MORE SUNSHINE LESS AUTISM?

LINK to online version

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 36 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism, an increase of 317% since 2000, with boys 4 times more likely to be diagnosed than girls.

The CDC notes a variety of possible causes including better detection, more screening, and the expansion of the diagnosis to include a “spectrum” of behaviors. But the cause that stands out to me is: “Environmental factors, such as air pollution, viral infections, vitamin D deficiencies, gut inflammation, and exposure to toxic chemicals.”

I know that I am out of my lane writing about this issue since I am not a medical or mental health authority. However, I am a father of two sons, both of whom are now adults, and both of whom have been living with autism since their childhoods. So I’ve been researching causes and cures for most of their lives.

Certainly, better detection has led to an increase in diagnoses, but 1 in 36 and an increase that gets exponentially steeper every year? No. Something else is going on, and I choose to believe it’s environmental. If nothing else, it’s the one thing I can do something about, at least for my own children.

As an aside, I’m not going to go down the vaccine rabbit hole, however, I believe no stone should be left unturned, and vaccines, or at least the increase in the number of vaccines (now more than 50 by age 18) as well as the increase in the number of shots per visit, should be studied as environmental factors.

It would seem to me if we are going to “follow the science,” then we should examine environmental factors apart from other factors and look for things which demonstrate a similar rate of increase and at least begin with a correlation.

Two environmental factors which caught my attention - probably because they are two things I can do something about - are Vitamin D deficiencies and gut inflammation.

As we know, Vitamin D, the best kind, is made in our skin via sunlight. And there is no question that children today, especially in the United States where autism rates are the highest in the world, have, for a couple of decades now, become an increasingly indoor population. In fact, we all have.

We can attribute much of our children’s preference for indoors to video games and the like, however, there is also the fact that sunlight has been demonized.

An initial google of the words “children” and “sunlight” and you will see the words “harmful UV rays” and “protect” in almost every first sentence. However, a deeper dive will turn up advice like this from Medical News Today:

“Of all the health benefits of sunlight, initiating the process of producing vitamin D in the body may be the best known. When UVB rays hit human skin, they interact with the 7-DHC protein there to produce vitamin D3.”

And there’s this for us older folks:

“Researchers have noted a link between exposure to the sun and lower blood pressure levels, with reduced death rates from cardiovascular issues.”

Moving on to “gut inflammation,” this is the one which most interests me since one of my sons also suffers with Crohn’s disease.

In researching my son’s conditions, I discovered that it is not uncommon for persons who suffer with autism, ADHD, and other “brain” conditions to also suffer gut issues, a fact which has given rise to the growing literature relative to the “gut-brain connection."

Recently, I came across articles about how low-carb, high (animal) fat diets showed promise in treating autism. Here’s some excerpts from “Ketogenic Diet for Autism: Is It Effective?” as posted at RainbowTherapy.org:

- A recent meta-analysis that considered both animal and human studies found promising evidence supporting the use of the ketogenic diet as a therapeutic option for autism spectrum disorder.

- The ketogenic diet has been found to have neuroprotective effects and may impact the core symptoms of autism through multiple mechanisms. One of these mechanisms is its anti-inflammatory effects.

- Emerging research suggests a connection between gut health and autism, and the ketogenic diet has shown potential in modulating the microbiota and promoting a healthier gut environment.

- The diet’s potential to positively impact cognitive function, inflammation levels, and behavioral regulation in individuals with ASD presents an exciting avenue for further exploration. 

I may explore this more in future columns. Meanwhile, let’s get our kids more sunshine and cut the carbs.

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com   

TIC TOC, TIC TOC !!!

 (Posted by Frenchie)

Unlike the sand glass, that a few of us still use to time the cooking of our eggs, most people prefer the allegory of the clock's tic toc to illustrate the time that goes by. Some would add reluctantly .

A week ago today, many of us attended the official intronisation of our New Archbishop: Ryan Jimenez.

As I noted earlier, the new leader of our local Church, said and did all the right things. I observed that we should wait and see what actions, decisions, positions he would take in the coming days and weeks to address (or not) some of the issues that have plagued us for years.

Let us not fool ourselves, the problems are numerous and complicated, and bringing a satisfying solution to them is a sizeable challenge. This blog has identified these issues over the years, and closely monitored the attempts to solve them. (in some cases, to sweep them under the rug)

The largest problem taken on by Archbishop Byrnes during his tenure, had been addressing the victims of the years of sexual abuses, going back to then Bishop Flores and throughout the corrupt reign of Apuron. In order to address this monumental challenge, the Archdiocese initiated the process of Bankruptcy, which came to a tentative close in our federal court not long before Archbishop Byrnes became physically incapable to continue what he had started. The dossier was followed in the interim by the Vatican appointed Apostolic Administrator in the person of Fr Concovar, who discreetly and diligently continued that ungrateful work.

This is where we stand as a new shepperd takes over the challenge.

Tim Rohr, myself and several other contributors have underlined over the past few years, that one of the major challenges that Archbishop Byrnes failed to address was in fact a corner stone of all the other issues currently facing us. Yes the Archbishop had put a moratorium on the NCW, yes he had engaged in reaching out to the victims of the Clergy, yes he did reach out to several of the Catholic groups around the island, and reorganized many of the parishes. Sadly one thing he did not address, or at least head on, was the remaining in power of what some consider as the deep state of our Archdiocese. Certainly some of the most egregious actors like Cristobal or Lirch ran away, one was defrocked. But the core of the administration of the Archdiocese has remained the same.

The same people that eagerly and zealously covered up for Apuron, stayed in power, and never faced the consequences of their actions or lack thereof.

Following the Assumption of Mary celebrations, Archbishop Jimenez reached out to the media the following Friday. Upon being asked about the Church reaching out to sinners, lapsed Catholics, drug addicts, sex addicts and divorced people, Archbishop Jimenez gave a typical church of nice answer, that could have been delivered by Pope Francis, without explaining, what needs to happen for these people to save their souls. 

Pressed further about some of the appointments at the Chancery, we found that Fr Crisostomo was kept in his position as delegate to the Clergy.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the British physician turned novelist, famously had his hero, Sherlock Holmes, the genial fictional detective and crime fighter, explain how he solved the clue of one of his mysteries by noting" it is not what he did, but what he did not do"

So far, this is not what Archbishop Ryan has done, but what he has NOT done. He has not taken a strong position on the blinding sins of our secular leaders. (Archbishop Byrnes had taken the first steps, to warn Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero-Cook, on her advocacy for the infanticide of babies). So far until now he has kept the same individuals in charge at the Chancery and in position of decisions.  Granted, he has only been officially in his role for a single week, but in reality he has been working in the background for months. The honeymoon I am afraid will be quite short, if he goes that path. 

Tic Toc, Tic Toc

Santa Maria Kamalen pray for us.

FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A FLY ON THE WALL

 (Posted by Frenchie)

First I hope that you all were able to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, which for the first time in many years, was officially a day of obligation, thanks to a decision by then Archbishop Byrnes. I had always found it strange that Guam was not celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of Mary like the large majority of Catholic countries around the world.

