The Dead Bringing a Lawsuit

Apparently, the law that lifted the statutes of limitations has also allowed the dead to bring a lawsuit of child sexual abuse.  After reading this, I think the lawsuits are getting out of control.  The alleged abuser, by the way, is also deceased.  According to the Guam Daily Post:

The estate administrator of a former Catholic school student has filed a child sex abuse lawsuit against the Sisters of Mercy, which operated and managed the school.

C.C., who is deceased, but is identified by pseudonymous initials to protect his identity, was allegedly sexually abused in the early 1980s while in the second grade at Santa Barbara Catholic School. He was allegedly molested by Raymond Cepeda, who was then an assistant pastor and religion teacher, and who also is now deceased.

The lawsuit alleges Cepeda used sexual predation and molestation in the context of horseplay and affection, but it was a ruse to grope and fondle the boy during lunch breaks on the playground and while he was waiting for the bus.

Justice Weinberg Speaks Out

The article below is very interesting.  Justice Weinberg speaks out about his doubt on Cardinal Pell's guilt. Justice demands that one follows the RULE OF LAW.  Too often, we hear the court of public opinion, which in turn can manipulate the justice system. You can find the article here.
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'I respectfully dissent': Justice Weinberg's brave rebuttal of the case against Pell.


In a highly publicized case, charged with an anti-Catholic sentiment, Weinberg put justice before public opinon

"Having had regard to the whole of the eivdence led at trial, and having deliberated long and hard over this matter, I find myself in the position of having genuine doubt as to [Pell's] guilt."  Those words were not written by a Catholic, or a conservative, nor were they written by a man inured to the pain of survivors of sexual abuse which cries out to heaven.  Those words were written by the brilliant and brave Justice Mark Weinberg who wrote the historic dissent in the recent decision of the Victorian Court of Appeals to uphold a sexual abuse conviction against Cardinal George Pell.

Justice Weinberg is the closest we have right now to an Emille Zola, the man who led the charge to exonerate a Jewish military officer named Alfred Dreyfus who had been charged with reason on scant evidence amidst a poisonous culture of anti-semitic frenzy at the end of the nineteenth century.  While Dreyfus was unjustly imprisoned for five years under the harsh conditions of the French Gianan penal colony, Zola wrote "J'accuse!" in 1898, a public letter to the French President FElix Faure defending the innocence of Dreyfus, documenting the numerous judicial errors and the lack of any corroborating evidence, accusing officials of obstructing justice and anti-semitic bias, fully aware that it would be costly to himself.  And it was.  He was charged with libel, and his enemies maligned him until his death.  Yet Zola's persuasive defence of Alfred Dreyfus was crucial in helping an innocent man.  The Supreme Court eventually exonerated Dreyfus in 1906. 

The analogy is deeply imperfect.  Weinberg is not an influential bystander of cultural import, but a public servant of the rule of law.  He is one of the most accomplished jurists in Australia with an impressive career as a scholar, publishing extensively in legal academic journals.  He studied Civil Law at Oxford, spent his early career as dean of several law schools before being appointed Queen's Counsel in 1986.  He served as Commonwealth Director of Prosecution in 1988 before being appointed to the Federal Court of Australia in 1998.  Since 2008 he has served as a Justice on the Victorian Court of Appeals.  And it is here in this capacity that his name will enter into the historical record as the man who was willing to serve the law rather than cultural sentiment.

Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and Justice Chris Maxwell, also accomplished jurists, wrote a little more than a third of the 325 page opinion of the court — nearly two-thirds of which was drafted by Justice Weinberg who found the prosecution utterly wanting for any corroborating evidence that would normally be required for allegations as serious as sexual abuse. Where Ferguson and Maxwell found Pell “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Weinberg replied “I respectfully dissent.” It is not quite a Zola-like “J’accuse!” But it might be just as crucial in deciding whether the High Court will hear a challenge from Pell’s lawyers.

Ferguson and Maxwell were simply persuaded by the prosecution’s presentation of the alleged victim as a “witness of truth.” Justice Weinberg, the former Director of Prosecutions, was “quite unconvinced.” Since when do we convict people of crimes because their accusers sound earnest?

Justice Weinberg understood that it was his duty to determine whether the second jury which had reversed an earlier hung jury (rumored to favor acquittal 10-2) should have had any reasonable doubts as to Pell’s guilt. In Australia law, this works as a kind of judicial test on the kind of bias that can insert itself into a jury of one’s peers.

In a highly publicized case, charged with an anti-Catholic sentiment akin to the anti-semitism once faced by Dreyfus, the Justices had a duty to carefully examine the evidence again and determine whether the jury should have had any reasonable doubts. That is, the job of the appellate justice is not to crush any and all obstacles which the defense may present, as Ferguson and Maxwell did, but actively look for where reasonable doubts should have occurred to a jury. This is exactly what Justice Weinberg did. He concluded, “my doubt is a doubt which the jury should have had.”

