WE WAIT

By Tim Rohr

Merry Christmas, by the way, in case I forget, and especially to the millions of viewers who keep this blog high up in the algorithms. As of today, we are about 5,000 views away from SIXTEEN MILLION views since July 2013, an average of about 107,000 views per month, and that includes the many months, and sometimes years, when not much was happening. 

Those number are also exceptionally significant given that for the most part this blog has mostly posted stories relative only to the goings-on in the Archdiocese of Agana, perhaps one of the smallest Catholic dioceses in the world. And our country-counter tracks viewers from almost every country on earth. 

So why all the attention on this tiny diocese? Well, the clergy sex abuse scandal certainly played a large part, especially since it included the outing of the sordid history of our former archbishop, not to mention his ultimate "outing" from this diocese and this island by the pope himself. But such scandals are everywhere, so no reason for the rest of the world to tune specifically into Guam for that. 

Beyond the scandal, as horrible as it was, we have to thank the NCW for the popularity of this blog. The NCW is indeed all over the world. And guess what? The rest of the world has the same problems with the NCW that we have, so that's why so many viewers from everywhere tune in to what's happening in Guam. It's the NCW. And here in Guam, and specifically on this blog, we have taken on the NCW in a way few others have. 

Now before, continuing, I must, once again, distinguish the average well-meaning "member" of the NCW from its generals, who, in recent posts, I have begun to call the "Heresy Guys." But for this post, I'll stick with NCW.

Many other blogs, websites, etc. have done much to catalog and expose the heretical ways of "The Way," and, if not outright heretical, then at least the crass liberties The Way has taken with the limited permissions given it by Catholic Church authorities (such as the liberties the NCW takes with its Vatican-approved "Statutes").  

However, at JW, not only have we done much of that (in conjunction with Chuck White's work at ThouthfulCatholic.com), we - and this is what makes JW unique - have exposed and pursued the dirty political underbelly of the thing which, here in Guam, has engaged in everything from absconding with millions of dollars in church property to aiding, abetting, and ultimately hiding and protecting, some of the most sexually abusive clerics.  

Sorry, I know this is the wrong time of the year to write about this, and actually I set out to write about something else entirely, but that's what came out. However, maybe there is still a Christmas twist:

In my experience, there are many more good and sincere Catholics in our local Church than there are those who abscond, abet, hide, and protect both the bad guys and the bad teachings (and not just those by the NCW). They are just mostly quiet. Not quiet out of fear, but quiet because they don't know what to do, and they (we) trust our bishop and our priests to ultimately do the right thing...someday.

So, we wait...for three wise men, or maybe just one.