TIME TO BRING BACK THE VESTING PRAYERS

Chuck White at The Thoughtful Catholic has a good response to this. 

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

By Tim Rohr

In APPARENTLY IT'S OKAY WITH JIMENEZ...UNLESS WE HEAR OTHERWISE, Anonymous asks (and accuses):

So we know he is not a priest of deacon, and at best is altarboy. What exactly about his outfit would be against what is allowed? Or are we just going to throw the Chancellor and Archbishop so casually into accusing them of accepting abuses?

Anonymous is referring to this picture of a recent liturgical event at Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School:

The priest is Msgr. Ruben Espino who is also the Chancellor for the Archdiocese of Agana. The person next to him is the person at issue who we will identify as the "assistant," since, due to his dress, we don't know what to call him.

In the aforesaid post, I answered Anonymous. In this post, I will copy the answer with illustrations and a few extra notes.

++++

Clerical dress, especially relative to the celebration of the Sacraments, requires specific and identifiable dress. In fact, everything relative to the celebration of the Sacraments requires specifics, from the actual words, to the rubrics, to the vestments, the vessels, the cloths, etc. 

The main reason is due to the dignity of the Sacrament itself, but it is also so that the sacred roles of the liturgical actors are clearly denoted. Functionally, vestments are uniforms. In the military, what would happen to a private who dressed like a general? 

Altar servers are to vest clearly as altar servers, in most cases with a cassock over which a surplice is worn. An alb may also be worn.

Altar server wearing a cassock and a surplice. 

Altar servers wearing an alb.

Relative to the matter at hand, Msgr. Espino’s “assistant” is not only not wearing appropriate altar-server vestments, but is apparently wearing a costume of his own making and in fact is wearing what appears to be a “rochet,” a white-laced vestment under another vestment, resembling a chimere. 

A white rochet with lace elements, to be worn over a cassock and under a chimere.

This sort of dress is not only NOT appropriate for an altar-server, it is a type of vestiture normally reserved for bishops. 

There is also the issue of the assistant wearing a white collar protruding over the dark thing he’s wearing over his shoulders, which imitates a certain type of Roman collar as usually worn by members of the Redemptorists. 

This "assistant" is known for his abuses, but he's not the real problem. The real problem is the clergy who let this priest-actor do whatever he wants. In this case, the blame lies on Msgr. Espino, the Chancellor. 

However, if this sort of thing is going on with the approval of the Archbishop, then not only do I stand corrected, I will publish a public apology and will never bring it up again. If this is the case, said approval may be emailed to me at timrohr.guam@gmail.com and I'll post the approval letter on this blog for all to see. 

In case some are wondering "what's the big deal," some of us are just tired of the abuses in our church, everything from the 50 years of sexually molesting minors, to improvising the liturgy, to imitation clerics - like the one at issue.

TICK, TICK, TICK - THE SILENCE IS THE SCANDAL

By Tim Rohr

As of today, WHY IS A LAY PERSON DOING THIS has received 1,863 views, many times more than any other recent post. It has also generated 31 comments, also many times more than any recent post. 

What hasn't happened, as of today, is an explanation from Archbishop Ryan Jimenez. 

Now, on a personal level, I really don't care. It's not that big of a deal to me. Liturgical abuses, theological abuses, religious abuses, child abuses, none of that is new in this archdiocese. In fact, all are quite common. However, the fact that the Archbishop has remained silent about the incident smacks of the secrecy we suffered through with the last administration. 

If this particular abuse - as shown in the aforesaid post - had occurred without approval from anyone in the chancery, then we would have had a statement by now because it would have been easy to make. It would have been something to the effect of: 

"We apologize for the abuse of the Blessed Sacrament at Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School on February 11, 2025. The abuse occurred without our knowledge or approval and we have taken steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again."

But the fact that there has been no such statement nearly one month later, and given the massive attention to the incident on this blog, there are only two other possibilities:

1. The incident WAS approved by a "higher-up," (someone in the chancery - maybe even the archbishop), and the "higher-ups" have been scrambling to come up with a story to protect their own; or

2. The incident WAS approved, as set forth in No. 1, and the "higher-ups" are hiding and waiting for the story to go away.

Hiding, waiting, lying, scrambling, deflecting, secrecy...all of that - we have seen too many times before -  from the arrest of a certain Neocat priest at an Agat beach in 2015 and his mysterious disappearance soon after, to the sudden disappearance of Apuron himself the night after his first accuser came forward. 

This measly little incident with a layman playing priest at a school event is nothing compared to the other scandals we have suffered through, but it is a scandal nonetheless. And the silence is making the scandal bigger by the day. In fact, the SILENCE is the SCANDAL.

So, just like the old days when we waited and waited on "the chancery" to comment on other mysteries (and got only lies or nothing at all), we're going to start a count up counter and see how long it takes. We'll put the counter in the right side bar as well. 

Tick, tick, tick.

NOTE: The counter was removed after an explanation was provided by Archbishop Jimenez on March 11, 2025

WHY IS A LAY PERSON DOING THIS...

....at Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School, Guam? Who is responsible?

Feb. 11, 2025. The following is Tim Rohr's response to some questions that have come up in the comments. 

Lay persons are permitted to assist with the distribution of Holy Communion, however, even this permission is subject to the following:

“Extraordinary ministers may distribute Holy Communion at eucharistic celebrations only when there are no ordained ministers present or when those ordained ministers present at a liturgical celebration are truly unable to distribute Holy Communion.They may also exercise this function at eucharistic celebrations where there are particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion”

ON CERTAIN QUESTIONS REGARDING THE COLLABORATION OF THE NON-ORDAINED FAITHFUL IN THE SACRED MINISTRY OF PRIEST

https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_interdic_doc_15081997_en.html

To emphasize that the Extraordinary minister is truly “extra” and not “ordinary,” the same document goes on to warn against “ the habitual use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at Mass thus arbitrarily extending the concept of ‘a great number of the faithful’”.

In the above incident, a lay person is not assisting with the distribution of Holy Communion, but processing with the Holy Eucharist and apparently leading a liturgical function. Moreover, he is dressed in the vestments of a priest when he is not a priest - which is no more allowed than to dress as policeman when you’re not a policeman. 

However, the real issue is not the actor in the video but those who permitted this at what appears to be a school function. On a larger scale, the real problem is the abuse of the permit for extraordinary ministers who are employed at seemingly every Mass even when there are not a “great number of the faithful” and ordinary ministers (priests and deacons) are readily available to help. This is wrong. 

 

HOW DO WE APPLY CARDINAL ARINZE'S RECOMMENDATIONS TO OUR PARISHES IN GUAM

(posted by Frenchie)

Several things always surprise outsiders when they go to worship in a Catholic Church on Guam.

The pleasant ones are, that overall the services are well attended, and they are represented by multi generational  attendees. (it is not unusual to see four generations on the same pew). Men in general are more numerous in our churches than on those of the mainland or in Europe. This is a very heartening situation, in view of the very aggressive anti-male and anti-father movement which characterize our modernist society.
On Guam, many fathers attend Church with their families, and for the most part children are fairly well behave.

IN MENTAL GYMNASTICS, A FLIP BECOMES A FLOP

posted by Jose M.

It has been an entertaining 24 hours reading the blog of the Herald of Pius.  "Diana" has been busy twisting and turning the latest NCW narrative that even a flow chart cannot help with clarity.

Now with their latest post, they have taken a direct swipe at Archbishop Byrnes' call for unity.  Diana attempts to dismantle and discredit the sentiment and clear instructions of Archbishop Byrnes by utilizing and manipulating Pope Francis' speech on diversity, as if Pope Francis was addressing the liturgy in the same context as Archbishop Byrnes!

This is just one of many example of the methods and means that the NCW leadership will practice in order to corral and rouse their communities.  They cannot state facts and truth so they misrepresent the words of others to promote their lies.

Diana attempts to demonstrate that Archbishop Byrnes is contradicting Pope Francis. However, the context of Pope Francis speech is wholly different from the context of Byrnes' pastoral letter. 

In other words, Diana has propped up a straw man argument.

THE CATHEDRAL RECTOR'S VALENTINE'S DAY MISSIVE AND WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

Let us examine the key statements in the Cathedral Rector's February 14 missive to the Cathedral parish relative to the celebration of Mass:

"All Masses must be celebrated with the Roman Missal with adherence to the letter and spirit of its General Instructions or GIRM." 

"Some groups may have been given special permission (also known as an indult) by Rome to change certain parts of the Mass. If your group falls within this category, please submit such permission to me before Ash Wednesday so that we can all be advised. Also note that all indults must have a start date and specifically state if it has an expiration date or is permanent/ongoing."

Of course there are not "some groups," there is only one "group": the Neocatechumenal Way. The NCW claims to have special permission to "change certain parts of the Mass." We will examine those in a minute. But first we can expect the NCW to avoid the missive by resorting to any of the following:

REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUM

Posted by Tim

In light of the renewed discussion about the liturgical aberrations of the Neocatechumenal Way, we are moving this post back to the top and recommending a re-read of this post: THE NCW EUCHARIST IS ILLICIT, AND HERE'S WHY...AGAIN.

[4]..."It is not possible to be silent about the abuses, even quite grave ones, against the nature of the Liturgy and the Sacraments as well as the tradition and the authority of the Church, which in our day not infrequently plague liturgical celebrations in one ecclesial environment or another. In some places the perpetration of liturgical abuses has become almost habitual, a fact which obviously cannot be allowed and must cease."

So begins the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, an instruction issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 25 March 2004. The document's subtitle makes its purpose crystal clear: "Instruction on Certain Matters to Be Observed or to Be Avoided Regarding the Most Holy Eucharist."

NCW "INVITATION TO JOY" AT THE AGANA CATHEDRAL

Posted by Tim

This past Sunday at the Agana Cathedral there was another "Invitation to Joy" by the Neocatechumenal Way.

These "invitations" typically are testimonials given by lay persons followed by an invitation to attend a catechesis, and occur in place of or attached to the homily or immediatley before the dismissal and final blessing. 

At this point, I am simply gathering information. Here is what has been reported so far. Please feel free to add what you saw in the comments if you went to Mass at the Cathedral this weekend.

• The "Invitation" was given at each Mass except for one: the 9:30am Mass at which Archbishop Byrnes as the celebrant.
• Members of the Agana Cathedral NCW communities sat together to the right of the altar (from the perspective of one facing the altar).
• Most of the members of the NCW communities did not receive communion.
• At one of the Masses, the "Invitation" was given during the time reserved for the homily with the other "Invitations" given immediately before the Dismissal.
• Fr. Jucutan, at at least one of the Masses, sat with the NCW members as part of the congregation.

TO HON AND THE PRIESTS: THE SACRILEGES ARE ON YOU!

(Posted by Glaucon Jr)

Clown mass: like NCW, just another sacrilege encouraged by a bishop

To Archbishop Hon and all the priests of Guam: 

We at JungleWatch have done all the work for all of you in the clerical state on island. Thanks to the great work of Chuck White, LaPaz, and others, we've gathered up the evidence and left for you a trail that a child could follow in the dark. You have only to take a few seconds to see that not only are core beliefs of the NCW heretical and their liturgical practices sacrilegious, but on some points even blasphemous. So busy you hadn't heard about it? Well, let's catch you up. 

HOW YOU ARE HELPING KIKO

In his latest post, GET YOUR PARISH KIKO-FIED, Chuck White lays out several points recommended by Kiko's architects to "get rid of the sacrificial mentality of your parish." However, chances are that your parish has already rid itself of "the sacrificial mentality" and WITHOUT a neo even setting foot in it. Let's look:

1. Change your “altar” to a mere table

Since the 60's we've been hearing "the table of the Lord" instead of "the altar of God." Long ago, and before Kiko, we moved away from the High Altar atop "the three steps" 

THIS SUNDAY: A REPORT

The above is a picture of a lay person giving a testimony during the time reserved for the homily last February.
She was personally invited to the pulpit by Archbishop Apuron whose homily was little more than another ad for the Neocatechumenal Way. 

Cathedral. Jan 18, 2015. 7:30AM Mass. 

Fr. Tom McGrath was the main celebrant. He was joined by Msgr. Quitugua, the VG. NCW testimonies were given at the end of Mass and before the final blessing. (Apparently this was also the case at the Saturday, 6:30pm Mass. Fr. Tom celebrant, Msgr. David concelebrant.)

The report only says that Fr. Tom was "joined" by Msgr. Quitugua. If Msgr. Quitugua was on the altar during Mass then we must assume that he was concelebrating with Fr. Tom. We must first ask why was Msgr. Quitugua concelebrating with Fr. Tom? We know why. Msgr. Quitugua was there to make sure that the Neo-ad would get in. He had to be sure that Fr. Tom would not forget, or horrors, actually obey the authority of the church and let the neos do their ad AFTER Mass. Well as we know, we can't have good priests like Fr. Tom actually just obeying Rome all on their own. So Msgr. David, the Vicar General, the priest whose office to which the laws of the church are uniquely entrusted, had to be there to make sure the laws of the church relative to announcements at Mass were BROKEN since no one would probably stick around after Mass for the neo-plug. 

THIS SUNDAY

9:50PM UPDATE: HAPPENING AT BARRIGADA PARISH THIS WEEK ALSO. RECORD, RECORD, RECORD

This weekend, the parishes of Agana and Tamuning will once again witness the blatant disobedience of Archbishop Apuron to the Magisterium of the Holy Catholic Church.

By his order, members of the Neocatechumenal Way will take to the pulpit DURING THE MASS to give their testimonies and their "invitation to joy" (the "neo-ad").

WHY WE CARE

“I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing today is to a large extent due to the disintegration of the liturgy…” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Milestones, p. 147).

CATHOLIC FUNERALS: "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

The following is from an article in Catholic World Report, Sept 9, 2013:

You’re probably witnessing liturgical abuses when the woman in the pew behind you asks out loud, “What the hell is he doing?”