuron in a true innocent or guilty trial: “…it remains the fact that on 07 February 2019, he was found guilty of committing abuse against minors…Nothing about that determination has changed.”

Actually, Apuron was first found guilty on March 13, 2018, but the verdict only stated that he was found guilty of “certain accusations.” After Apuron lost his appeal, Pope Francis personally clarified the verdict: “guilty of delicts against the Sixth Commandment with minors. 

I’d like to say “end of story,” but it’s not. The story is about far more than just Apuron who has always been nothing more than a puppet in this horror show. It remains to be seen what the new Archbishop will do about the puppet masters.

The New Pope

Everyone who bet on this election lost. No one expected this guy. And for sure no one expected an American. Given the surprise, some believe it was a posthumous Francis punch at Trump.

There could be some truth to that given that Francis had appointed nearly two-thirds of the cardinals who elected the American, a man Francis had personally and rapidly promoted to the top of the Vatican apparatus in a very few years.

I won’t speculate further. I’ll just copy here what I posted on Facebook when I learned of the election:

“It doesn’t matter who the pope is. His only job and the only authority he has is to protect the deposit of faith as handed down by Jesus through the apostles. He can’t change a thing in that regard. That’s what Jesus meant when he promised “the gates of hell will not prevail.” And we certainly have had some popes who were right out of hell. So go on with your life and be concerned for your salvation and the salvation of your family.”

Mother’s Day

My brother Albert, a year younger than me, died in 1989. He and my mom were very close. Since his death she has often shared how she gets little messages from him, little awareness-es, you might say. Many of you who have lost a loved one, especially a child, know what I'm talking about. 

 In 2009, I sent my mom (who lives in California) a dozen roses for Mother's Day. My mom received two packages of roses, both from the same company, both sent from me. However, I had only ordered one package. She called to let me know. I checked my billing. I had only been charged for one. Apparently the flower company, FTD, had made an error.

 However, the second package had 13 roses, not 12. Even if FTD had made a mistake and sent an extra order of a "dozen" roses, it is quite unlikely that they would have made the additional error of adding an extra rose. But it was in fact 13 roses, and "no one" had ordered them.

Albert was born on the 13th of November and died at age 31. Another message from heaven? We'd like to think so.

Happy Mother's Day.

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com