Weinberg's dissent fits the pattern of the first hung jury.  It also sits contrary to the fundamental error of law that has been made in which the uncorroborated, if earnest, testimony of one man was heard above all counter-evidence and obstacles.  This is a common approach in the court of public opinion in which the mere whiff of any allegation is sufficient to tarnish someone's reputation.  But a court of law must be held to a higher standard.  The High Court has a duty to accept Pell's challenge if it is brought.  

The integrity of a nation stands in the balance much as it stood in the balance for France more than a century ago.  

Responding To Father William

This post is in response to Father William whose comment can be found here.  Because he signed his name as "Father William", I assume he is a priest.  His comments are in red while mine are in black. The blue are quotes taken from documents.  The first thing I will say is this....here is now a priest who has placed himself OUTSIDE the Catholic Church.  He is no longer in communion with Pope Francis and the Catholic Church.  As I said previously, any clergy member who opposes what the Pope (the Vicar of Christ) supports is NOT in communion with the Pope and the Catholic Church.  According to the canon law of the Catholic Church (the bold is mine): 

Can. 273 Clerics are bound by a special obligation to show reverence and obedience to the Supreme Pontiff and their own ordinary.  

Can. 275 §1. Since clerics all work for the same purpose, namely, the building up of the Body of Christ, they are to be united among themselves by a bond of brotherhood and prayer and are to strive for cooperation among themselves according to the prescripts of particular law.

§2. Clerics are to acknowledge and promote the mission which the laity, each for his or her part, exercise in the Church and in the world. 

Father WilliamAugust 24, 2019 at 11:45 AM

Kiko what a smart man. He get people to leave their local parish and become members of the NCW. They stop donating to their local parish. They give large donation to the NCW but not to their local parish. Kiko gives big bucks to bishops and pastors to get his group accepted in parishes. If 10% become NCW then the parish loses 10% of the normal Sunday collection.

It has always been about the money!!!  Is anyone here really surprise?  They always start their complaint with the money! Why?  Because that is really the root of it all. Well, I have news for you Father William, many people in my community still attend Sunday Mass.  Why?  Because the Way has brought them closer to Jesus Christ.  Some of my community members are alter servers, Eucharistic Ministers, and Lectors in the Sunday Mass.  Some of them even join the choir of the Sunday Mass.  Some community members are also CCD instructors who end up attending the Sunday Mass as well.  We not only contribute to the Sunday collection, but also SERVE in the Sunday Mass rather than sit on the pews.  

The rest of your argument is not even worth addressing. Pope Francis has already confirmed our call, support our mission, and blessed us.  Therefore, the NCW is part of the Catholic Church, whether you like it or not.  Do you think you know better than Pope Francis?  My only advise to you, Father William, is to repent, confess your sins, and return to the Catholic Church.   

Transparency and a Hit List

The following article was posted by Father Gordon MacRae and can be found here.

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In the Diocese of Manchester, Transparency and a Hit List

                                           

Citing “transparency” the Catholic Diocese of Manchester posted the names of 73 accused priests. Most are dead. The only one in prison is innocent, and they know it.

Note:The following is a guest post by Ryan A. MacDonald whose previous articles include “#MeToo & #HimToo” and “Justice and a Priest’s Right of Defense in the Diocese of Manchester.” Also note in the top picture, left to right: Edward J Arsenault III (now laicized) – Auxiliary Bishop Francis Joseph Christian – Bishop John B McCormack.

Michael Voris, the moderator and podcast host of Church Militant, has been posting some eye-opening commentary about a story from the Archdiocese of Detroit. Church officials there, in apparent disregard for canon law, published the name of a priest who has been accused of sexual misconduct. The priest is Father Eduard Perrone.

Reportedly, the Archdiocese published his name and a statement that the claims against him are “credible” while steadfastly refusing to publicly acknowledge the fact that Father Perrone maintains his innocence and has a right of defense. Church Militant reports that the original claim is forty years old and came from “a repressed memory,” a highly dubious and dangerous source according to experts in the field of psychology.

Weeks later, attorneys for Father Perrone issued a statement that he has conclusively passed a series of expert polygraph examinations that support his innocence. To date, the Archdiocese has been unresponsive to that fact as well, and so has the Catholic news media commenting on the story while acting as little more than a public relations outlet for the Archdiocese. This all has a chilling ring of the familiar.

On Wednesday, July 31, 2019, for no apparent reason other than the fact that everyone else is doing it, the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire published a list of 73 Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse of minors. Fully two-thirds of the priests named on the list are dead and thus in no position to defend themselves. The only one currently in prison is innocent. Officials of the diocese publicly suppress that fact after privately admitting it. So much for transparency.

