OSV: "...IT'S NOT ABOUT ABORTION"

Posted by Tim Rohr

Our Sunday Visitor has a fair article about the Pavonne matter. A key insight is here:

"When a priest becomes a celebrity, he needs a strong support system of people who help keep him humble...I have no insider knowledge on this in particular, but I ran into him frequently over the years, and it was clear some people adored him. And the combination of people adoring you and you and others being convinced you are a victim of persecution can be a dangerous thing."

The Frank Pavone story is not about abortion

Please: Be careful — prayerful — about how you react to the news about Father Frank Pavone now becoming Mr. Frank Pavone by order of the Vatican. Try not to see it through a political lens. Step away of any opinions you may have of the Roman pontiff. Know that abortion is the human-rights issue of our time. The priest who ran Priests for Life is still capable of creating an untenable circumstance for himself to continue as a priest.

CONTINUED

My Note: Unfortunately we (Catholics) are in very strange and uncertain times...IN THE CHURCH! The current occupant of the Chair of Peter, himself, has stated, on many occasions, what some would say are "blasphemous things" - the same accusation made against Pavonne. 

Nevertheless, we, the laity, would do well not to second guess stuff that is above our heads. Pavonne provoked the war that eventually came. Let's let him fight it the way he chooses. 

To be clear though, we, the laity of the Archdiocese of Agana, were not in "over our heads" and completely within our moral right to protest and demand Vatican action against more than half a century of the rape and abuse of our children by certain members of our clergy - all of which the current leadership of this Archdiocese has admitted. 

PRIEST FOR LIFE? MORE ON THE PAVONNE MATTER

This article from The Pillar explains the matter well.

Priest for life? A Frank Pavone explainer

News broke on Saturday that Frank Pavone, the head of a pro-life campaigning organization and controversial political activist, had been dismissed from the clerical state.

A prominent media figure for years, Pavone’s laicization has captured media attention in the U.S., and left many wondering if the Vatican decided to dismiss him from the clerical state because of his stridently pro-life activism and his well-known political beliefs.

CONTINUED

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PAVONNE MATTER - UPDATED

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in 1979

Per a Catholic News Agency story, "the Vatican" has removed Fr. Frank Pavonne from the clerical state: i.e. "defrocked - laicized - no longer permitted to present himself as a priest. 

So some thoughts.

First, amongst the pro-life laity, Fr. Pavonne is an immensely popular priest. He has dared to tread where few other priests - or maybe none - have dared to tread. (The CNA news story has most of the details.) 

Priests like Fr. Pavonne, who break out of the mold - especially in this age of instant Media, and become more famous, more popular, and more respected than their superiors (in this case Pavonne's bishop) are usually asking for trouble even if there is no disobedience the likes of which Pavonne has been accused of.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was probably the first major Catholic media star, even winning an Emmy for his 1950's to 1960's television show, "Life is Worth Living." On top of being brilliant, Sheen was quite the actor and his Emmy Award verifies that. 

Being a bishop, Sheen had some autonomy, but not much. In the political power world of the U.S. episcopate, Sheen was still the underling of the immensely powerful Cardinal Spellman, who, in time, would step on Sheen, and some say, crush him, driving Sheen to his physical collapse and death.

Mother Angelica ("Mother"), who launched the largest Catholic Television Network in the world (EWTN), is probably the most well-known and beloved modern Catholic media star. And for good reason. Like Sheen, she was brilliant, even though, unlike Sheen, her brilliance was in her ability to "not act," and just be "Mother" to millions who loved her...and needed a "Mother" to lead them home...to the Catholic Church which they loved...but - post Vatican II - did not recognize anymore. 

In the eyes of the U.S. Bishops Conference though, Mother became too popular and powerful, especially as their own competing television network failed; and she became a target, especially of the then very powerful Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahoney. 

Note: All of this is detailed in "Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles,"  by Raymond Arroyo

Mahoney would later retire in disgrace and even go into a sort of hiding * after he was linked to a monster clergy sex abuse scandal that cost the Catholics of his diocese more than a billion dollars. But before Mahoney was taken down, he took down Mother Angelica. 

Mahoney had no direct control of Mother as she was not operating in Mahoney's diocese; but Mahoney used his weight to go after Mother's bishop and everyone and anyone in the Church's political scheme who could make Mother's life hell. 

