Friday, August 26, 2016

The Origin Of RMS, Guam

An anonymous person listed some very good questions.  His comment can be found here.  His/Her questions are: 

1. Has anyone asked why this RMS building was purchased in the first place?
2. Who's money was used to purchase it? 
3. What will CCOG have the church do with this building if RMS moves out of it? 


Let us go back to the beginning.....to the time when the RM Seminary on Guam had its beginnings.  You can find the following article here.  As anyone can see, it had always been the RMS seminarians and the NCW communities who contributed in developing and maintaining the seminary.  It was never the TLM Catholics or the members of CCOG. 
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The beginnings of the seminary were small, like a small seed, yet memorable. The pioneers arrived on Guam without having an established place to stay; everything was precarious. Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD, a Carmelite priest from Malta, was the temporary rector who took care of the seminary in its first months. Then the first appointed rector was Fr. Raymond Labranche of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J. He arrived in 1999 along with the first group of ten seminarians. The first mission was to find a place to establish the seminary. God heard our prayers and we were able to find a temporary location in an abandoned building, which used to be a minor seminary, next to Father Duenas High School in Tai. The building was not in a good shape, but with the help of the people from the community immediately it was transformed into the first formation center. It had the space needed for our formation, namely, a chapel, an office for the rector, a small library, a classroom, kitchen and dining room. However, the building did not have enough space for the seminarians to live, so the seminarians were housed by families who generously opened their homes to them.

Living in family houses was a beautiful experience since it gave us the opportunity to begin to know the people of Guam and eventually to become part of the family. The generosity and kindness of the families was outstanding, with no limits they offered everything they could to us ‘strangers’ and ‘foreigners’ who had just arrived. There is no doubt that this first period of our formation gave us a clear picture of the mission the Lord was preparing for us.

Our daily schedule included a constant traveling back and forth between the Formation Center, the homes and the parishes. Yes, we had our formation at the temporary house in Tai all day long, but also we had to go back home to have our meals and to rest at night. This presupposed a lot of time which could have been used to build up communion among us. So, beginning in May, 2002, all the seminarians moved to the house of formation. This was an act of faith because the building had physically no room for so many. We were 14 people in the house and we needed a miracle to fit this crowd into such a small house. This meant that the small rector’s bedroom and library were transformed in order to accommodate everyone. The house became packed with people sleeping in bunk beds, with two bathrooms and literally no space to walk about. The rector was the only one by himself, however his room was the former sacristy which had no windows and was barely larger than a closet. At that point the seminary could not fit more seminarians.

This situation impelled us to search resolutely for a new facility. There were some options, but none seemed to be appropriate. Many prayers were raised to God so that He would give us a place, and indeed He did not delay in answering our prayers. He provided us with the building that is now our seminary, a previous hotel, built by Japanese, somewhat along the lines of a Spanish monastery. It was place too big for our little faith, but for God nothing is impossible. When God gives, He gives abundantly! Imagine, a property worth millions acquired by the diocese for free!

Yes, the Lord provided the place and the benefactors to make the purchase possible. Seek and you will find! Thus the new facility gave lots of room to accommodate more seminarians and to create new liturgical spaces needed in our formation. Ah! Remember the little house in Tai? Well, God had everything planned, because just two weeks after we moved into the new building Guam was hit by Super Typhoon Ponsogna which caused severe damage throughout the island including the house in Tai which was razed to the ground by the winds. The ten thousand books we had acquired up to that point, from the generosity of many people from around the world were also destroyed. Most likely we would have been killed if we remained there.

Since the house had not been used for a while many repairs had to be done. Walls needed to be knocked down to create larger rooms for a chapel and classrooms and also for a new library. Existing rooms had to be painted and rearranged. Fortunately we had the help of many people from the community who with their experience in different fields and good will gave us a hand to transform a hotel into a house of formation for priests.

Alongside the miracles worked in the physical structures of the seminary many other kinds of miracles happened. At first we had the problem of not having a school on Guam, neither of theology nor of philosophy, which is fundamental for us. Nevertheless, since the beginning the Lord provided us with teachers from all over the world for our academic formation, and I should say, not just teachers, but good ones!

Besides that, many volunteers, leaving behind family and homeland, have come throughout the years to serve us in different ways, namely, food preparation and nutrition, administration, logistics, maintenance, and many other humble and hidden tasks.

The fruits of such a tremendous work began by Archbishop Apuron through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, began to be seen. In March, 2005, the first seminarian was ordained to the priesthood, Fr. Jose Alberto Rodriguez Salamanca originally from Spain. Then on November 8, 2008, three more were ordained, Fr. Fabio (Italy), Fr. Jason (Philippines) and Fr. Antonino (Italy). And just a few months ago on November 7, 2009, four more became priests for the service of the Archdiocese of Agana, Fr. Aurelio (Austria), Fr. Edivaldo (Brazil), Fr. Julio Cesar (Colombia) and Fr. Miguel Angel (Spain). And, trusting in God, the fruits will continue.