The treatment of Father Eduard Perrone in the Archdiocese of Detroit pales next to the sabotage of justice and basic civil rights that took place in New Hampshire in the case of Father Gordon MacRae. Refusing multiple plea deals offering him a mere one year in prison in 1994, MacRae was asked by his lawyer to consider taking a series of polygraph tests with an expert.

Like Father Perrone in Detroit, MacRae agreed without hesitation. In fact, he wrote about these tests in one of his first postings on These Stone Walls, “A Measure of Truth.” He was scheduled for three polygraph exams with questions based on police reports itemizing the specific claims of each alleged victim. The third one was cancelled because MacRae passed the first two so conclusively. When that fact was made known to the Diocese of Manchester before jury selection in MacRae’s 1994 trial, the Diocese published a press release with this statement:

“The Diocese mourns with those who were victimized prior to the discovery of his problems… The Church has been a victim of the actions of Gordon MacRae as well as these individuals (Diocese of Manchester Press Release, September 11, 1993).

There was little left for a jury to do. Armed with that statement, Prosecutor Bruce Elliott Reynolds compared MacRae to Hitler in his closing arguments before a heavily manipulated jury. A decade after the trial, a second prosecutor took his own life.

In a case brought twelve years after the alleged crimes, with no evidence of guilt at all to review and weigh, the jury reached a verdict of “guilty” on all charges in less than two hours. This account has been vividly exposed by Dorothy Rabinowitz in a series in The Wall Street Journal concluding with “The Trials of Father MacRae.”

                            

ENTER BISHOP JOHN McCORMACK

After his 1994 trial, MacRae had languished in prison with little contact with or from the outside world for the next seven years. Five years after the trial, Bishop John McCormack arrived in Manchester after a stint as Auxiliary Bishop of Boston promoted by Cardinal Bernard Law.

In 2000, rumblings began to occur pointing to some troubling media interest in the case of Father Gordon MacRae – troubling, at least, to those who put him in prison and kept him there The initial hints of inquiry came from The Wall Street Journal and PBS Frontline. The media interest ultimately resulted in the creation of two sworn affidavits by persons entirely unrelated and unaware of each other. The following is an excerpt from the affidavit of a New Hampshire attorney:

“Upon acting in a clerk capacity for [the 1994 trial] I became firmly convinced that the charges against Father MacRae were false and brought for financial gain… In June of 2000, I met with New Hampshire Bishop John McCormack at the Diocesan office in Manchester, New Hampshire. During this meeting with Bishop McCormack and [Auxiliary] Bishop Francis Christian, they both expressed to me their belief that Father MacRae was not guilty of the crimes for which he was incarcerated.”

Four months later in 2000, an official of WGBH-TV, the flagship PBS station and production house in Boston, arranged a meeting with Bishop John McCormack. In that four-month period, something happened that drove off auxiliary Bishop Christian who was – by the way – the author, of the press release declaring MacRae guilty before jury selection in his trial. What follows are excerpts of a sworn affidavit from the WGBH official:

“The WGBH Educational Foundation wanted to produce a segment of Frontline. This production would have resulted in a national story about Father MacRae. I had contacted assistant Bishop Francis Christian from my office at WGBH to inquire about the story because he was the only person remaining in the Manchester Chancery Office who was present during the time of the accusations against Father MacRae. Bishop Christian wanted nothing to do with my inquiry regarding Father MacRae but did offer to arrange a meeting for me with Bishop McCormack.

“The [October 2000] meeting with Bishop McCormack began with him saying, ‘Understand, none of this is to leave this office. I believe Father MacRae is not guilty and his accusers likely lied. There is nothing I can do to change the verdict.’”

Far more telling, however, is a transcript of notes documented by the PBS official after his meeting with Bishop McCormack. The notes reveal a diocese compromised by the demands of lawyers and insurance companies and a Bishop struggling to retain his moral center in a time of moral panic. The transcript was compiled in 2000, but MacRae was unaware of it until 2009 when a former FBI agent began to investigate. Here are excerpts:

[Auxiliary] Bishop Christian: “This is not my responsibility. I have nothing to do with that. You’ll have to speak with Bishop McCormack.” // L.D.: “But you were part of what happened at that time and would have firsthand knowledge of all that occurred. Bishop McCormack was in Boston when all this happened… I would rather meet with you.”

[A few days later I received a phone call from a Chancery Office secretary regarding a meeting schedule. I explained that I would be in the Middle East and Rome for the next two weeks. The meeting was scheduled for Friday, October 13, 2000. I arrived at the Chancery Office and was escorted to the Bishop’s office… The first words out of his mouth were…]

Bishop McCormack: “I do not want this to leave, this office because I have struggles with some people within the Chancery office that are not consistent with my thoughts, but I firmly believe that Father MacRae is innocent and should not be in prison… I do not believe the Grovers [accusers at trial] were truthful.”

