A few days ago, I was reading the news about a woman who reported to police that she was assaulted by a machete-wielding man. She gave the police the name and description of the man. So, the police went looking for him. However, later interviews with the same woman revealed that she constantly changed her story. She was inconsistent, and investigators later discovered that she fabricated the whole story. So, she was arrested for giving a false report to the police.
Inconsistency in stories is usually an indication that the story is fabricated. And a person who constantly change their stories usually have something to hide. Let us take, for instance, what Tim Rohr said in his latest post about Archbishop Hon. According to Tim Rohr:
Apuron asked to be temporarily replaced by an apostolic administrator who he thought would put down the rebellion and allow him to return, but the rebels were more than the administrator could handle and soon the administrator joined the rebels.Did Archbishop Hon joined the jungle? Actually, he was intimidated and threatened with a lawsuit. That was the part that Rohr left out. Archbishop Hon's name was in a lawsuit together with Archbishop Apuron. However, his name was removed from the lawsuit after complying with the jungle. According to the jungle (the bold is mine):
In order to get his name out of the lawsuit, Archbishop Hon retracted Archbishop Apuron's statement....a statement where Archbishop Apuron said he was innocent and claimed that there was a conspiracy to oust him from his position. After retracting Archbishop Apuron's statements, Hon's name was removed from the lawsuit. This was the kind of tactic they used to get him to comply to their demands.One priest replied that Hon’s statement would have something to do with the victims. To which, Tim replied, “Too late about the victims. He’s only doing something now because he got served the lawsuit yesterday. Pathetic.”
Interestingly enough, David Sablan, the President of CCOG who was recently charged with allegedly holding secret meetings and conspiracy, was also found to allegedly use the same tactic According to Pacific News Center:
Board member Deanne Torre allegedly told investigators that she believed that “there would be punitive actions against any board member who voted against Sablan and that the Governor’s Office would be notified if a board member were to cast a dissenting vote.”Archbishop Hon was a weak Bishop who did not possess the courage to stand up to persecution, but would rather give in to appeasement, hoping that the jungle's anger and resentment would burn less bright.
If there is a lesson to learn on appeasement, it is that sometimes it is not always a good thing. When Europe appeased Adolf Hitler, it cost the lives of many people. Archbishop Hon's appeasement policy will cost the Church to lose all her assets. Archbishop Hon was so focused on removing Archbishop Apuron just as the jungle wanted him to do that he did not realize that the jungle had worked behind his back to pass a law to lift the statutes of limitations on sexual abuse. He only realized it when he was already in Rome. By the time he made his opposition to the bill known, it was too late.
Christ never gave in to appeasement. Instead, he gave in to persecution. Persecution is never easy. It takes fortitude from the Holy Spirit. It takes the grace of God to become a martyr...... even If it is a white martyr.
Did Timmy have any secret meetings?
ReplyDeleteYea. He met with Roy, Walter, and Roland, and they "rubber-stamped" their grand entrance into the public media with their written script in hand.
DeleteAnd Diana pope Francis never appeases his attackers he accepts his persecution and he gets rid of the people that are causing the problem like archbishop Anthony did
ReplyDeleteNow Guam knows that Tim has a feminine side.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/07/29/canon-expert-vatican-protected-bishops-centuries/522175001/
"Hell knows no fury than that of a scorned blogger" comment hits the nail on the head, like a childish man, Tim's volcano of hate is still percolating at the NCW and Apuron for not allowing him, into their inner group or be manipulated by him. Tim is the island sensitive drive-by-media hit-man who needs to control everything that happens in the island in order to make money out of it (remember St. Paul " For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.” 1 Tim. 6:10) If Tim feels that someone in the island may challenge his authority/monopoly or exist without him able to dominate/manipulate them, he goes into his tarring-&-feathering campaign. Who will clean up his childish-tantrum mess? Where are the Guam vocations going to come from now? Who wants to be a Catholic priest in Guam, let alone a seminarian if they all have to be subject, submit, or be vulnerable to a lay blog-bully? Is the Bishop or, are Tim Rohr and his mafia friends, the head of the Catholic Church in Guam?
"He that lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas" (Benjamin Franklin). The Church cannot give in to bullies or they will forever pester you.
''Hon'' is a waste of a bishop, period!!!!
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 4:10 am,
DeleteCCOG gave $25,000 to Archbishop Hon to get RMS returned to the Archdiocese of Agana. What I find deplorable is that Archbishop Hon accepted that money, knowing full well that RMS is already under the Archdiocese of Agana. Even he admitted that on radio; yet, he went ahead and accepted the money. Instead, he had Archbishop Byrnes remove the deed restriction while he was still in Detroit. I wonder.....does it take $25,000 to remove the deed restriction?
A+
DeleteHon was a coward who gave in to the bullies rather than standing up for what is right. Had he paid more attention, he would have known what Rohr was doing behind his back. SMH.
