By Tim Rohr
Why are our indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian priests consistently overlooked to lead our faith and people? Are our indigenous priests not deemed worthy enough?
While I think Fr. Convocar is not the right choice for Saipan, and the appointment appears to be a chess move by neocat power brokers (I'll explain later), there weren't a lot of "Chamorro and Carolinian priests" to overlook.
According to a JW reader, there are only 3-4 Chamorro priests and 1 Carolinian in Saipan. It's possible one of them could have been appointed, however, and unfortunately for the local priests, the appointment of local bishops to lead these islands has not worked out well.
The lack of local vocations in both Guam and the Northern Marianas is the obvious sign of failed leadership, even if we overlook that all three local bishops - Flores, Apuron, and Camacho - are credibly accused sexual offenders, a fact now published on the Archdiocese of Agana website.
The author also laments:
The Church in any Pacific culture, is supposed to protect the language and culture.
Actually, no. The Church in any culture, not just the Pacific culture, is supposed to protect the flock from the wiles of the devil and lead its children home to Heaven. It's up to the people themselves - if they want - "to protect the language and culture."
Just a note now to say why I suspect neocat machinations in the appointment of Fr. Convocar to Saipan. It's a long and convoluted story that maybe I'll write someday, but bottom line is that the Neocat empire has never suffered a defeat like it did in Guam when Apuron was ousted and their seminary was canned.
This is a gaping hole in Kiko's credibility. (I use the name of the founder, Kiko, as a metaphor for the whole Neocat governing apparatus). Much of the Catholic world where the Kiko's have planted themselves has been desperate to throw them out for years now, but have not been able to mount the attack that we did here in Guam.
(I clarify the "them" as the Neocat generals, not the good Catholics who, while participants in the Neocatechumenal Way, are not part of the corruption at the top.)
To keep the tide from rolling over them and rolling them out, they, the Kiko's, have had to keep up the story that Apuron was the victim of a conspiracy led by "Tim Rohr and his associates" (their words) and that Apuron is not only innocent but will be proven to be.
"Tim Rohr and his associates launched a vicious and calumnious attack on the Archbishop and the Church." - Archdiocese of Agana, Media Release, May 31, 2016
That has become harder and harder over the years given all that has spilled out in the wake of the first outing of Apuron, but the Kiko's haven't given up. Their next step is to establish a seminary in Saipan and inserting a bishop who they can control is a necessary step.
I'm not saying Convocar is a pushover or a Neo, but he is definitely non-confrontational - as are many priests who come "here" as "guest priests." It's well-known that Apuron preferred them because he could get rid of them if they didn't fall at his feet. It's also the main reason why he only incardinated the ones he could count on.
Convocar is likely to "work with" the Kiko's in the name of "unity," while the Kiko's rebuild in Saipan. Meanwhile, you may wonder why they, the Kiko's, didn't do this when Ryan Jimenez was bishop. They did.
