CCOG's Press Release

According to the press release by CCOG, vice president Andrew Camacho stated that the RM Seminary should be shut down.  

First of all, CCOG does not have the expertise nor the credentials to determine the authentication of a seminary.  They are not even an accreditation team.  Therefore, what is being said in this press release is simply more propaganda against RMS.

For three years, Tim Rohr has been spreading propaganda against the RM Seminary and its priests. In fact, Mr. Rohr has even accused the seminary of money-laundering (See the screen shot below dated July 21, 2014).  This accusation of money-laundering in the RM seminary continues on even until the present day, and no one has filed a police report.  So, now the question is……why all the propaganda against the RM Seminary for three years? 

   

Secondly, Mr. Camacho compared other RM Seminaries in the United States (such as the one in Boston) and cited them as being better than Guam’s RM Seminary.  And what criteria did CCOG use to make this comparison?  According to CCOG vice president Andrew Camacho, the RMS in Boston is better than Guam because the seminarians attend ANOTHER seminary for their education rather than study at RMS.  What Mr. Camacho is actually saying without realizing it…. is that even the RMS in Boston is inadequate. If these seminarians in Boston held their studies in RMS, then it would be labeled in the same category as Guam’s RMS, which Mr. Camacho believes should be shut down.

So, how did CCOG come up with their findings without visiting the RM seminary, without interviewing the faculty and staff, and without reviewing and collecting any data from the seminary?  The answer is found in the jungle.  The source of CCOG's findings are found here , here, and here.  All three jungle posts were published by Frenchie who does not even reside on Guam.  CCOG did not even bother to do any leg work. Therefore, the claims made by CCOG are invalid and unreliable and serves only as propaganda.  

If CCOG had simply bothered to visit the RM seminary, they would have found the truth.  According to KUAM news:

It's not just the ownership of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary that's under fire, but the institution itself. On Monday, the Concerned Catholics of Guam called the seminary a "sham", alleging the priests in training had no background checks, no psychological screenings, and no records to prove they were high school graduates. The CCOG also alleged the faculty were few and unqualified.

Today, we heard from the rector of the seminary himself, Father Pius Sammut, and he's out to debunk what he's calling "misgivings" from the CCOG.

Sham or seminary? Father Sammut is defending the institute which he says has produced 17 priests for the archdiocese. In an emailed response to KUAM News, Father Pius responds to recent statements made by the Concerned Catholics of Guam.

"This is another myth propagated by the enemies of Archbishop Anthony Apuron," the priest wrote.

One by one, he tackles the CCOG's issues, from admissions to faculty and the high cost of running the rms. The CCOG contends the Archdiocese of Agana funds $200,000 for the RMS. Father Pius, however, says their calculations are wrong.

"Last fiscal year, June 2015-2016, the total RM expenses were $531,353. The subsidy of the archdiocese was $73,800, less than $3,000 per head per year!" he maintained.

While the CCOG argues it'd be cheaper for Guam to send priests-in-training to seminaries abroad, Father Pius compares Guam's seminary to those stateside.

"To form a seminarian in Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon or in Saint Patrick's in California costs more than $42,000 annually, while in Guam it costs less than $14,000. We can train three seminarians in Guam at the cost of one seminarian in the mainland. Facts are facts!"

When it comes to admissions, Father Pius states it's a three-tiered process which considers the candidates' moral life, maturity, their studies and their health as well as screenings by a national team of catechists, a retreat, and further screenings by rectors of other seminaries. The faculty, meanwhile consists of eight permanent professors and five adjuncts, all of whom are assessed and ratified by the Lateran in Rome.

As for the formation of strictly Neocatechumenal priests, Father Pius discerns fact from fiction. "Our sole focus at the seminary is the formation of diocesan priests," he stated.

Instead, he says Archbishop Apuron needed the assistance of the Neocatechumenal Way to start up the major seminary. "He asked the help of the Neocatechumenal Way because he realized that we do not have the necessary resources on island. Thanks be to God, the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way, seeing the grave situation, pastorally, of the islands of the Pacific, namely the serious shortage of priests, accepted," he said.

"The role of the Neocatechumenal Way is to provide a solid Christian formation to the seminarians. It also facilitates their insertion into the local parish."