Unless you have been living under a rock, the novelty of this year's celebration was that our New Archbishop Ryan Jimenez was also going to officially be intronized in his functions, on that most blessed day. The symbolism of this was blown over many Catholic heads, and spirits who had been lobotomized by more than 3 decades of Apuron's failed leadership and corruption.

I decided to arrive about an hour and a half prior to the opening of the celebrations. Only to find that the Cathedral was already quite full by the time I arrived, unusual as it has been over the last 10 years. Every attendee was given a High Quality glossy program and a prayer card upon arrival. The Tone was definitely set. I found a comfortable seat, with a very good venue to observe the proceedings and the attendees.

My first observation was that despite a decent presence of male faithful, the large majority of people within the Cathedral was female, many of whom had worn their best attire and mantillas. Confirming a worldwide trend in the attendance of Catholic services.

Seats had been reserved on both side of the Altar and behind it for members of the Clergy and the visiting Bishops and Archbishops, as well as for religious orders representatives.Room was also reserved for secular representatives of the different branches of the Government and the Military, in the front rows of the Basilica.

As I mentioned prior, many of the ladies attending the celebrations wore their best outfits and participated positively in the cheerful atmosphere within. This was in contrast with some of the outfits worn by many of the men attending. Beside the usual Hawaiian shirts worn by many, the disparity of outfits worn was striking. It went from formal business attire, to poorly ironed polo shirt, most mothers would frown upon for such an event. 

The overall atmosphere prior to the ceremony was cheerful, yet reserved and reverent, except for the Spanish/Italian contingent of the NCW and their Catechist, which kept talking and gesturing in agitated ways, specially the group of teens and preteens brought along, who apparently have no idea what the word reverence means. Enough said, except that if it is the kind of fruits this tree is producing, we have a major problem. 

The first official secular representative to arrive, was Mayor Alig of Piti, who was representing the council of Mayors. He wore a dark colored Hawaiian shirt which was stylish and subdued, beside having a slimming effect. Slowly members of the Judiciary trickled in: Associate Justice Carbullido arrived in coat and tie, accompanied by his spouse. Soon Judge Lamorena III joined in dressed in a short sleeve tan shirt which looked as if it had been ironed in the mouth of a camel. The Maga Haga showed up in a somewhat elegant outfit with the first man a her side, also wearing suit and tie. They were closely followed by the Lt Governor and his spouse. Finally the Chief of Police showed up, barely on time, wearing an awful looking Hawaiian Shirt, that made him look as if he finished his shift at the Jamaican grill. A chamoru version of a keystone cop, what a disgrace.

The volunteers of the Cathedral all wore their usual white shirts, and were very pro active, guiding worshipers efficiently and quietly to the few seats available, and assisting the officials to their assigned seats.

The Governor, Lt Governor and their respective husbands  were soon joined by the Speaker of the Senate, the Vice Speaker, the US Delegate and significant other. Other Senators were spotted around the crowd, notably Free Mason Joe San Augustin, Senator San Nicolas aka Santa Claus, wearing his now famous red outfit, but also Senator Taitague, with an original ensemble, former Senator and current candidate Tony Ada was among his fellow knights of the Equestrian Order of Jerusalem, in a risplandant white cape, his charming spouse, just a few feet away. Senator Jesse Lujan, for his part sat with the filipino contingent, wearing his usual casual sport outfit.Most other Senators shone by their absence, which in itself is not surprising looking at the likes of Fisher, Perez, and other rabid anti Catholics. Most Republican candidates were sadly missing, probably thinking they do not wish to court the Catholic voters, disappointing, but not surprising.

If we could use one word for the ceremony, it probably would be pageantry, something the Church used to know how to do, which for this occasion was revived. Hopefully not for the same reasons as Apuron, but rather to emphasize the Sacred, which used to be at the center of the Catholic rituals.

Several lessons can be drawn from this celebration, and official proceedings: Archbishop Ryan appears to be a consummate political individual, with a sense for symbolism, and an acute reading of the crowd he addresses. Like him or not, he certainly is not somebody to take lightly. He displayed a lot of charm and flexibility, but you can sense a level of cold determination. The question being: shall he use it for good, or shall he be another politician in sheep's clothing. Only time will tell.

Another quick observation during the readings, the homily and the eucharist, was the reactions or lack thereof by certain noted individuals. The Speaker, and the Vice Speaker followed the ceremony with obvious intent and reverence, while the delegate a former seminarian himself was very much in communion with the process. Tony Ada was also very focused, as well as senator Taitague. When it came to Lourdes L. Guerrero Cook, she was quite aloof for the most part, even if she expressed a miraculous smile on a couple of occasions during the Archbishop homily, her husband seemed more in tune that she ever appeared to be. Finally a small ray of hope....The Lt Governor, Josh Tenorio was certainly the best and most appropriately dressed for the occasion, (he looked the part of professional politician) and his companion while less formal, wore very appropriate outfit. Most importantly, while many have pointed to their sinful situation, they both appeared to be in total communion with the ritual and very respectful of the proceedings, and genuinely worshiping, which gives us a glimmer of hope regarding the saving of their respective souls.

Last but certainly not least, the obvious decision by Archbishop Ryan to invite, and successfully welcome most of his brother Bishops, from the Oceania region, was impressive, with the Bishops of both Honolulu and San Jose CA in attendance, plus a Cardinal from Portugal who seem to be one of his mentor. This was certainly a show of political power, for the faithful of our Archdiocese, letting us know he is appreciated within the Church. The large contingent of priests from Chalan Kanoa and the Philippines was also well noted, with a similar message.  We definitely have a archbishop who will have to be part of the local equation on many levels.  Judging by the high number of visitors from Saipan, he made strong and lasting contact while there.

On another subject, the secretary for the nunciature, who represented the Pope for the occasion, while young and energetic, appear to be well aware of the many dossiers of our archdiocese. He conveyed on a personal level, that our nuncio is making strong progresses on the mental level, following the devastating stroke he suffered last year, while his physical progresses are more limited and challenging. Please keep him in your prayers, as he worked very hard to address Guam's numerous issues.

The Neos did spend a good amount of time and charm to try to gain brownie points during the party following the ceremony. You cannot blame them for trying. At least they work hard at it.

Monsignor James, looked in control, as the master of ceremonies, even if he looked tired and slow at time.

Reading a crowd can be revealing of many attitudes and agendas, specially when you know the record of the participants. This was highly educative and indicative of some of the positions taken already by the local actors. Lets keep our eyes and ears open, and watch with close attention, how our Catholic Archdiocese will continue in this 21st century.

AND WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT PAGANS IN PARIS?

LINK to online version

So the news is about the mocking of Christianity at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. It may surprise some readers but I don’t care. In fact, I might say it was even “deserved.”

But before I go there, there is the question as to whether or not critics jumped to conclusions about what appeared to be a reenactment “in drag” of the Last Supper as immortalized in paint by Leonardo Da Vinci.

According to the ceremony creator, David Jolly, the scene in question was not meant to imitate the Last Supper but “to do a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus” and “promote tolerance of different sexual and gender identities.”