Whether or not it was Mahoney's actions and the stress Mother suffered at his hands that brought about the final stroke that silenced her in 2000 and eventually led to her death, we can only presume. 

As Mother went down to her own physical stroke, EWTN survived Mahoney's onslaught due to Mother's signing EWTN over to a lay corporation which the bishops could not touch. 

And it is here that there might be a lesson for us...and for Fr. Pavonne. 

Pavonne's "right to life" political and secular activities - which made him both loved and famous - are really the proper domain of the non-ordained - the laity - us. But because we laity are mostly cowards and don't want to put ourselves "out there" because we are "waiting for father," otherwise good and faithful priests get caught up in taking leadership in activities that are not properly theirs - such as heading up lay organizations, despite its name, is not an organization of priests but lay persons.

Pavonne, and his fellow clerics, from the pope down to the lowliest deacon, should know that they already have the largest and most powerful stage in the world: the Catholic pulpit at the thousands of Masses that are offered each and every day at every minute and every hour around the world. 

All Pavonne and every Catholic cleric ever need to do is cite the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

There is nothing more for them to say other than to develop what the Church already says, e.g. what are the eternal consequences of living (and dying) in a state "gravely contrary to the moral law." 

I'll come back with more later after I see how this plays out a bit. 

FATHER FRANK PAVONNE RESPONDS

 Fr. Frank Comments on Latest Developments

My Note: In the 90's, several U.S. Bishops, particularly then-Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Archbishop of Los Angeles, tried to oust Mother Angelica and shut down EWTN. The same cabal is going after Fr. Pavonne. However, it may be that Pavonne has purposely picked a fight with the Vatican for the purposes of drawing its corruption out into the street where everyone can see. 

In some ways, if this is what Pavonne is doing, the Vatican should take note of how Apuron went down. 

Had Apuron (or more likely his handlers) quietly sat down and worked things out with first, Fr. Paul, and then, Msgr. James, JungleWatch would not have much to report about and Apuron might still be the man on the hill. Instead, Apuron issued damning decrees and went public, giving JW huge opportunities to draw the fight out into the street. 

Even those who first accused Apuron of sexually abusing them did not want to go public. They just wanted to meet with him privately and get the apology they had been waiting their whole lives for. Instead, Apuron threatened to sue them and then ran away. 

And then "there was Hon," that is the Apostolic Administrator, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who can be directly credited for driving this archdiocese into bankruptcy, when, instead of accepting the fact that there were real problems here, he mocked and belittled Apuron's accusers - most likely upon orders from his boss in the Vatican (Filoni) - leaving those accusers and those who supported them no option but to pursue a secular remedy. 

And even then, Hon continued his campaign to silence the accusers by using the pulpit at Sunday masses to lobby the governor to veto the bill that eventually would lead to our church's bankruptcy. The abuse of the pulpit in this way drove the supporters of the bill to be even more extreme in their support. Then-Governor Calvo saw this and signed it into law. 

All of this could have been avoided had pastors actually been pastors instead of the power-driven bureaucrats like the ones that are now going after Pavonne. But they better watch out. Pavonne has his own version of JungleWatch. And if they really are kicking Pavonne out of the priesthood, then his power to expose them will multiply exponentially. 

MEANWHILE...IN ROME

While the Vatican apparently wages war on the "rigid" faithful and "priests for life" - or at least one of them, the same Vatican is happily moving forward to canonize Carmen, the co-founder of what at least one bishop has called a "Jewish-Protestant heresy...with a Catholic decoration only." 

Process of beatification begins for Carmen Hernández, co-founder of Neocatechumenal Way

APURON REMAINS A BISHOP BUT "PRIESTS FOR LIFE " FATHER FRANK PAVONNE IS NO LONGER "FATHER"

BREAKING: Vatican dismisses Father Frank Pavone from priesthood

Father Frank Pavone, a well-known pro-life activist and national director of the organization Priests for Life, has been dismissed from the clerical state for “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,” CNA has learned.

CONTINUED

NOTE: After Apuron was found guilty by the Vatican and thereafter losing his appeal which was handled directly by Pope Francis, Apuron was banned for life from Guam, but retains his clerical state as a bishop...somewhere. 

