In a previous post, we made reference to the fact that the Redemptoris Mater is NOT primarily a seminary for the archdiocese of Guam, but is also, and equally, a seminary to educate and form priests for the international life of the Neo-Catechumenal Way.
We made this observation based on the feature article about the seminary which appeared in the Guam Pacific Daily News of April, 2010 which stated:
"Our seminary has two main characteristics, namely, it is diocesan and missionary. The former refers to the fact that the priests formed here are for the diocese and, the latter to the fact that they are ready to go anywhere to fulfill the mission of announcing the Gospel."
There has been some feedback that our observation is incorrect and that despite the word "Missionary" in the name of the seminary, Redemptoris Mater is in fact primarily a seminary oriented towards the forming of priests to serve in the Archdiocese of Agana.
However, we must observe in return that we are only repeating what the article said. AND we also must observe that the mission of the NCW, in so far as we can tell, is deliberately international; and in fact, not only are priests being formed to be sent elsewhere, families are sent elsewhere as well.
In fact, the article goes on to claim this:
"Besides those two characteristics there is a third one, which the Pope together with the all the bishops have recommended for the good of the whole Church, namely internationality. Since our seminarians come from different countries around the globe this international nature can be clearly seen. This fact helps the seminarians to go beyond their own native language, traditions and culture, thus creating communion and a new missionary impulse."
This is all good. However, if it is true, Guam Catholics should be made aware that their financial gifts for the support of the seminary (Catholic Charities Appeal) are not only used to form priests for Guam, but for the international catechumenate. One report has those gifts - which go towards the salaries of those employed at the seminary and operational costs - averaging approximately $100,000 per year. (If this figure is incorrect, the chancery or the seminary is welcome to present the correct amount and we will publish it. )
As an aside, though, we would like to see the source document for the Pope and the bishops desiring "internationality". In fact, post-Vatican II, we have seen the opposite: a trend towards the ordaining of priests and consecration of bishops for service to THEIR OWN people, and a trend away from sending foreigners into mission lands.
Thus, after centuries of foreign bishops for Guam, our last two bishops (post-Vatican II) have been from Guam. Should we - as per the supposed desire for internationality - expect to see soon an African or South American bishop as we are now seeing with our priests? Probably not, but if anyone has the document on the desire for internationality, please feel free to post the link in the comments. We'll make sure it gets top billing in our next post.