The alleged “Last Supper” was not the only seeming biblical parody. Jolly also staged what appeared to be the worship of a golden calf and a horse and rider right out of the last pages of the Book of Apocalypse.

To “flesh” out the bacchanal, Jolly, according to the AP, mixed in performances of  “a practically naked singer painted blue (who) made thinly veiled references to his body parts; a blonde-bearded drag queen (who) crawled on all fours to the thumping beat of ‘Freed From Desire,’ and “the tail end of an intimate embrace between two men who danced away, hugging and holding hands.”

And then there was Marie Antoinette’s guillotined head sitting in the window of the same building where the condemned Marie awaited her execution.

What any of this has to do with the Olympics, I don’t know, but all seems to be well in the “City of Love” because Jolly and his pals were reportedly doing nothing more than having a jolly good time, albeit in the spirit of the French Revolution. Anyway, Jolly said he was sorry if anyone was offended.

Now, to my point. Let’s assume that Jolly and his pals intended to mock Christianity, and, given the scene at issue, to mock specifically the Catholic belief in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. While I’m all for condemning sacrilege, how much worse is what a bunch of wild pagans did on the shores of the Seine than what most U.S. Catholics believe and do - at least according to polls.

I’m not preaching anything personal here, so don’t shoot the messenger. Following are some direct quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (“CCC”) relative to tough moral teachings contrasted with what Catholics actually believe and do. I would say again “at least according to the polls,” but most serious Catholics know these facts to be true.

On abortion, the CCC teaches that “abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law…(and is) an abominable crime.” (CCC 2271). Meanwhile, a 2019 Pew Research poll reports that only one in ten Catholics believe abortion is wrong in all cases, and, President Biden, a Catholic who 49% of Catholics voted for and who is the most strident pro-abortion president ever, continues to receive communion with impunity. (By the way, the same is true of our local governor.)

On homosexual acts, the CCC teaches that such acts are "acts of grave depravity…and under no circumstances can they be approved.” (CCC 2357) However, according to Pew: “ in the United States, about six-in-ten Catholics (61%) said… that they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry.” And recently, the current pope has muddied the waters further by authorizing blessings for “couples of the same sex.” (Fiducia supplicans III.)

On contraception, the CCC teaches: “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible is intrinsically evil.” (CCC 2370) But, according to Pew: “Just 15% of Catholics say that using contraception is morally wrong.”

And then there’s Guam, perhaps the most Catholic place in the world per capita, with also - per capita, the Catholic world’s worst record of the sex abuse of minors by Catholic authorities from the bishop to grade-school teachers.

Finally, it’s ironic that many Catholics are upset about what appeared to be a mocking of the scene wherein Christ institutes the Sacrament of the Eucharist, when, according to Pew, only one-third of U.S. Catholics believe in the sacramental presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist: that Jesus Christ is fully present, body, blood, soul and divinity in the consecrated species (bread and wine).

And we’re concerned about pagans in Paris?

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com   

By Tim Rohr

Many Christians, and especially Catholics, are unaware of what this article demonstrates. Most of us are caught up in the media narrative that is focusing only on the modern atrocities perpetrated by both sides.

And because there is the name "Israel," we semi-consciously are equating the modern state of Israel to the Israel of the Bible. This article demonstrates why we, as Christians, cannot do this. I'd encourage you to read it carefully. 

AGAINST CATHOLIC ZIONISM

"For orthodox Christians, in no way can the establishment of a modern State of Israel be confused with the fulfillment of the promises given to Abraham because Jesus is the true fulfillment of those promises. To say otherwise would be akin to heresy, the denial of a doctrine. It would deny Jesus fulfilled the Law [Torah] and the Prophets. As fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, we speak of Israel being reconstituted and not of Israel being replaced in supersessionism."

FULL ARTICLE

THE SOARING NUMBERS CONTINUE

By Tim Rohr

The soaring numbers continue. Nearly 400,000 views this month compared to the approximately 40,000 we usually get each month and 102,000 last month.

 

Here's what visitors are looking at:

THE POLITICAL FUTURE OF THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT

LINK to online version

The national Republican Party and the Trump campaign are reportedly abandoning their previous pro-life platforms and many pro-lifers are feeling betrayed. But not me, and here’s why.

For nearly half a century pro-lifers had a single focus: overturn Roe v Wade. And that focus gave energy and clarity to everything pro-lifers did, from marches on the Capital to praying on sidewalks.

The efforts and focus of pro-life forces for those nearly fifty years were well-placed. The only recourse to Roe, a decision which led to an estimated one million abortions every year for fifty years, could only be a different decision by the same court. And that could only happen with a change in the composition of the court.

Such a change depended on a president who would appoint pro-life justices and a pro-life senate to confirm those appointments. So, in the face of Roe, the only power pro-lifers had, other than to keep the issue in the public eye, was to keep the political pressure turned up on electing pro-life presidents and members of the senate.

It took fifty years, but finally all the stars aligned after Donald Trump was elected president and three seats opened up on the Supreme Court bench. Fortunately, for pro-lifers, there was a Republican majority in the senate to confirm those appointments, but even so, the confirmation hearings were heated, vicious, personal, and partisan.

The pro-aborts knew what was coming. Candidate Trump had promised to appoint justices who would overturn Roe if he had the opportunity to do so, and he had the opportunity upon the deaths of Justices Atonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the retirement of Anthony Kennedy.

Two years after the appointment of the third justice,  Amy Coney Barrett, the Court voted 6-3 in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, finding that there was no constitutional right to an abortion and Roe was overturned.

Dobbs did not outlaw abortion. The reversal of Roe simply gave the decision back to the states where even pro-aborts like Justice Ginsburg believed it belonged all along.

At this point, pro-lifers should have changed their focus from the national stage to the local stage and used the same focus and energy to effect the legislation that the Dobbs decision afforded. And some did - as evidenced by the flurry of anti-abortion legislation in some states.

Meanwhile, though, it appears national pro-life organizations, accustomed to fighting on the national stage for fifty years, suddenly didn’t know what to do with themselves and turned their attention to a whole slew of other agenda items.

To name a few: opposition to the public funding of abortion, opposition to the public funding of Planned Parenthood, opposition to the sale of fetal tissue and fetal body parts, opposition to federal subsidies for healthcare which includes abortion coverage, and support for a human life amendment to the Constitution.

All of these are good and none of them are new. But what’s new is the lack of singular focus that opposition to Roe had provided, and what is left is a list of 27 agenda items national pro-life organizations want the GOP and the Trump campaign to commit to with the same singularity of focus as if Roe was still the law of the land.

And that’s not going to happen. While Trump has often expressed his belief that unborn life is sacred, he wasn’t coming at it with the religious crusader fervor of most pro-life Christians.From what I can tell, Trump simply believed that Roe was bad law and that its imposition on the American people for 50 years was tyranny. Trump’s remedy was to get rid of a bad law and return the decision to the states and to the people who live in those states. Indeed, he never promised to do more than that.