HOLLY RUSTICK'S TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY VS AMERICA

By Tim Rohr

Notwithstanding Holly Rustik's abortion supporting views in her Dec. 16 letter to the Pacific Daily News, Ms. Rustick founds her argument on a particularly common erroneous assumption, i.e. that lawmakers' first duty is to "represent constituents."

Ms. Rustick begins by calling on Guam's lawmakers to live up to their "job description, " beginning with "represent constituents." 

One wonders where Ms. Rustick found a copy of said lawmakers "job description." The only official job description for lawmakers is set forth in their oath of office:

“I solemnly swear (or affirm) in the presence of Almighty God that I will well and faithfully support the Constitution of the United States, the laws of the United States applicable to Guam and the laws of Guam, and that I will conscientiously and impartially discharge my duties as a member of the Guam Legislature (or as an officer of the government of Guam).” (Aug. 1, 1950, ch. 512, § 14, 64 Stat. 388.) 

Aside from the fact that elected lawmakers' Number One job description is to "faithfully support the Constitution of the United States" - which now permits states and territories to make their own own abortion laws (like the Heartbeat Bill which Ms. Rustick opposes), there is nothing in the oath that says they are to "represent constituents." 

ARCHDIOCESE OF AGANA STATEMENT ON PASSAGE OF THE HEARTBEAT BILL

 

LINK TO PDF

LET'S SEE WHO WILL DO IT

By Tim Rohr

Congrats to the author, sponsors, and backers of the Heartbeat Bill. It passed today in a vote of 8 to 7. 

The Heartbeat bill was conceived, authored, and introduced at a time no one could have imagined Roe being overturned; so legislation, like the Heartbeat Bill, was the best we could constitutionally hope for. 

And, even though Roe was overturned by Dobbs in June 2022, opening the door for a complete ban on abortion, by then the Heartbeat Bill had already been introduced and deposited into the legislative machinery.

Meanwhile, opponents have nothing to worry about. Governor LLG is eager to veto it and there are not ten votes to override her veto. So everyone wins in the end. The supporters get to claim a victory and the opponents get to shut it down. In fact, the probability of this scenario was probably always known by the smarter heads in the Legislature which may be why they just let it go through. 

AN OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE NOT HAD IN 50 YEARS - WHO'S IT GOING TO BE?

By Tim Rohr

In the previous post, I addressed what St. Pope John Paul II calls "a particular problem of conscience" which "can arise in cases where a legislative vote would be decisive for the passage of a more restrictive law, aimed at limiting the number of authorized abortions, in place of a more permissive law already passed or ready to be voted on."

John Paul II clarifies that a lawmaker, in supporting a law that does less than fully ban abortion "does not in fact represent an illicit cooperation with an unjust law, but rather a legitimate and proper attempt to limit its evil aspects."

HOWEVER, the pope says, this is only true "when it is not possible to overturn or completely abrogate a pro-abortion law..."

Prior to the Dobbs decision overturning Roe, it was "not possible to overturn or completely abrogate a pro-abortion law...," and so it was entirely licit to support abortion legislation that attempted "to limit its evil aspects." In fact, The Esperansa Project spent ten years doing exactly this and saw eight of its bills enacted into law. 

A MORAL CONUNDRUM ANSWERED and "BOTH-AND" or "EITHER-OR" ??? - ABORTION IN GUAM

During his talk show on The Point on Dec. 13, the show's host, Bob Klitzkie, brought up an important moral conundrum, which, paraphrased, goes like this:

1. Abortion is currently legal up until birth.
2. A bill is introduced to ban abortion with no exceptions.
3. There are 15 senators who will vote on the bill.
4. 7 senators are in favor and 7 senators are opposed.
5. One senator, the deciding vote, is in favor of the ban so long as there are exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.
6. The senators who support the full abortion ban believe life begins at conception and abortion at any stage of pregnancy and for any reason is always wrong. (1)
7. Can the 7 senators who believe life begins at conception and abortion under any circumstance is always the killing of an innocent, defenseless, human being accept the holdout senator's exceptions in order to at least limit abortion, or is their acceptance of those exceptions morally evil in that they would materially cooperate in the killing of an innocent, defenseless human being?

