Thursday, August 7, 2014

The Obstacle To Unity


According to KUAM news:

Monsignor James today issued the following statement in response to the public allegations: "I want to thank the people of God in the Archdiocese of Agana for their support and prayers during this time." He added. "Despite my repeated pleas to be presented with the written allegations of financial mismanagement and the opportunity to respond, the decision was made to go to the media and public first. I am confident that this entire situation could have been resolved amicably in order to spare our community the hurt and division that exists today; however, the lesser road was chosen. “I ask for your continued prayers for our Church as I work to resolve these matters through deep prayer and dialogue in order that truth and justice prevail for the good of all.”

Contrary to what Monsignor James stated, the Archbishop never went to the public first.  When the Archbishop fired Monsignor James from his duties, who had wind of this story first??  It was Junglewatch.  Junglewatch is a PUBLIC blog just like this one.  Tim Rohr admitted in his blog dated July 26, 2014 that his sources said that Monsignor James was removed for financial mismanagement. 

The Archbishop had not come out publicly and made any statements yet.  It was already made public by the jungle and then KUAM picked up the story from Junglewatch, which they made public on Blog speculates on removal of Monsignor James.   By this time, the jungle was already calling the Archbishop a liar.  Did the jungle wait for the Archbishop to go public and explain his reasons for removing Monsignor James?  No.  The stage was already set by Tim Rohr to rile people up and convince them that the Archbishop was a liar.  So, why does Tim Rohr come up FIRST before the Archbishop to make his own explanation?? Why the purpose in doing that?  The answer is because he wants the Archbishop to be removed or resign.  According to Tim in KUAM news:

In Tumon, local blogger Tim Rohr spoke before island Rotarians. Rohr writes Jungle Watch, a blog that covers issues involving the island's Catholic community. Even prior to the removal of Monsignor James Benavente Rohr has been highly critical of Archbishop Anthony Apuron for his controversial removal of Father Paul Gofigan last year from the Santa Barbara Church.

Rohr said, "My only hope is that the archbishop for his own health resigns ASAP."
One Rotarian questioned, "There seems to be a lot of conviction on your part on the archbishop's part - do you see any amicable meeting or meeting or meeting of the minds or compromise?", to which Rohr replied, "Absolutely not." He then reaffirmed his belief that the archbishop needs to resign.

By going public FIRST, Junglewatch made sure that unity would not be achieved.  By publishing the minutes from a closed door clergy meeting, Junglewatch also sowed distrust among the clergy so that unity could not be achieved.  When Father John expressed his disappointment that information was leaked from a closed clergy meeting and tried to ensure his brothers that unity is still possible, Tim Rohr was the first to go public with the information surrounding Father John's past.  So, here was one voice pleading with his brothers that the fight was not between themselves, but with the fallen angel Satan, who is the enemy of both man and God, and the jungle was able to get rid of him.  When Father Pius spoke to the Pacific Daily News, the jungle is now trying to bring down Father Pius through a petition.  Nevermind the fact that Father Pius also has the right to speak to the media as Tim Rohr has been doing. Other brothers and sisters in the Way like Melanie and David G. have gone to the jungle trying to reach our brothers there with compassion and reason but to no avail. 

The jungle never gave unity a chance because they were not interested in unity.  Anything that the Archbishop said was ridiculed and mocked.  Even his homily was mocked.  His whole homily was misconstrued and taken out of context as the Archbishop was speaking on the Gospel reading.  Those of you who are intelligent, open your eyes and ask yourself how unity can be achieved when the jungle comes out to the public FIRST and never gave a chance for the Archbishop to speak first......especially when the jungle had already set the stage with their accusations. 

Some of the brothers in the community have already written to the Pontifical Delegate.  The rest of us need to do the same.  The media needs to hear our side that this whole fiasco is a personal vendetta of one man. 



21 comments:

  1. The problem is he doesn't speak. He hides behind spokesman after spokesman. This started with fr. Paul, the seminary, then the annual appeal, the foreign board members for seminary- why? , then the transparency, then fr. Waddy, then Monsignor, then the lack of pastoral appointments, then the audit, then the revelation that he ignores Rome via the nuncio. Looks like the Archbishop doesn't want the job or care for it. Sorry but u are very wrong. The people want answers. The jig is up!

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 9:44 a.m.,

      The problem is.....he was never given the chance to speak. The jungle already spoke for him with their accusations. Why didn't the jungle wait for a while to see what develops between Monsignor James and the Archbishop? The answer is simple. They do not want unity.

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    2. Dear Anonymous the Archbishop is not a politician! The Archbishop has spoken, the problem is that you do not like what he said. Archbishop has been very clear on his decisions. He is acting like a Father, when a father corrects his children, the children do not understand and it hurts. A father corrects for the good of their children. The problem of these children is that they want to be the father. Fr. John Wadeson acted in the right way, he obeyed.

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    3. Re: Elia

      You seem to confuse the Archbishop with God. Apuron is a man, not a deity. He is imperfect and can make mistakes.

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      Re: "The problem is.....he (Apuron) was never given the chance to speak."

      He is the Archbishop. He can speak all he wants. He has a mouth. He has a microphone. He has pen and paper. The public wants him to speak up.

      This line of reasoning - "he was never given the chance to speak" - is a complete misstatement of what exists in reality.

      SPEAK. NOW.

      There you go - the chance to speak.

      PLEASE, PLEASE speak the truth now! PLEASE!

      There's another chance.

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      Re: Elia plus Diana, "They do not want unity."