One disgruntled pro-life columnist, lamenting the removal of the 27 agenda items from the GOP platform, wrote: “This comprehensive list has been replaced by a generic statement: ‘We proudly stand for families and life,’ and an ambiguous reference to the Fourteenth Amendment, which, under current jurisprudence, does not recognize the legal personhood of the unborn.”

My recommendation is for these national pro-lifers to get out of “D.C.,” get home, and get to work. Like never before, the door is open to legislatively protect human life in all its stages: “from conception to natural death.” And we don’t need a party or a president to do it.

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com  

THE NEXT BISHOP OF CHALAN KANOA (SAIPAN)

By Tim Rohr

10 bucks says it's Fr. Jason Granado. I don't have any documentation to support this analysis, but here's the scenario as I see it. 

+++++

Walter Denton, Roland Sondia, Roy Quintanilla and Doris Concepcion (for her deceased son Joseph Quinata) came forward with their accusations against then-Archbishop Anthony Apuron in May-June 2016. 

A few months later, in or about September 2016, Fr. Jason Granado, a Guam-incardinated priest, was "loaned" to the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, Saipan.  

Granado was one of the "first fruits" of the former Guam Redemptoris Mater Seminary, and had served for a few years after his ordination in Guam parishes. Given the timing of his being shuttled off to Saipan - as the Apuron scandal exploded - some of us were suspicious of the move, especially given that Granado was a neocat and the use of the word "loan." 

From a post on Facebook, February 21, 2024

Usually priests are "assigned," not "loaned." So there was a question - as there were many questions in those days - as to what was really going on. After all, by 2016 Guam Catholics had been bilked for millions of dollars for nearly a decade to fund what RMS proudly touted as "A Seminary for Guam." So why were we sending these very expensive guys away? (At the time 8 RMS priests had disappeared.)

I speculated that Apuron had no authority to assign a priest to another diocese, so the term "loan" was used. I wrote about it here. And as you can see from the above FB post, the archdiocese is still sticking to that story. 

The blowup of Apuron's past came as no surprise to Apuron or the neocat generals. While I'm sure they hoped it would never happen, the ongoing clergy sex abuse apocalypse in the states was bound to reach Guam's shores at some point. 

In fact, as we speculated numerous times in this blog, Apuron's willingness to welcome the neocats back in the mid-90's was probably motivated by Apuron's desire to have an escape hatch when his past ultimately came knocking. 

And, as we further speculated, the price for Apuron's protection was subservience to the demands of the neocat generals, demands which included establishing a seminary and ordaining whoever they told him to ordain. Thus Guam became a dumping ground for guys other bishops wouldn't ordain. 

I don't think Granado was one of them. He seemed to me to be following a genuine vocation and may have sought the priesthood, neo or not. Also, he wasn't authoritarian like his RMS buddies nor did he default to screwy stream-of-(un)consciousness sermons (again, like his buddies) - qualities, by the way, which make him a good candidate for bishop.

As set out in this blog many times, the path to power in Rome is a numbers game: the number of vocations, i.e. new priests. 

This was the strategy of the now much-disgraced (and dead) Fr. Marcial Maciel and his Legionaries of Christ. Maciel is one of the Catholic Church's most notorious sexual perverts, but in his day, thanks to the number of new priests he was putting out, he was off-limits to any accusations or investigations because he enjoyed the personal protection of now-St. John Paul II. 

Kiko and his generals understand this path to power. But given Kiko's weird theology - a Protestant-Jewish heresy as Bishop Athanasius Schneider has called it - Kiko and his pals have had to search out other pals who happened to be bishops to get their boys ordained. 

Unfortunately, given the state of leadership in the Church over the last few decades, finding these "pals" has not been difficult, especially when they are wined and dined and plumed and swooned courtesy of the neocat black trash bags. 

The neocats didn't need to work very hard to get Apuron. He was delivered on a platter by the faithless Adrian: the guy who brought the neocats to Guam after a self-imposed exile (i.e. a multi-year pout) after he was passed up for the title of "Monsignor." 

Adrian knew Apuron's sordid history, and in hindsight, it's easy to speculate that Adrian - who had designs on being Apuron's successor - saw an opportunity to put Apuron over a barrel by leveraging neocat money, power, and intrigue. 

In any event, Apuron became a rubber stamp and Adrian became the face of the Archdiocese of Agana, especially after John Toves showed up in 2014 and Apuron began hiding behind Adrian and Adrian's buddies (Edivaldo, et al). 

The neocat generals weren't too concerned with losing Apuron as their rubber-ordination-stamp because the plan all along was to put the younger Adrian in Apuron's place. However, as Adrian was the backup plan to Apuron, if Adrian was now "the plan" and no longer the backup, the generals needed a new backup. 

And this is where I think they put their heads together and came up with Granado, not as a future bishop for Guam, but Saipan. 

By September 2016, Apuron had already run away and the Vatican had appointed Archbishop Hon to manage the mess that was now the Archdiocese of Agana. As we had been gunning for the close of RMS, and, by that time, had already outed the whole Certificate of Title Fiasco, the neocat brass, always with the long view, began considering a retreat and regrouping in Saipan. 

The plan (in my view) was to infiltrate Saipan with a neocat presbyter, slowly gain the confidence of the bishop and the people, quietly move him up the line and have him in place for the right time, whereupon their guy would be appointed bishop and the neocats would have a new base of operations. 

Meanwhile (again in my view), the idea was to massage Saipan Bishop Ryan Jimenez to at least be a neocat sympathizer, get him eventually moved to Guam, and then get Granado appointed chief shepherd of Saipan. And Voila! 

As an aside, I think the neocats did not want Jimenez to join them like Apuron did. The neocats knew there would be major opposition in Guam to his appointment as bishop if Jimenez was a neocat. It would be easier to get Jimenez into Guam if he was not a neocat but still indebted to the neocat hierarchy for future uses.

All fantasy you say? Well we will see in a very short while, won't we. Saipan is "bishop-less," but not for long. And while I don't have "documents," to prove the above, I do have memories of my several private meetings with Archbishop Byrnes. It was clear to me during those meetings that Byrnes had been strategically placed in Guam, but not for long. And it turned out to be not for long. 

The call to Byrnes to go to Guam came from our old friend Filoni. And before Byrnes came to Guam he was contacted both by Apuron and at least one of the neocat generals. I am quite sure that they didn't expect Byrnes to close the seminary. And after he did, things started to go downhill - very downhill - for Archbishop Byrnes.

TESTIMONY OF DAVID J. SABLAN AGAINST BILL 318-37

 

PDF

STRANGE NUMBERS

By Tim Rohr

I wonder what's next. Last month we had one of the highest numbers of views in the history of this blog (102,753). The interest appeared to coincide with the appointment of a new archbishop for Guam.  

This month, July - and we're not even half-way into it - we have already had 268,116 views, and 205,000 views just this past week, a week where the news was focused on the archbishop-to-be.

I took a look at the post which were getting the most views over the last seven days and once again, they are years-old posts from the days of the Apuron-Neocat wars.

What's next?

 

THE TRUTH ABOUT CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE

LINK to online version. Links to references added.

Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, has written a book titled “The Truth About Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and Causes.”

