Monday, August 18, 2014
Don't Assist Enemies
On August 12, 2014, Jeff Skvaril from Asan wrote the following letter to the Voice of the People in the Pacific Daily News, which can be found here. It is an excellent letter and a must read.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't assist enemies laying siege to Church
I have watched with dismay as some of my brothers in Christ have chosen as their enemies some of their shepherds. The vilification and character assassination tactics of these individuals and their repetition of lies in the hopes of swaying human opinions to align with their destructive agenda have greatly surprised and saddened me.
It is Christ who unites us and it is the evil one who seeks division.
Brothers, investigate facts before you make public speculations and allegations. The Redemptoris Mater Seminary did not cost the archdiocese one penny to establish but was a gift of God to the people of Guam, bought and paid for by an anonymous Guam resident. It was never nor is it now the intention of Archbishop Apuron to transfer the title of the seminary to the Neocatechumenal Way.
Even if he wanted to, the statutes of The Way do not allow it to hold any properties or possessions. His desire was to protect the archdiocese from harm by incorporating each parish and entity of the archdiocese with himself as sole executive officer, so that if any lawsuit was ever brought against one of the entities, it would not affect the others.
... Father Wadeson was accused of improper conduct over 35 years ago, as Cardinal Mahony himself has been accused. In both cases, no police report was ever filed, no lawsuit was ever initiated and no settlement was ever asked for or made. The case with Father Gofigan was a matter of obedience.
I have been in The Way and heard many catecheses and never have I once been asked for money or heard anything preached but Jesus Christ crucified and gloriously resurrected. Nothing has ever been framed in an "us and them" context.
Brothers, where is this "us and them" spirit originating?
I would refer you to the beginning of the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 1:10-15 and to the Gospel of John 17:20-23.
The Catholic Church has serious enemies laying siege to it. We should not be assisting those enemies by creating divisions among us. If we must have a personality cult, may our cult be in defending the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have a battle to fight. Our armor is not slander and defamation. Our breastplate is righteousness and our helmet is salvation. Let us speak only the truth in love as Christ did and pray for our shepherds as our lady exhorts us to do.
JEFF SKVARIL
Asan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dear Anonymous at 2:58 p.m.,
ReplyDeleteIt is in the Statutes that the Neocatechumenal Way cannot own any money. Perhaps, Mr. Untalan misunderstood the Archbishop.
In 2010, it was already announced that the RMS seminary did not cost the Archdiocese a single penny. Today, we are still saying the same thing. We did not change our story.
ReplyDeleteSo, Diana, who wants to control the seminary??? Your beloved Giuseppes? Smell the coffee!
ReplyDelete"It is in the Statutes that the Neocatechumenal Way cannot own any money"
ReplyDeleteAhh, but you take collections, do you not? Naughty
Dear Anonymous at 4:34 p.m.,
DeleteYes, we take collections so we could give it to the Parish for the use of the facilities.
Diana, I have asked various priests and they said they don't see a dime! Who are you fooling!
DeleteDear Anonymous at 7:18 pm,
DeleteWhy didn't you ask the pastoral office where all money are turned in??????
I was referring to other parishes! Why should I ask the pastoral center? Money from other parishes don't go to the Pastoral Center. Why don't you ask your resposibles where the money is deposited! I don't see it coming in to my parish, and we count after every mass!
DeleteDear Anonymous at 9:08 pm,
DeleteI said pastoral office, NOT pastoral center. The NCW puts the money in their own parish. For example, the NCW is in Barrigada, so money would be going into Barrigada because the NCW uses the facilities there.
Yeah right! And the rest is deposited to the high end lifestyle, frequent traveling, etc. you only say this because you are told, but you don't know. And if you do know where it goes, depending on who you are, then you are lying.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 10:00 a.m.,
DeleteInstead of calling me a liar, why not go to the Pastoral Office and ask if the NCW ever turn in money to the Parish of Barrigada. In fact, go to any parish that has the Way and ask them. Check with their accounting clerk.
I didn't say I was from the Agana Parish. I said, i count in my parish! We count after every mass. I sure don't see the bag for the Saturday night NCW services. Who do you think you are fooling?
DeleteDear Anonymous at 6:30 p.m.,
DeleteWe do not collect any money during our Eucharist. We collect after every Reconciliation.
When are the reconciliations
DeleteDear Anonymous at 9:31 am,
DeleteWe have reconciliation 4 times a year.
Why does Guam need the New Jersey couple ? The regular visits are for what? Please explain? Are there not qualified people here to serve as the BOD or is it a prerequisite of Kiko to have them? Who are they?