Fortunately, at least for Catholics, this conundrum has already been answered. Pope John Paul II addressed this very issue in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life - 1995):

PLAN "D" - "D" FOR DOUG

AG-Elect Douglas Moylan

Post-Dobbs, much is being made of "Belle's Law," a 1990 law introduced by the late Senator Elizabeth Arriola banning abortion and a law that still remains in the Guam code, but enjoined pursuant to Roe v Wade. 

In the wake of Dobbs (overturning Roe) controversy over Belle's Law was recently heightened after the incumbent Attorney General, Leevin Camacho - who opined that the injunction should remain, was defeated by incoming Attorney General, Doug Moylan, who has stated he will lift the injunction making Belle's Law outlawing abortion the law of Guam. 

For pro-lifers, the late senator is a saint, and she in fact may be. However,  as history and government abortion reports show, Belle's Law and its aftermath inadvertently opened the door to unopposed and unregulated abortion in Guam for the next 28 years.

The short version is this. 

Belle's Law provoked a constitutional challenge which GovGuam never had a chance of winning and cost Guam taxpayers millions of dollars. The legal mess and costs created a chilling effect on any future efforts to legislatively address abortion in Guam for nearly the next three decades. 

RIDGELL IS RIGHT

By Tim Rohr

On Dec. 2, I posted the following on an FB post. 

I heard that the Heartbeat Bill has been reported out of committee and is on the current legislative agenda. I’m going to predict what is going to happen. The bill will come up on the floor. The sponsors will say something supportive. The senators who oppose it will say nothing. So there will be no debate. They will vote to place it in the 3rd reading file - which means it will go to a final vote. At the final vote it will get voted down. The sponsors get to say they tried and the opponents will avoid the negative publicity that a debate on the floor would bring.

Per the latest news, ten days later, I was proved right that the bill would be placed "in the 3rd reading file - which means it will go to a final vote," but was wrong about a couple other things. 

First, it appears from the news that there was at least a bit of a debate, and perhaps because the senators who opposed the bill still wanted their voice on the record. One of those senators was Clynt Ridgell - of whose comments I will say more later. 

AND SO THEY CRUSHED HIM. PART II. WHY AND HOW.

By Tim Rohr

This is Part II of AND SO THEY CRUSHED HIM

In the wake of the Archdiocesan announcement about Archbishop Byrnes being away on extended medical leave, and the otherwise probing report by Kandit News suggesting a bit more sinister scenario (to which JW responded “And so they crushed him”), perhaps its time to look back on a few questions that some of us have had from the outset of Byrnes’ appointment to Guam. 

Given the scandals that began to break in 2013 and which eventually led to Byrnes’ appointment as coadjutor archbishop to the Archdiocese of Agana (“AOA”) in 2016, it was always a suspicion of those of us close to the action that the Byrnes’ appointment was not just odd, but smelled of meddling by “The Kikos.” 

Note: “The Kikos” on this blog refers to the political hierarchy of the Neocatechumenal Way and not its ordinary members, who otherwise are usually just regular Catholics looking to deepen their faith. 

FIRST, at the time of Byrnes’ appointment, AOA was perhaps the most troubled diocese in the whole Catholic world.

Let’s review: 

1) Apuron’s surreptitious deeding away of the “Yona Property” * to The Kikos had been uncovered; 

2) Four people had come forward publicly and alleged sexual abuse by Apuron beginning the exposure of what would become the largest sex abuse scandal in the Catholic world; 

3) Apuron had fled Guam and had surfaced at the Vatican under what appeared to be the protection of Pope Francis; 

4) the Vatican had appointed an Apostolic Administrator (Savio Hon Tai Fai), a lieutenant of "The Red Pope," of whom we will say more later; and 

5) due much to Hon’s mismanagement - or The Red Pope's directions to Hon, lay Catholics had risen up and had pushed through legislation lifting the civil statute of limitations on sex abuse of minors, opening the door to litigation and bankruptcy for AOA. 

* The “Yona Property” is in reference to the former Accion Hotel Property that was converted in the RMS seminary in or about 2002. The property was estimated to be valued at or around 75 MILLION DOLLARS by then-AOA counsel, Edward Terlaje. 

LIFE IS A GIFT FROM GOD

By David Sablan, President, Concerned Catholics of Guam, Inc.

Life is a gift from God.  We should nurture and cherish it and live it to its fullest in accordance with God’s laws.  