Donohue does a good job at not letting the Catholic Church (“the Church”) off the hook, rightly criticizing its leadership all the way up to the popes.

However, Donohue also lays much of the blame on the media, lawyers, the culture, and particularly the sexual revolution.

Not that he isn’t right about how all of that contributed to the problem, but like many who have theorized about this mess, Donohue, for the most part, misses the mark.

I say “for the most part” because he bumps into it in a late chapter, but doesn’t see it as the root cause. I do. I shall explain.

The clergy sex abuse crisis, as it came to be known, began in the late 1960’s, peaked in the 70’s, and began to taper off in the 80’s.

Those years coincide with the greatest period of cultural revolution in modern times, so it’s easy to see why defenders like Donohue claim that the Church, at least in America, was swept up by the times.

However, such a view would hold: “As the World goes, so goes the Church.” And that’s not true. The truth is: “As the Church goes, so goes the World.” This is based in Christ’s own words “you are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth.”

In other words, the Church has all the grace needed to “overcome the world” because Jesus has already done it. So it’s a slap in our Redeemer’s face to blame “the world,” the sexual revolution, the times, the culture, whatever.

1968 is the year most agree is when the aforesaid revolution exploded. So the Church cannot say “the world made me do it” because there was already a revolution happening in the Church since the close of Vatican II three years earlier in 1965 - as evidenced by the beginnings of a mass exodus of priests and nuns and the collapse in vocations which continues to this day.

Aside from what the Council promulgated, the real problem is what the Council created: an expectation of change. And nowhere was this expectation more fevered than the possibility of separating sex from progeny: artificial birth-control - specifically “the pill.”

Interestingly, birth-control, by order of both Pope John 23 and Paul 6, was not a topic on the table at the Council. A separate commission, the Birth Control Commission, had been instituted, first by John and then expanded by Paul, to address it.

For Pope Paul, the commission was a disaster. Its members voted 64-2 to permit married couples to contracept. I say “disaster” because the prohibition on contraception is something no pope or commission had or has the power to change. So what was Paul to do?

Well, he wrote the encyclical Humanae Vitae. But HV did not once and for all condemn contraception as most Catholics think. Nope. The pope left it up to a vote and a future commission. Here’s what he wrote at the outset of the encyclical:

“…the conclusions arrived at by the commission could not be considered by Us as definitive and absolutely certain…because, within the commission itself, there was not complete agreement concerning the moral norms to be proposed…”

In fingering the fact that the commission was “not (in) complete agreement” (even though the vote was 64-2), the pope outright implied, whether he meant to or not, that the teaching could have changed had there been “complete agreement,” and more significantly: one day there might be.

Moreover, why would a pope establish a commission to study the issue if there was no possibility of change? So there was the expectation of change right from the start.

Donohue bumps into this inconvenient fact in Chapter 11: “…had there been no commission…there may have been some discontent but the convulsions that followed would have been avoided.” (By “convulsions,” Donohue is referring to the explosion of clergy sex abuse.)

It mattered not that the pope, in Humanae Vitae, went on to restate the unchangeable teaching of the Church on the matter, he had already let the horse out of the barn.

And that’s all the wild-eyed revolutionaries needed. The sexual revolution in the Church was off and running a whole year before Woodstock; and “the convulsions” - the “filth in the church,” as Pope Benedict labeled it - is exactly what followed.

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com   

BILL 318 FUNDS PRE-BORN INFANT MORTALITY

By Tim Rohr

Bill No. 318-37 is set for a public hearing on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 9:00AM. There are so many red flags in and around this bill it's almost (sadly) comical.  

First there is the matter that the bill aims to reduce Guam's near 3rd-world infant mortality rate by sending more money to the government agency which - since the outset of the current administration - appears to have been singularly tasked with increasing Guam's infant mortality rate by killing babies before they can make it out of the womb: the Bureau of Women's Affairs.

Second, the bill purports to fund the training of "doulas." By definition, a doula is: "a woman, typically without formal obstetric training, employed to provide guidance and support to a pregnant woman during labor," and/or "a woman employed to provide guidance and support to the mother of a newborn baby." This sounds good, but since when did local women, or women anywhere, forget how to do what nature designed them to do? 

There is much to say about this, including maybe the real problem is the increasing number of pregnant women on drugs or getting beat up by their boyfriends, but aside from that, given the mortality rate that the bill sets out, perhaps the money would be better spent funding the training of midwives - aka women with obstetric training, especially since there is a dearth of OB-GYN's. 

According to a recent Pacific Island Times report:

The OB-GYN shortage in Guam is aggravated by several local factors. For an island with a population of approximately 154,000, there are only seven working OB-GYNs, and most of them are nearing retirement age, with only three working full-time.

In fact, this fact, the shortage of OB-GYN's, is so glaringly related to the increase in the infant mortality rate, that the bill's intent to hand over $400,000 to Guam's most public advocate of abortion, Jayne Flores, the Director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs, instead of funding either the recruitment of more OB-GYN's or at least the training of midwives, that there is little room for doubt that the bill is nothing more than a cover to make sure more women kill more babies before they're born. 

And then when you look at the list of sponsors the true intent of the bill becomes even clearer, especially since the primary sponsor is the guy who crafted the most vicious pro-abortion legislation ever put to paper:

Sponsor(s) - Thomas J. Fisher / Joe S. San Agustin / Roy A. B. Quinata / William A. Parkinson / Dwayne T.D. San Nicolas / Christopher M. Dueñas / Tina Rose Muña Barnes / Jesse A. Lujan / Amanda L. Shelton

Third, this is an old trick that those of us in the abortion wars are used to seeing: virtue signaling by the pro-aborts, i.e. it's "Hey, look at me, I'm pro-life. I care about mothers and children. You bad people, you only care about abortion. You don't give a damn about the baby once it's born, etc., etc., etc."

Is there anyone with more than one brain cell on this island who doesn't think that Jayne Flores (and her governor godmother) will not make sure that these "doulas" will not be trained to counsel pregnant women to abort?

Lastly (even though there's more), given the sponsors' bowing to the altar of political correctness in the language of their bill - where they ignore the fact that nature has dictated that only women can get pregnant - by continually referencing "women and persons who are or who become pregnant…," the funding cannot go to the Bureau of Women's Affairs. Either Jayne will have to change the name of her bureau or she'll need to add "and Persons."

VIGANO EXCOMMUNICATED

 

ROME (AP) — The Vatican on Friday excommunicated its former ambassador to Washington after finding him guilty of schism, an inevitable outcome for Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. The conservative had became one of Pope Francis ' most ardent critics and a symbol of the polarized Catholic Church in the United States and beyond. CONTINUED

KUAM INTERVIEWS ARCHBISHOP JIMENEZ

Interview: Archbishop-Elect Ryan Jimenez on Pope Francis' appointment

A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO REPOST THIS

By Tim Rohr

With the appointment of Bishop Ryan Jimenez to be the new Archbishop of Agana, now is a good time to repost this post from April 2023:

BETTER CATHOLICS - NEOCATECHUMENAL WAY - DIOCESE OF CHALAN KANOA 

SURE ENOUGH...