DeleteSadly or maybe stupidly, both Hon and Byrnes made and make the same mistakes. They want to appease the violent party that has been destroying the church in Guam by giving in to their blackmail. That is either you destroy the NCW in Guam or we will file lawsuits against the diocese, accuse you of sexually molesting children and insult you publicly with picket lines and blogs.
ReplyDeleteThe mistake is that if these bishops succeed in destroying the NCW in Guam and make allies of the violent, then the violent will turn against them, and the bishops will discover themselves standing alone against the demonic violence of rohr and his allies. They are destroying the ones that defend church hierarchy. Who will side with Rome, with the bishop, with the churc?certainly not time rohr.
Tim Rohr = No Church.
DeleteWhen are we to accept that the Catholic leadership on Guam are not missionary as Jesus Christ lived and died?
ReplyDeletetoo hard to proclaim; harder to lead and practice.
The leadership is fine with the status quo.
Let the masses live comfortable Catholic lives.....Sunday Mass and collections. Their actions Monday to Saturday do not count as long as they go to Mass on Sunday. Too many sinners out there.
The leadership does not have the Spirit to face the reality of living in Spirit with Jesus Christ let alone ask the masses to do the same.
too hard.
This past weekend at the Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Yigo, one of the seminarians from the Malojloj seminary was seeking donations for study off-island. Is the John Paul the Great Archdiocesan Seminary closing?
ReplyDeleteThere is a need for vocations on Guam. It is a shame if the RMS and the John Paul the Great Seminary are being forced to shut down. Reality is that few local men answer God's call for a vocation to the priesthood. The RMS has produced several priests for our archdiocese. I think 3 seminarians at the Malojloj seminary have become acolytes and are progressing in their formation.
Why would the archdiocese regress backwards regarding promoting vocations? Should our local seminaries close, the archdiocese will have no problem begging for priests from other countries?
It wasn't appeasement, it was indifference. One reason the holocaust occurred is because people were indifferent to the sufferring of their neighbors and perhaps eventually convinced themselves that there was nothing wrong with stripping the rights and dignity of those they deemed as "others/different".
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, many Christians, catholics and protestants, had believed that the Jews killed Christ. When Martin Luther realized they would not convert to Christianity, it seems that anti-semitism may have grown or was primed for future growth.
From Martin Luther's work, "The Jews & Their Lies":
"Learn from this, dear Christian, what you are doing if you permit the blind Jews to mislead you. Then the saying will truly apply, "When a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into the pit" [cf. Luke 6:39]. You cannot learn anything from them except how to misunderstand the divine commandments...
* * *
Therefore be on your guard against the Jews, knowing that wherever they have their synagogues, nothing is found but a den of devils in which sheer selfglory, conceit, lies, blasphemy, and defaming of God and men are practiced most maliciously and veheming his eyes on them.
* * *
Moreover, they are nothing but thieves and robbers who daily eat no morsel and wear no thread of clothing which they have not stolen and pilfered from us by means of their accursed usury. Thus they live from day to day, together with wife and child, by theft and robbery, as archthieves and robbers, in the most impenitent security."
It wasn't until the 2nd Vatican Council did the Catholic Church publicly declare that the Jews were not responsible for the death of Jesus, and only in 1994 did Protestants renounce the teachings/views of Martin Luther of Jews.
So, if you want to compare the situation we are in now with Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, please provide the situational background needed so that we can analyze "why".
You touch on it very briefly by stating "appeasement," but you give no reason except the threat of lawsuits. Why was the threat of a lawsuit enough to lead Archbishop Hon to "defer" to being led by Tim Rohr and his group? What was his reality and why did he make the choice he did?
Although you may come up with some answers or speculate possible realities, what use is that information now?
Reference:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot
Dear Anonymous at 12:21 pm,
DeleteAlthough I mentioned Adolf Hitler, I never thought about it that way. You made an interesting point that I have to agree. It may not be appeasement after all, but indifference.
Indifference?? If the foundation of the church is not sustained by the Spirit of the one who is sent; it is no wonder why we have indifference on Guam.
DeleteNCW against CCG; CCG against the NCW; this is not the problem.
The root cause; we follow the human spirit.
It is easier.
The clergy fails to bridge the indifference.
Why?
It is hard to tell someone to die in the dimension of the cross for your brother; to love in the dimension of the cross.
it is very evident that it is harder for the clergy; the leadership to lead by example.
Dear J. Bautista,
DeleteCan you please provide evidence for what is "very evident" that the leadership is not leading by example?
10:32 take a look around. Priest leaks and black mail NCW priest including the bishop. When Hon was here CCOG threaten to sue and Hon sway to their wishes and he rode the bandwagon. Hon belittle Archbishop Apuron to the media and the same Byrnes did. What evidence do we need. Bottom line Christian do not destroy fellow Christian brothers!
Deleteone needs to open ones eyes to see evidence but since you asked ANONYMOUS 3 10:32.
DeleteWhen was the last time you have seen or heard of a priest visit a family member or friend who was dying?
Hearing confessions; comforting the family?