20 comments:

  1. AB Hon said that the seminary belongs to the Archdiocese of Agana. That should have ended the controversy over the ownership. Since CCOG doesn't believe Hon, they can always take it to court. They've been threatening to do that for a year anyway. I just wonder what charges will they bring to the table. Putting a deed restriction on a property is not against the law.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 8:45 am,

      You bring up an interesting point. I also heard Dave Sablan speaking in the Patti Arroyo talk show. Dave believes that the Archdiocese of Agana should take RMS to court in order to get the property back. Well, I know the Archdiocese will not do that because Archbishop Hon is aware that the property is already under the Archdiocese. So eventually, CCOG will have to be the one to take it to court rather than rely on the Archdiocese to do it. Like you, I don't know what charges they would bring in their lawsuit against RMS.

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    2. Hon said that the property is owned by the archdiocese (as a whole) but that the archdiocese can't use it (as a whole). It's strictly under the control of the RMS corporation, of which Apuron is only a fractional stakeholder.

      The Deed of Restriction was also done outside of church regulation. It was done in civil court, under subterfuge, to conceal the change in 'real' ownership.

      The Seminary also receives funding from the archdiocese, as a whole.

      The NCW thrives in these gray areas.

      - The archdiocese owns the property, it just can't use it forever.
      - The Deed of Restriction was executed in civil court, in secret and without the approval or knowledge of the church's internal regulatory mechanisms. Hon politely referred to it as "unusual means".
      - Funding for the NCW operations comes from, albeit partially, funds meant for the greater archdiocese. When the public found out that their money was benefitting the NCW and not the greater church, funding was severely cut.

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 7:56 am,

      The Archdiocese of Agana is using it. They allowed the RMS there to produce priests for the Archdiocese. As Father Pius said, 14 priests and all the deacons ordained from RMS are serving in Guam's church.

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  2. Then I repeat, please answer
    Hon said that the property is owned by the archdiocese (as a whole) but that the archdiocese can't use it (as a whole). It's strictly under the control of the RMS corporation, of which Apuron is only a fractional stakeholder.

    The Deed of Restriction was also done outside of church regulation. It was done in civil court, under subterfuge, to conceal the change in 'real' ownership.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:42 am,

      I gave my answer at 8:13 am. If the Archdiocese does not want the RMS to use it, Archbishop Apuron can lift the Deed Restriction. Only he can do that. It is like when a homeowner rents his place to someone. The building still belongs to him but he allows someone to use his home in the form of rent. This is just an example......albeit probably a poor one.

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  3. I can't understand why some people are saying the Archdiocese is not using that Yona property. Of course the Archdiocese is using it to forms priests and deacons.

    So all you people who want the RMS out, what would you use that property for? And would that be more important than forming priests? Again what would that building be used for if not for the RMS?

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  4. CCOG has been saying that they will take it to court. I think this would resolve the problem.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 2:31 pm,

      I do not understand why they are not taking it to court now. Dave Sablan said they are looking at different lawyers. My response to that is......why are they looking for lawyers? Why not just use their Bronze lawyer?

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  5. Guam RMS is now being reported as a sham seminary and all the evidence being laid out are opening up many people's eyes. Soon other countries will follow Samoa and start pulling out their seminarians. I guess it won't be long now before the Guam RMS shuts down.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 5:00 pm,

      And what credentials does CCOG have in determining that RMS is a sham seminary especially when they never went to the seminary to investigate. How did they come up with their findings without any investigation or questioning of the professors? It would be nice if a reporter there would ask Mr. Camacho how CCOG come up with their findings.

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    2. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to get information about the RMS on Guam. I tried through the Archdiocese's website and did not get anywhere. (In fact, the info it does have needs to be updated because it lists a Rodriquez as the Rector and PDN reported Pius as the Rector). Does the RMS Guam have its own website where people can get information?
      In researching other non-RM Seminaries, I can find a course of study/curriculum and its certificates of affiliations or accreditations. But it sure is hard to find any info on the RMS schools....I googled different ones and couldn't find anything on any of them except for narratives to explain their focus, but no actual course of study.

      Not sure where else to go to for info.....other than interviewing the Rector, I suppose. For such a well established institution, one would imagine that they'd have all the information available online.

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 8:28 pm,

      Perhaps you should have just tried knocking on the door of the RMS and speaking to the rector, Father Pius or the vice rector, Father Julio.

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    4. I wish I could, but currently not on island. All of this controversy has sparked my interest in the whole RSM and NEO issues and I figured I'd better do some of my own research.
      I suppose I could just wait for the news reports that are sure to come...

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  6. Which door? They're hundreds of them?

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  7. I wouldn't trust the news for the info you want.... its better to ask in person those who run the RMS seminaries...then you will get a better understanding of the mission of the RMS seminary....
    There might be one near you.....

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    1. Thank you Anon 3:12. I will look to see.
      But I find it strange to not have the information available online in this day and age. As Diana wrote in one of her responses, even the Pope uses all types of technology to keep in touch with bishops around the world. You'd think as big as the RMS is worldwide, and an educational institute to boot, they'd also be tech savvy.

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  8. Web site??? IDK....cant answer that.
    My guess maybe because keeping it simple?? Focus on formation?
    Maybe someone can enlighten us??

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