By Tim Rohr

Yesterday I noticed that there has been an inordinate amount of activity on this blog. Normal monthly views average around 40,000. However, last month the views numbered 102,753. And this month, only after a few days, the views already number 74,475. 

I was wondering what was driving all that traffic so I looked at the most viewed posts over the last 7 days. Here they are:

The list goes on. All of these are years-old posts from when the Apuron-Neo wars were raging. So I suspected something was about to break. 

And sure enough it did:

Pope Appoints Bishop Ryan Jimenez as Archbishop of Agaña

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(CEPAC, Suva, Fiji) – The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has appointed Most Reverend Ryan P. Jimenez,  Bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, as the new Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Agaña, Guam. The appointment was officially published on July 6, 2024 (12:00 noon CET Rome).

The Installation Mass will be held on August 15, 2024, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagatna, Guam.

Archbishop-elect Jimenez is currently the President of CEPAC, the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (Conferentia Episcopalis Pacifici), and the Vice-President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO) — which is composed of the bishops conferences of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and CEPAC. He also serves as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Islander  Affairs.

Born and raised in the Philippines, Archbishop-elect Jimenez came as a migrant worker to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in 1995 and taught at Eskuelan San Francisco de Borja, a Catholic school on the island of Rota. In 1999, he was accepted to the seminary program of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa; he was ordained to the priesthood on June 8, 2003. In 2010, he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Chalan Kanoa and, in 2016, as its second bishop.

Archbishop-elect Jimenez began his studies and formation for the priesthood at St. Joseph Seminary College (high school department) in the Diocese of Dumaguete, Philippines. He then transferred to the college program of the Jesuit-run San Jose Seminary in Quezon City, earning an undergraduate degree from the Ateneo de Manila University. Subsequently, he earned three advanced degrees from St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California: Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB), Master of Divinity (MDiv), and Master of Arts in Theology (MA). In 2025, he expects to graduate from the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University, the Jesuit University of New York, with a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree.

Since March 28, 2023, the Very Reverend Romeo Convocar has served as the Apostolic Administrator of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Agaña following the resignation of Archbishop Michael Byrnes due to health reasons.

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Photo info: The Most Reverend Ryan P. Jimenez,  Bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome in this file photo provided by CEPAC, the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.

FR. CARLOS MARTINS, ST. JUDE, AND THE VIGANO REPORT

By Tim Rohr

This past weekend I was blessed to be in the presence of a relic of one of the original Twelve Apostles: Saint Jude. The relic is a portion of the Saint's arm and it is "touring" the U.S. under the protection of Fr. Carlos Martins, a well-known exorcist. Here is a video recording of Fr. Martins giving a homily about the relic of St. Jude. 

In addition to being an exorcist, he is also an excellent homilist and he posts a short sermon each Sunday on Facebook. While scrolling through his posts I happened upon a post from August 2018 in response to Archbishop Vigano's damning "tell-all" letter from the same month.

I wrote about this letter in a recent post and demonstrated the direct connection between Archbishop Vigano's letter and how it led to Apuron's removal. So I found Fr. Martins FB post on the matter very intriguing. I copy it here:

August 26, 2018

I just spent the last two hours on the phone with a friend in the Vatican Curia.  He said that the news of Archbishop Viganò has hit the Curia like an atomic bomb.  Two things are universally noted regarding Viganò: 1) He is highly respected as a professional, and 2) His Curial positions gave him clear access to the damning information he reported.  In other words, he is not a hack, and he is not relying on rumor.  This makes his report absolutely worthy of belief.

Viganò always had a reputation for being a combatant of internal Vatican corruption.  In fact, during the Vatican leaks scandal, whistle-blowing reports that he authored were among the main documents that were leaked.  This was an attempt by the persons he outed to pre-empt the report’s impact and suck the energy out of the attempt to investigate their claims.  Naturally, the subsequent energy went into investigating the Vatileaks situation in general, and Viganò was exiled as Nuncio to the United States for being a trouble maker who produced “erroneous assessments” (words from a joint statement issued by Cardinal-President Emeritus Giovanni Lajolo, President Giuseppe Bertello, Secretary-General Giuseppe Sciacca and former Vice Secretary-General Giorgio Corbellini on behalf of the Governatorate of the Vatican).   To put this kind of demotion in perspective, as Delegate for Pontifical Representations—a position from which he was THEN PROMOTED to Secretary General of the Governatorate— Viganò was in charge of all the Apostolic Nunciatures in the world.  Thus, when garbage was reported to the Holy See on a bishop or Cardinal—like it was with McCarrick of Washington, DC—Viganò was the first to know about it, because his desk is where the information landed.  For him to be demoted as the Nuncio to the USA, from having been promoted to as the Vatican’s number 3 administrator behind the pope, was severe, to say the least.  In other words, Viganò is not a hack, but a highly respected individual who had been regularly promoted for doing his job well.

In the words of the Curial official I spoke with this afternoon, what Viganò has reported “makes the Borgia popes look like saints.”  The feeling in the Curia right now is that the response of Viganò’s enemies will to try to discredit him personally, both because of the impeccability of Viganò’s character and the impossibility of his having interpreted the facts incorrectly.  Their only hope will be to try to take energy away from the perversion and corruption that he uncovered.  They will likely state that he is a bitter man who is seeking personal aggrandizement after having been exiled from Rome.  When this occurs, don’t buy into it.  Viganò is retired.  He has nothing personally to gain from this.

Friends, my advice to you is to write your bishop and demand that he request a COMPLETE AND FULL INVESTIGATION into the allegations brought forward by Archbishop Viganò.  We are at a watershed moment in the life of the Church.  If we don’t protect her from the wolves that have crawled into her and dwell inside her, we then have only ourselves to blame when more sheep are eaten alive, and the Church loses even more credibility in the eyes of the world. Archbishop Viganò’s report is a call to all the sons and daughters of the Church to personally intervene for her own health and safety.

Cardinal Raymond Burke and Bishop Joseph Strickland (Bishop of Tyler, Texas) have already issued statements today calling for the same.  Add your authority to theirs.  Write your bishop today.  Then write to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and request the same, and copy the letter you sent to your bishop.  Letters to Cardinal DiNardo can mailed to:

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

President of the USCCB

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

1700 San Jacinto St.

Houston, Texas 77002

Then, also write the Apostolic Nuncio and copy everything you sent to the bishops:

His Excellency, Archbishop Christophe Pierre 

Apostolic Nuncio tot the United States

3339 Massachusetts Ave NW

Washington, DC  20008-3610

THE BLACK LINE HISTORY OF INFORMED CONSENT - PART 3

LINK to online version. Reference links added. 

So if you’ve been following this series (Part 1 on March 27 and Part 2 on April 15), you will know that legislation requiring informed consent for abortion in Guam was first introduced in 2008, morphed through three incarnations, endured blatant attempts by its opponents to kill it, and finally limped into law after a surreal legislative session in October 2012 (as Public Law 31-235).

However, even then the pro-aborts weren't done. Given the upcoming election it was risky to oppose the legislation, so the pro-aborts inserted a time bomb into the bill and set it to go off after the election.