When the first sin was committed, Adam and Eve “hid” from God.  Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent for tempting her to disobey God’s only commandment in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-13).  

Pro-abortion advocates “hide” the reality of what abortion is and how it is performed in the removal of a developing human being in a mother’s womb.  They use soft terms like “Pro-Choice” to describe the killing of an innocent, developing human being so you do not focus or visualize what truly is happening.  

THE HEARTBEAT BILL AND THE REAL MATTER BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE

By Tim Rohr

As our own lawmakers currently debate Guam's Heartbeat Bill, a story in today's PDN relates a news story from Texas wherein a lawsuit under the Texas Heartbeat Act, from which the Guam bill was modeled, was thrown out of court. 

Texas ruling raises questions over private enforcement of abortion ban

Per the details of the story, the whole deal in Texas seems to have been a setup. A doctor performed an abortion in clear defiance of the new law and a lawyer filed a lawsuit against the doctor "with the intention of having the court...declare the law constitutional."

BY TROY TORRES: THE ARCHDIOCESE TEACHER WHO RAPED ME AND THE CHURCH THAT SAVED ME

This is quite a testimony by Troy Torres of Kandit News, and not because he mentions me. Link to Troy's post on Facebook and Kandit website. The JW post that Troy refers to is here. 

The archdiocese teacher who raped me, and the Church that saved me • By Troy Torres

Twenty nine years ago today, a St. Anthony School teacher raped me for the first time. I was 13. When he was done taking my innocence, he showered as I put my school uniform back on, then stared at the salt-water aquarium he kept in his living room. 

His ruse for taking me to his house from the school campus was he needed to pick something up at home before taking me to eat. So, when he was done doing as he pleased - the hour on that December 8, 1993 afternoon approaching the start of the procession to Our Lady of Camarin - my consolation prize was one of those microwaveable treats. I think it was a pizza bagel or a pepperoni hot pocket. As he handed it to me, he said, “You better stop eating these. You’re getting pimples.”

I published this story along with many other details this day last year. I struggled with the idea of retelling this story today, and decided instead to focus on what happened after the first rape.

He took me to Agana for the procession, but dropped me far from where people could see me leaving his car. I’m pretty sure it was the parking lot, where Winchells is now. As I walked to the Cathedral grounds, the music became louder, and families leaving their cars to assemble began walking with and past me. I was with so many, but ironically very much alone in my first night as a prisoner of my own mind.

IT'S DECEMBER 8 AND TIME FOR MY SOMETIMES ANNUAL MINI-RANT

By Tim Rohr

Today is December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and time for my sometimes annual mini-rant about translations, and in this case, a particularly terrible translation in that it kicks Mary out of the plan of salvation. 

CONTINUED

SOUNDS FAMILIAR: PERHAPS THE VATICAN HAS LEARNED SOMETHING FROM GUAM

A new scandal involving a Cardinal in Honduras and a close friend of Pope Francis has surfaced:

Vatican Awaits Developments as It Investigates Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga and Honduras’ Catholic University

- LINK

The Honduran scandal is very reminiscent of our own RMS property scandal from a few years ago:

In 2015, JungleWatch discovered a document which functionally deeded an Archdiocese of Agana property, thought, at the time, to be worth approximately SEVENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS, to the Neocatechumenal Way. You can read about the RMS scandal at the above tab "Certificate of Title Fiasco," and/or get the larger story at the tab "Orchestrated." 

UPDATE ON ARCHBISHOP BYRNES

 

KANDIT NEWS PUBLISHES ROHR'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR. COMMENTERS GO NUTS.

By Tim Rohr

Funny. Looks like almost all the commenters (if not all) did not even read the post before commenting. I think they just saw my picture and went nuts.  😂😂

AND SO THEY CRUSHED HIM

Five years ago, this month, the infamous Redemptoris Mater Seminary was closed by Archbishop Michael Byrnes. 

Coincidentally, today, Kandit News ran a story about the absence of Archbishop Byrnes and his suspected health issues. 

We will have more to say about the Kandit story later, but there is little doubt that the “crushers” ("The Kikos") who run the Neocatechumenal Way have made Archbishop Byrnes pay for daring to be the first bishop in the world to close one of their fake seminaries.