Have you ever heard of or seen a priest visit a friend or family member at DOC? DYA? Agana Lock Up; GMH?
far and few if any.
Last time I read; JESUS went out to proclaim to the poor and sick; the imprisoned.
He did not work out of a building....no cell phone and no car.
Now think about it for a minute; who guides these village priest? Evident that is not JESUS in practice.
NO Sir.....doesn't matter if you are rich or poor who barely have or no money bury your father; your mother; son; daughter; your wife.
We have a set price for the use of the church.
Pay the fee's and the village priest will perform his duties.
so ANONYMOUS 3 10:32....let us visit the village priest at church.
ReplyDeleteIf you are Catholic; we will see a priest ready to hear confessions about an one hour before Mass.
as a reminder....
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (commonly called Penance, Reconciliation, or Confession) is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (called sacred mysteries in the Eastern Catholic Churches), in which the faithful obtain absolution for the sins committed against God and neighbour and are reconciled with the community of the Church.[a] By this sacrament Christians are freed from sins committed after Baptism.[1] The sacrament of Penance is considered the normal way to be absolved from mortal sin, by which one would otherwise condemn oneself to Hell.
Do you really see more than five people come to Church before Mass to confess?
Can the leadership explain why the blood and body of JESUS Christ is given to people; two; three; four hundred who go to Mass but do not confess?
A lot of SAINTS huh?
Can the leadership explain why the village priest does not bring up this issue before the SACRAMENT of Holy.....HOLY COMMUNION?
"Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are... as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us..." (John 17:11, 21).
leadership is more concern about whether people are sitting; standing; or laying down to receive the EUCHARIST.
I can go on and on anonymous 3 10:32 but what will be the point if we are blind to these things. Please pray for me as I will pray for you that the love of our LORD can open our eyes.
"Can the leadership explain why the blood and body of JESUS Christ is given to people; two; three; four hundred who go to Mass but do not confess?"
ReplyDeleteThen we should close down our parishes because there is obviously no need for mutiple locations to administer these sacraments if the catholic community on Guam is filled with a bunch of un-believers. Those priests who do not have a parish to attend to should then focus on strenthening and building the community through evangelization.
No one can escape the charge of hypocrite except CHRIST.
DeleteRight, and when a lost sheep happens to walk into the church looking for help, she's given a 5 minute appointment before the mass to speak to the priest and ends up walking away thinking, "What's the point in asking for help? Why is it worth the struggle when even the priest, who's supposed to help you find Jesus, doesn't care whether you find him or not 'in practice'?"
Delete"We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberalism in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs." - Bishop Untenter of Saginaw, Michigan
DeleteJessica....AnonymousAugust 3, 2017 at 10:32 PM wants evidence.
ReplyDeleteLet us again visit the village priest who performs the SACRAMENT of BAPTISM.
Parents and God parents bring the child into the Church to be baptized.
The SCRAMENT of BAPTISM has become a formality; not the practice in the formation of FAITH.
For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents' help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized - child or adult on the road of Christian life.55 Their task is a truly ecclesial function (officium).56 The whole ecclesial community bears some responsibility for the development and safeguarding of the grace given at Baptism.
where do we see the community in the life of baptized child? and what in the heck is Easter Vigil?
care to guess how many students in Catholic schools remember there god parents?
I supported your point with the example I gave.
DeleteJ. Bautista,
DeleteYou are right. I gave that example because I thought that priests should mimic Jesus' mercy and listening ear. But there are also lessons that need to be learned, lessons that need to be taught. Lessons he's constantly challenging the Pharisees with...lessons on forgiveness.
In all honesty, I was angry because I expected priests to be perfect as Jesus is perfect. I expected priests to listen as Jesus listens. I expected priests to console as Jesus consoles. And while that may be true, priests are imperfect human beings...why should I expect "perfection" from them in a sense that they will be the Jesus I want them to be when I want him to be? No. Jesus is Jesus.
I ask for forgiveness from this priest whom I hated. I've learned over a very long period of time that I can't hold a double standard of being the only one forgiven and not forgive others. There's a lesson I've read about forgiveness that says you can't expect to be forgiven if you can't learn to forgive, but I'm often very stubborn, and I don't always understand lessons that enter my mind. In this case, Jesus was preparing my heart to understand what forgiveness really means, what unconditional forgiveness really means.
And unconditional forgiveness is this:
The forgivess of Peter when he denied knowing Jesus.
The forgiveness of his apostles when they abandoned Him when their lives were threatened because they knew Him.
The forgiveness of a people who watched indifferently and ignorantly as he was tortured and cruxified.
...
Unconditional forgiveness is forgiveness that overcomes personal sufferring. No matter the injustice, no matter the pain, no matter what, Jesus says, "I forgive you."
...
Thank you J. Bautista for being the catalyst Jesus used to help me to understand this lesson. And thank you to the priest who had to suffer from having a stubborn sinner as myself. And most of all thank you Jesus for telling me, showing me, and helping me to believe how much you love me.
...
Thank you Diana for allowing this conversation to take place.