In short, the bomb was language requiring the printed materials (a brochure and checklist) to be approved pursuant to a rule making requirement. The problem was that the printed materials were not “rules.” The sneaky intent of the requirement was to keep the law from ever being implemented.

Here is what then-Governor Calvo had to say about it:

“It is clear under the provisions of the Administrative Adjudication Act…that the ‘printed materials’ and ‘checklist certification’ are not ‘rules’ or ‘regulations’ … they merely reduce to a distributable form the information required under the…Act. Thus the requirement that they be subject to another protracted process that leads, once again, to the review by the Legislature should not serve to provide senators with another proverbial ‘bite of the apple’ to delay the implementation of this law.”

Though Governor Calvo had called out the chicanery, there was no reason to expect any senator to champion the new law through the rule-making barricade. So supporters of the bill (we called ourselves “The Esperansa Project”) got busy.

The Legislature had passed Bill 52-31 just days before the 2012 election, so, aiming at making this “time-bomb” an election issue, we sent all senatorial candidates a letter asking if he or she would 1) vote to approve the printed materials should they pass muster with the rule requirement; or 2) vote to repeal the requirement should the Attorney General opine that the printed materials did not meet the definition of a rule.

Next, given our experience with lawmakers running for cover under the guise of waiting for “an opinion from the AG,” we, the supporters, beat them to it by requesting the AG’s opinion first.

On May 23, 2013, the AG opined that the printed materials “do not meet the definition of a rule.” Thus the path to amend the law was cleared to proceed. We just needed someone to introduce a bill to repeal the requirement.

Newly re-installed Sen. Frank Aguon, Jr. was first to the plate. This was a bit of a miracle. In previous legislatures, and particularly when Aguon was on the 2010 gubernatorial ticket opposite then-Sen. Eddie Calvo, Aguon, along with then-Sen. Rory Respicio, had been the main opponents of the legislation.

After Aguon was released from the bonds of the gubernatorial ticket, a ticket that lost to Calvo, Aguon, always a popular pick, wound up back in the Legislature and became a champion for the unborn, especially in the fight to pass a bill which protected babies who survived failed abortions. Maybe I’ll write about that another time.

To amend the informed consent law and get rid of the rule-making requirement, Aguon introduced Bill 191-32. A few days later, Sen. Dennis Rodriguez introduced similar legislation, Bill 193-32. Even though Rodriguez’ bill was second, I believe Aguon agreed to withdraw his bill and let Rodriguez’ bill proceed since Rodriguez had chaired the committee which had championed the bill through the Legislature.

Bill 193-32 passed unanimously. But the pro-aborts weren’t done. Once again, at the 11th hour, “193” was amended to require the printed materials to be approved by a complicated panel composed of two directors from Public Health, an OB/GYN, a social worker, and a psychiatrist. (See Public Law 32-089)

Well, this is getting too long and I don’t want to do a Part 4. Ultimately, the printed materials were approved and a law requiring informed consent for abortion, after five hard years, was implemented.

Implemented, yes. But never enforced. I followed up with several Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the required distribution of the printed materials. The results were always “none,” even though abortions continued to be performed.

In the end, this law and a few others, particularly a 2015 law which put teeth into the abortion reporting law, made performing abortions so burdensome that no Guam doctor has wanted to do them since the last abortion clinic closed in 2018. (See Public Law 33-218)

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com  

Other References

Bill 52-31: A History-Part 1

Bill 52-31: A History-Part 2

Bill 52-31: Rules Committee Meeting, March 28, 2011, Respicio shuts down the cameras

The Esperansa Project Website

APURON'S NOT DONE AND I HOPE HE SUBPOENAS ME

By Tim Rohr

In a recent post, I shared the pope's case against Archbishop Vigano and Vigano's defiant response. For a summary of what's going on, see National Catholic Register's recent post: "Archbishop Viganò’s Astonishing Transformation from Vatican Insider to Alleged Schismatic."

Here in Guam, we should pay special attention. If not for Vigano, many of us are very sure that Apuron would still be Archbishop of Agana. And here's why.

On March 16, 2018, the Holy See Press Office published the following release:

The canonical trial of minors, brought against the Most Reverend Anthony Sablan APURON,OFMCap., Archbishop of Agaña, Guam, has been concluded. The Apostolic Tribunal of the Congregation, composed of five judges, has issued its sentence of first instance, finding the accused guilty of certain of the accusations and imposing upon the accused the penalties of privation of office and prohibition of residence in the Archdiocese of Guam.

The sentence remains subject to possible appeal. In the absence of an appeal, the sentence becomes final and effective. The penalties are suspended until final resolution.

For whatever reason, the release did not specify what exactly Apuron was found guilty of. And as expected, Apuron, or more precisely, his people, immediately pounced on the opportunity to exploit the vague "verdict," claiming that it didn't say he was found guilty of child sex abuse.

However, the release was later amended to include a clearer announcement:

PRESS RELEASE OF THE APOSTOLIC COURT OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

The canonical process in relation to the accusations, including those of child sexual abuse, charged against the Reverend Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Agaña, Guam, has concluded.

The Apostolic Tribunal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, composed of five judges, issued the sentence of first instance, declaring the defendant guilty of some of the accusations and imposing to the defendant the penalties of termination from office and the prohibition of residence in the Archdiocese of Guam.

The sentence remains subject to an appeal. In the absence of an appeal, the sentence becomes final and effective. In the event of an appeal, the penalties imposed are suspended until the final resolution.

It's a bit clearer since the first paragraph states "including those of child sexual abuse," but the "clarification" still retains the vague language of "guilty of some of the accusations." The reader has to put 2 and 2 together and get 5 to figure out what Apuron was found guilty of - and a hard assumption can be made from the severity of the sentence: "termination from office and the prohibition of residence in the Archdiocese of Guam" - though his supporters spun the penalty as evidence that Apuron did not abuse minors:

If the archbishop has been found guilty of sexual abuse of minors, the penalty leveled against him is unusual - often a cleric found guilty of such crimes would be "laicized," or removed from the clerical state, sources said. - CNA. Aug. 28, 2018

The reference to "Guam" made the release sound even weirder, coming from such a high office in the Vatican, given that there is no "Archdiocese of Guam." Rather, it is officially the "Archdiocese of Agana."

At the time, those of us who had been in the heat of this battle for several years, recognized the Vatican mumbo-jumbo regarding such a serious matter as evidence that a certain highly-placed, neo-friendly cardinal had tampered with the announcement, and that said tampering was a red flag that there was more tampering to come. Saving Apuron was critical to the agenda of the Neocat generals so we expected Apuron to appeal and he did:

After he was found guilty, Apuron released a statement insisting on his innocence and announcing his appeal.

"I have been informed of the conclusion of the first instance canonical trial against me. While I am relieved that the tribunal dismissed the majority of the accusations against me, I have appealed the verdict," he said.

"God is my witness; I am innocent and I look forward to proving my innocence in the appeals process," the statement read. - CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY, August 28, 2018

Given that Cardinal Raymond Burke, probably the Vatican's most competent cardinal and lawyer, had been at the head of the Apuron investigation from the outset, we knew he had most likely presented the water-tight case that got the guilty verdict and booted Apuron out of Agana and that there was little possibility of Apuron winning an appeal.

We also must remember that Apuron was the first bishop in modern times to stand trial before a Vatican tribunal for crimes against minors. In fact, one of the reasons it took so long for the Vatican to take action is because at the time accusations against Apuron came to the attention of the Vatican there was no protocol in place to handle a bishop who had been thus accused. 

Bishops had been accused of such crimes before but none were put on trial. They were either removed by agreement or resigned their office. So why did Apuron go to trial? We have to continually remind ourselves that Apuron was never acting on his own. He was a pawn in a much larger power game orchestrated by the Neocat generals who had a lot to lose on their world stage since Apuron was their number one "priest-maker" - a key component to the expansion of power within the Church by the NCW. 

It's not over

And do not think that this is over. Apuron's personal abuse case in Guam has yet to go to trial: "Trial eyed in abuse cases against Apuron, others..." And besides "I didn't do it," Apuron's defense will be that he is a victim of a calumnious conspiracy orchestrated by me:

The church meanwhile is also accusing Martinez of being part of a conspiracy or the "Rohr Group" to topple the archbishop. (KUAM, June 3, 2016. Also see Apuron's press releases here and here.)

In 2012, a blog called “Jungle Watch” was created online, attacking Archbishop Apuron and the Neocatechumenal Way, accusing them of manipulating the prelate and “colonizing” the entire Agaña diocese. The site is managed by Tim Rohr, a real estate agent employed by Msgr. Benavente and involved in the projected sale of the seminary. - La Stampa. Sep. 21, 2017 

Note: I was never involved in the "projected sale of the seminary," as the record now shows. In response to the false allegations about my role, I was prepared to sue Apuron and the Archdiocese, but decided to hold back and let the truth come out via the real victims.

While it was a given that Apuron would appeal, a strange twist came when Pope Francis announced that he was bypassing the normal course of appeals and would be judging Apuron's appeal himself:

The pope explained that in considering Apuron's appeal, he is bypassing the traditional "giuria"--the council of bishops that make up a tribunal--and will be considering the appeal himself. This is because Apuron's situation is a "very difficult case." - CNA, August 28, 2018

Notice the date of the report of the pope's decision: August 28, 2018. Six days earlier, on August 22, 2018 *, Archbishop Vigano had shocked the Catholic world with a now-infamous 11-page letter wherein he blew the whistle on the now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick as well as the entire Vatican apparatus which in clear view of Pope Francis had protected McCarrick. 

Having blasted Francis directly as well as several other major prelates, Vigano called for Francis to resign:

Francis is abdicating the mandate which Christ gave to Peter to confirm the brethren. Indeed, by his action he has divided them, led them into error, and encouraged the wolves to continue to tear apart the sheep of Christ’s flock.

In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them. - Archbishop Vigano. Letter. Aug. 22, 2018

To be sure, Franics was not expecting such a challenge from such a highly-placed and well-respected Vatican insider. (Vigano had been second in command at the Vatican under Pope Benedict 16.) And while it is only my speculation, it is an educated speculation that Francis, in the glaring light of the disgusting McCarrick scandal, decided to throw Apuron under the bus as a little demonstration that he did not tolerate ordained sex abusers, and particularly consecrated ones (bishops). 

Without Vigano's very public and naked accusation of Francis and his "lavender" connections, it is quite possible that Francis would have let Apuron off the hook and he'd be back in Guam wreaking hell on all of us:

(Archbishop) Byrnes: Disaster if Apuron were to return (Pacific Daily News, July 6, 2017)

So now, as is his "MO" with his enemies, Francis intends to make Vigano pay. 

The O'Brien Thing

As a side note, this mess allows me the opportunity to once again bring up how Francis' Vatican tried to make me "pay" for exposing Apuron. 

In October 2013, I received a letter from Cardinal Edwin O'Brien threatening to remove me as a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem (of which he was then the Grandmaster) if I didn't stop picking on Apuron via my blog. At the time, the only thing I had posted was about Apuron's mistreatment of Fr. Paul Gofigan, nothing else had blown up yet. I wrote about it here. 

I challenged O'Brien multiple times to proceed to come after me. He never responded, leading me to believe what I had suspected: that O'Brien had no clue what was going on and had been put up to silencing me by the same people that were trying to silence me in Guam. 

However, in August 2018, I learned that there might be more to O'Brien's running for cover after I confronted him when he was called out by Archbishop Vigano in Vigano's letter of Aug. 22, 2018 (pg. 5):

As far as the Roman Curia is concerned, for the moment I will stop here, even if the names of other prelates in the Vatican are well known, even some very close to Pope Francis, such as Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who belong to the homosexual current in favor of subverting Catholic doctrine on homosexuality...Cardinals Edwin Frederick O’Brien and Renato Raffaele Martino also belong to the same current...

By the way, and I have yet to develop this. After I snuffed out their (Apuron and his people) attempt to silence me even from the Vatican, they went after my family. I intended to expose all of it at a trial on a personal matter. However, the trial was "interrupted" after the first day and never continued. Three years later the matter was suddenly and unexpectedly closed via settlement. I chose to settle to protect my son. This is probably the most evil part of the story...which is why I hesitate to tell it. Maybe one day.

Now, back to Apuron's proposed Guam trial. Apuron fully intends to exonerate himself and condemn me at his trial by exposing the "pressure group that plotted to destroy" him:

Apuron, in his statement, said there's been a coordinated campaign against him. ("Tim Rohr and his associates" - See Apuron's press release of May 31, 2016)

"The pontifical secret prevents me from litigating my good name in public, but I wish to take this opportunity to offer my deepest thanks to the many individuals who have privately and publicly come forward in my defense, despite threats and the climate of fear on my beloved home of Guam," he said.

Apuron said this climate, "shown by the local media, which hampered the work of the court of first instance, testifies to the presence of a pressure group that plotted to destroy me, and which has made itself clearly known even to authorities in Rome." - USA TODAY, April 4, 2019

By the way, while the first announcement about Apuron's guilt did not name what he was found guilty of, the announcement regarding the denial of his appeal did:

On 7 February 2019, the Tribunal of Second Instance upheld the sentence of First Instance finding the Archbishop guilty of delicts against the Sixth Commandment with minors. - Press Release from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 04.04.2019

Thank you Archbishop Vigano for standing up to the deep church.

“Just as there is a deep state, there is also a deep church that betrays its duties and forswears its proper commitments before God." - Archbishop Vigano

* The release of Vigano's letter on August 22, 2018 was personally serendipitous. It was the worst and loneliest day of my life. I was in the Virgin Islands at the time to see my children and was in the middle of a very ugly legal battle that I won't detail now (or maybe ever). I learned of Vigano's letter three days later on my way back to Guam. When I saw the date of the letter I saw it as a sign from heaven that I was right about who was really behind the attempt to destroy me. I look forward to Apuron's Guam trial and I hope he subpoenas me.