And so they crushed him.

Go here to a local media interview with Archbishop Byrnes about his closure of the seminary in 2017. 

Go here for Part II of this story. 

ATTY ANITA ARRIOLA AND THOSE EVIL MEN

By Tim Rohr

This morning on K57, Patti Arroyo interviewed Attorney Anita Arriola regarding the current status of the Heartbeat Bill. The whole of Arriola's position was functionally: "those evil men," specifically Doug Moylan, Bob Klitzkie, Peter Sgro, and Tim Rohr. And Arriola's charge against said "evil men" was 1) that said men "write letters to the editor," and 2) they are men.

Meanwhile...

• Never mind the fact that the aforesaid letter writers have no public power other than to voice an opinion.
• Never mind the fact that the Heartbeat Bill was actually introduced by a woman lawmaker. 
• Never mind the fact that 4 of the 8 senators who voted to place the bill on the current legislative agenda are female senators.
• Never mind the fact that the real reason abortion is not available in Guam is because women doctors who openly advocate for abortion (and write their own letters to the editor) like Dr. Ellen Bez, an OB-GYN from Sagua Managu, will not provide abortions or even abortion information as required by the informed consent law. 
• Never mind the fact that the current governor, a woman, and a registered nurse - and as such a "qualified person," chooses not to provide informed consent information to women seeking abortion and instead forces women to access the required information via teleconference with doctors in Hawaii who they don't know and who will not be in Guam to care for them should something go wrong with their do-it-yourself, mail-order abortions.

ARCHDIOCESE OF AGANA SENDS WRONG MESSAGE: OKAY TO KILL UNBORN UNTIL HEARTBEAT IS DETECTED

By Tim Rohr

The following was sent to the Pacific Daily News as a Letter to the Editor. It has not yet been published. Given that the subject bill is expected to come up on the floor of the legislature this week for a vote, JW chooses to make the letter public via this forum now - with supporting links and references. Note: the Letter was published by the Pacific Daily News on Dec. 5, 2022. 

Per a recent news story in the Pacific Daily News, the Archdiocese of Agana, specifically its vicar general, Father Romeo Convocar, has called on Vice-Speaker Barnes to place the Guam "Heartbeat Bill" on its session agenda.

Unfortunately, Fr. Convocar's support of the "Heartbeat Bill" inadvertently implies that killing a child in the womb is okay up until a fetal heartbeat is detected. This is in direct contradiction to universal Catholic teaching which holds that life begins at conception and that the direct killing of an innocent, defenseless human being is always intrinsically evil. 

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

Prior to the Dobbs decision overturning Roe, incremental pro-life legislation like the "Heartbeat Bill" was the best that could be hoped for, and advocating for such legislation was even officially encouraged by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae.

"...when it is not possible to overturn or completely abrogate a pro-abortion law, an elected official, whose absolute personal opposition to procured abortion was well known, could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and public morality. This does not in fact represent an illicit cooperation with an unjust law, but rather a legitimate and proper attempt to limit its evil aspects." - Evangelium Vitae 73 Note: Between 2008 and 2018, the Esperansa Project did precisely this in backing eight pro-life bills into law and functionally shutting down Guam's abortion clinics in 2018. 

However, since the Dobbs decision has opened the door for a full, legal ban on abortion, Fr. Convocar would have better served the church he represents by writing a letter of support to Attorney General-elect, Douglas Moylan, who has stated his intent to dissolve the injunction placed on Guam’s 1990 abortion ban.

Fr. Convocar’s letter to Vice-Speaker Barnes is yet another example of Guam’s Catholic Church leadership continually stepping on itself when it wanders into the public arena - usually after being baited - and without proper counsel. Unfortunately, as recent history has demonstrated, said leadership’s public missteps are not paid for by the Catholics on the altar, but by the Catholics in the pews. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS (AND NOT "MERRY CHRISTMAS")

By Tim Rohr

In 2011, I wrote a column for the Umatuna, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Agana, as to why Catholics (and all Christians) should - prior to Christmas - say "Happy Holidays" and not "Merry Christmas." 

It's an issue that comes up almost every year under the generic Christian banner of "keep Christ in Christmas" ... even though the "mas" (Mass) part of Christmas is absolutely ignored. 

I re-share that column here as posted on my other blog:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS