AND HE CAN'T DO A DAMN THING ABOUT IT

By Tim Rohr

Going further (from the previous post), his letter was an insult. If you notice, he names all the groups, ministries, and other ecclesial realities on this island, but there is no issue with any of them except the NCW.  

So this did not need to be a diocesan-wide, public letter. It should have been a letter between Jimenez and the arch-Neocats who run the thing. If there were to be any letter at all to the rest of us, there should have been one stating that Jimenez had secured the Neocats' cooperation on whatever he was asking for. But instead, Jimenez issues a pastoral letter to the entire diocese whining about what he is "inviting" them to do. Why?

Because he's checking a box. 

He knows he has to do something. In fact, he knows he has to either publicly enforce Archbishop Byrnes's moratorium or publicly rescind it. He knows he has to do something about the Neocats propping up Luis Camacho on an altar last Easter. He knows he has to do something about the illegitimate "Masses" at their headquarters in Asan. He knows he has to do something about the priests who blatantly violate church law and celebrate those Masses in an unconsecrated space. And he knows he has to do something about the three Neocat priests who openly snubbed him, their fellow clergy, and the visiting Apostolic Nuncio at their recent clergy meeting. 

Per Frenchie:

...during said visit by our Nuncio, he led a meeting with the clergy and the religious orders of Guam to get their feedback on the situation of the relations with the Neocatecumenal Way. Attending this meeting were the Archbishop, the members of the Chancery representatives, as well as the parishes' priests and permanent deacons and members of the religious orders. Among the priests present were the three presbyters actually on island at this time.

There were several presentations about different issues, with questions and answers. When it came to the subject of the relations with the NCW,  the three presbyters in question got up, left, and never came back.

This is why I titled my last post: THE ANSWER IS "NO" AND "SCREW YOU." That is exactly what they said by their actions when they walked out of the clergy meeting with the Nuncio. And so Jimenez responds with a little letter begging them to cooperate during next year's Easter Vigil. GEEZ! SMH!

Jimenez's actions regarding the Neo bring back memories of Archbishop Hon, when he was the Apostolic Administrator of Guam. Hon was the secretary to the Congregation headed by the arch-Neocat Cardinal: Filoni. 

From the intel we were receiving from inside the chancery at the time, Hon was often on the phone with Filoni and shouting in Italian. Filoni, who was in bed with Kiko and the Gennarinis, wanted Hon to shut us up and save the Neocats. 

Hon was up against pressures Filoni couldn't have imagined because, by that time, the CCOG, LFM, and JW were major forces, AND we were pressing for the legislation that would help us clean up our church. We didn't want to do it that way, but it became clear after Hon took over that the church, aka Filoni, was backing the Neocats... and Apuron. 

They, Filoni and Hon, left us no option. We had to press for the legislation, which in effect allowed us to sue ourselves (since we are the church and the money behind it), so we could rid ourselves of the decades-old "filth in the church," specifically the Neocats' bishop.

Now we have a new Neocat bishop. And he has made it clear with this measly little letter - issued for no other reason than to check a box and hope that we are too stupid to know what is really going on: Jimenez walking the tightrope to Rome, a rope held at least on one end by the Neocats.

We've been here and done that. And we're "mad as hell, and we aren't going to take it anymore."

BTW, that the three Neocat presbyters so easily mocked and snubbed the Apostolic Nuncio, Rome's man in this region, is very telling: the Neocats know they are not under the authority of the normal Catholic Church hierarchy. This is something we already know. They are a parallel church and have long since had their own hierarchy. They take their marching orders from their Neocat Brass, not the diocesan bishop, not even the Apostolic Nuncio. That's why they could walk out with impunity. And Jimenez can't do a damn thing about it. That's what his letter demonstrated.