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 8:50 p.m.,
DeleteGuam's law says that the Board of Directors do not need to be Guam residents unless the bylaws specifies it. It is up to the person in charge to decide who is qualified.
But why them? Why do they cake back every year? That is expensive if they don't have any "financial gain". Are they criminals? What do they do for a living? Being in the NCW doesn't pay the bills OR does it? Mafia? Why do you trust them so much? Cause Kiko said to?
DeleteForget the law Diana. Why is the Arch allowing these people to make decisions that affect our community, when they are almost never here. Unless it's not really for our community.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 9:22 a.m.,
DeletePerhaps, because they have been in the Way longer than anyone here, and may even have more background knowledge and experience of it.
I do not get paid for being in the Way. None of us do. The Way is there to benefit us spiritually. How can you compare them to the Mafia who murder people?
Dear Anonymous at 9:56 a.m.,
DeleteThere are RMS priests in Guam's churches serving the Catholics on Guam regardless of whether they are in the Way or not. There are youths in the Way going out to World Youth Day representing both Guam and the Way. There are mission families from Guam going to other countries evangelizing.
How are the convivence's paid for? Just wondering as they are held in banquet halls and members sleep in hotel rooms.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 9:33 pm,
DeleteIt is paid by all those who attended the conviviences.
Popes approved the Way.
ReplyDeleteRohr and White say the Popes can be wrong too.
We would rather believe the Popes.
End of Story.....
Hmm... Yes, Popes can be wrong. Marcial Maciel was a doozie of a mistake: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcial_Maciel
DeleteDear Eileenbb
DeleteYou cannot compare Kiko Arguello to Marcial because he is not Marcial. Do you compare you son to your daughter?????? If, for example, your daughter turned out to be a prostitute that does not mean that your son will turn out to be the same way.
You can compare their actions, and if the same, then they might turn out the same.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 9:54 a.m.,
DeleteThey are not the same. The founder of the Legion of Christ was found to be guilty of sexual molestation.
We'll then hold on to find out what Kiko is guilty of.
DeleteEileenbb cannot compare Kiko Arguello to Marcial Maciel founder of Legion of Christ because Maciel was found guilty of sexual molestation. But NCW members can compare Kiko Arguello to St. Josemaria Escriva founder of Opus Dei because Escriva is a saint. Love it.
DeleteDear Diana,
ReplyDeleteMy point was to show a Pope can make a mistake that was all.
eileenbb
Dear Eileenbb,
DeleteAnd my point is to show that you cannot compare one founder to another nor one organization to another, and think that they are all going to end up the same. That is all.
Diana,
ReplyDeleteI repeat--I was NOT making a comparison.
eileenbb
Dear Eileenbb,
DeleteYou gave me a weblink to the founder of the Legion of Christ. Just because the Pope approved the Legion of Christ does not mean that the Neocatechumenal Way is going to end up like them.
You say the Pope is wrong in approving the Legion of Christ; therefore, you think that the Pope is also wrong in approving the Neocatechumenal Way.
Diana,
ReplyDeleteThe Pope made a mistake. I was making no other inference.
eileenbb
Or maybe NOT. If a priest becomes homosexual and bishop ordains him. Who made mistake? Bishop? I don't think so. I'm sure that any Catholic Bishop will not ordain man to priesthood if he knows that he has homosexual tendency. If he ordained him, maybe the mistake is on the other side. Not being sincere with the bishop.
DeleteThe same thing could happened with Marcial. Check all the angles! Before jumping into conclusion.
BTW. Pope JP2 is a saint. But this is BTW.
"Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia"
Dear eileenbb,
DeleteYes, you were making other inference. Just look at the Title of my blog. This is the Neocatechumenal Way, an Insider's view. If you want to show that the Pope made a mistake on the Legion of Christ, then go to their blog or website.
Diana,
ReplyDeleteMy original comment was a reply to "Anonymous August 18, 2014 at 11:20 PM" who posted "Rohr and White say the Popes can be wrong too. We would rather believe the Popes."
I repeat, I was pointing out a mistake where a Pope was wrong. That was all. Nothing else--just an example of a mistake by a pope.
eileenbb
Dear Eileenbb,
DeleteAs one anonymous pointed out, the possibility exists that the Pope did not make a mistake. If the Pope did not know that Marcial. was a sexual predator because Marcial kept it to himself and did not inform the Pope, then it is not the Pope's fault. Therefore, the Pope did not make a mistake.