      Historically, the biggest advances in the Church have caused disunity because moving towards the just and right path also means advancing beyond those against justice and the righteous. Sometimes justice stings a little.

      Priests, Archbishops, and Popes have made mistakes. A quick review of church history will yield all sorts of dark deeds: rape, torture, murder, even exhuming a previous pope and putting his corpse on trial. Obeyance is dangerous!

      Where do you draw the line?

      In a previous post, you say that we cannot judge because it's unChristian. If we can't judge, anything goes.

      Are you really arguing for "anything goes"?

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      Just for good measure:

      Please speak up Archbishop. Explain yourself. Bring the paperwork while you're at it.

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    4. He was wrong when he accused Msgr. of mismanagement. He didn't give him the time allotted to address and defend himself. This says something...it says a whole lot. Remember that when you write to the Nuncio, you include the Balvo story, and the paper trails to justifying the mismanagement. I'm sure he will try to balance your statements and the statement of proof that was presented. Good Luck.

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    5. Dear Anonymous at 10:45 a.m.,

      Junglewatch already spoke FIRST. In fact, they always spoke first. You also did not answer the questions I posed on this post. How can you expect to have unity when the jungle comes out to the public FIRST and never gave a chance for the Archbishop to speak first......especially when the jungle had already set the stage with their accusations?

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    6. Dear Anonymous at 11:25 a.m.,

      The jungle never gave Monsignor James and the Archbishop to resolve the issue on their own. The jungle addressed and publicize the whole situation FIRST without involving the Archbishop and probably even without the Monsignor because he thought it was the Archbishop who went to the media first. In truth, it was the jungle who made it public and whoever was responsible for providing the jungle with the information.

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    7. We are not judging the Arch's soul, we are judging his actions.

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    8. Dear Anonymous at 7:52 p.m.

      Perhaps, you are not judging his actions, but the jungle is certainly judging his soul. Do you not remember Tim Rohr's post about the floors of Hell being paved with the skulls of Bishops??

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    9. Anonymous are you hearing yourself when you speak? It sounds to me like a cry for pity and monsgr is playing the victim. Truly the people boasting about the matter are not acting in... I won't even mention religion but acting in a professional manner. The matters within the Catholic Church are to be handled by people appointed to care for these matters as the same with any other company. The disgusting part of it all is they're playing this as if it is the peoples decision. Since when did choosing our archbishop become a democracy? Tim if so devout in his religion would have acted so differently. He obviously has a personal gripe with the archbishop and instead of handling it properly he's rallying up people and producing misinformation. It's like a toddler throwing a tantrum trying to get someone to help him get his way. Find your own truth and I ask that you do better research.

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  2. Elia, Diana - ...where have you been this past century.....ARCHBISHOP IS A POLITICIAN!

    Please...do not even go there. If you do not know him personally as I do......DO NOT EVEN GO THERE!

    IF YOU THINK THAT YOU KNOW HIM AS A FATHER....ASK HIM THIS YOURSELF AS I DID AND NEVER GOT A RESPONSE......'WHY DO YOU SPEAK OF YOUR CHILDREN TO OTHERS THIS WAY?'

    I SEE HIM SPEAK...I SEE HIS ACTIONS....AND I SEE HIM BREATHE! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF HIM!

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:18 a.m.,

      If my child was shouting at me the way you are now, I would also give him the silent treatment until he learn to respect me as the parent.

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  3. Diana.....respect is earned....not demanded. I did not shout...I apologize with all the caps....just proving a point. I approached with calm and respect.

    If I was child...then I can understand...but I'm 10 years older.

    He lost my respect when he opened his mouth and spoke ill of HIS PRIESTS...with other priests not FROM THIS DIOCESE! He put his foot in his mouth when he said...THAT GOSSIP IS EVIL....because he did just that.

    Believe me...I prayed to God to forgive our Archbishop for he no longer knows what he is doing.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 1:07 p.m.,

      We all make mistakes from time to time. Even as parents we make mistakes and sometimes have to apologize to our children. The Archbishop is no exception. The Archbishop is not perfect. We all need forgiveness when we do things that hurt people.

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  4. Pride causes pains and broken bridges. He needs to reflect on what was said and done...and get his act together for the sake of the Church and NCW.

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  5. I do not even enter in discussion with this anonymous since you cannot tell a blind man see, he is simply blind. Also because behind there is an evil intention, it is visible through the words. I decided to write on this blog because it gives an opportunity to say the truth. Then they can say whatever, I do not write to convince anyone, I see the facts that are happening.
    Fr. Paul was asked to resign because he was harboring a rapist and a murderer. This man was in contact with the kids of the parish. I do not want my children to be close to this man. The Church is merciful this man (sexual offender) can go back to the Church whenever he wants and receive the sacraments, but not working for the Church in contact with kids. Thank you Archbishop for your decision.
    Msgr. James was moved to another parish because of bad administration (millions of debts). I am not accusing Msgr. James of taking money from the diocese, but there was bad administration (anyone who is familiar with accounting would say so looking at delloite letter). Rightly so as it would happen in any institution and in every places of the world; Archbishop changed the administration at the Cathedral and at the cemeteries. Again thanks Archbishop for your decision.

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  6. Thank you Elia for your brilliant assessment.

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  7. Diana...love to have unity with you, but who are you???? At least we know Tim.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 2:11 pm,

      Your unity should always be with Christ.

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  8. Diana is falsely witnessing because she does all her preaching anonymously. Picture Jesus behind a mask in the temple, cmon!

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:18 a.m.,

      And this is coming from someone who also chose to be anonymous.

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