L.D.: The Grover brothers viewed this Chancery Office as an ATM machine, and why shouldn’t they? They’ll likely be back to make another withdrawal.”

Bishop McCormack: “You know that I cannot discuss any settlement agreements.”

L.D.: “The specifics of settlements are of no concern to me. What concerns me is the ease with which such settlements are reached.”

Bishop McCormack: “I mentioned to you that I believe he is innocent.”

L.D.: “You said that your hands were tied because of your belief in his innocence. How can you help him?”

Bishop McCormack: “I want to do what I can to make his life more bearable under the circumstances of prison life. I cannot reverse the decision of the court system. What can I do?”

                                                         

ENTER MONSIGNOR EDWARD J. ARSENAULT

It is striking who is not on the newly released list of accused Manchester priests. Former Monsignor Edward J. Arsenault is not found there. At the time he was elevated to “Monsignor” in 2009, Arsenault landed a $170,000 per year position as Executive Director of St. Luke Institute in Maryland. Simultaneously, Arsenault billed for over $100,000.00 in “consultation” services for Catholic Medical Center in New Hampshire. Bishop John McCormack was the sole U.S. bishop serving on the St. Luke Institute Board of Directors at that time.

Most of those who are today involved in an investigation of the case against Father MacRae believe that Arsenault was the person referred to in Bishop McCormack’s statement to the PBS Executive above:

“I do not want this to leave this office because I have struggles with some people within the Chancery office that are not consistent with my thoughts, but I firmly believe that Father MacRae is innocent and should not be in prison.”

Over the previous two years, Arsenault had risen to become McCormack’s right hand man and the hub of all diocesan administration and finances. By 2001, Father Arsenault had effectively become the power behind the diocesan throne. In that capacity, according to his resume, Arsenault personally negotiated mediated settlements in over 250 claims of sexual abuse alleged against priests of the Diocese of Manchester.

The newly published list of these accused priests is deceiving. Most claims were never brought before any court of law, but were simply demands made by letters from lawyers representing the claimants whose claims were often thirty or forty years old. In 2002, Plaintiffs’ attorney Peter Hutchins, who later claimed to have received 250 such settlements – a curious coincidence – revealed the climate in which these settlements were made. The following newspaper excerpts are from “NH Diocese Will Pay $5 Million to 62 Victims>,” (Mark Hayward, NH Union Leader, Nov. 27, 2002):

“The Catholic Diocese of Manchester will pay more than $5 million to 62 people who claim they were abused by priests… The incidents took place as long ago as the 1950s and as recently as the 1980s and involved 28 priests… The Diocese disclosed the names of the priests.

“None of these men will exercise any pastoral ministry in the Church ever again,” said the Rev. Edward J. Arsenault, delegate of the Bishop for Sexual Misconduct.

“‘It shows good faith on the part of the diocese that victims of abuse will be treated and that their needs will be met,’ said Donna Sytek, Chairman of the Diocesan Task Force on Sexual Abuse Policy [and now Chairperson of the New Hampshire Parole Board].

“‘During settlement negotiations, diocesan officials did not press for details such as dates and allegations for every claim’ [Attorney Peter] Hutchins said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it!’

“[N]o one will receive more than $500,000… but at the request of Hutchins’ clients, the diocese will not disclose their names, the details of the abuse or the amounts of individual settlements.”

Simultaneous to his positions and role negotiating settlements in the Diocese, Rev. Edward Arsenault also served as Chairman of the Board of The National Catholic Risk Retention Group, an oversight conglomerate of insurance providers for a multitude of Catholic dioceses and institutions across the United States that covered the settlements.

                                         

HYPOCRISY AND A DOUBLE LIFE UNMASKED

On April 23, 2014, Monsignor Arsenault was convicted in a plea deal that would prevent full public disclosure of the facts of his case and make them anything but transparent. The above handshake with his prosecutor became for some a symbol of the closed-door justice behind the deal.

Charged with embezzlement of $288,000 from the Diocese of Manchester and the estate of a deceased priest – funds used to groom and support a homosexual relationship with a young musician – Arsenault was sentenced to a prison term of four to twenty years. However someone had a vested interest in keeping Father MacRae from asking too many questions.

After a brief initial stay in the Concord prison receiving area, someone took the highly unusual step of arranging for Arsenault to be moved to a county jail to serve out his sentence. It was a move that some believe was orchestrated to prevent MacRae from learning anything about Arsenault’s handling of his own case.

Arsenault served only two years of his four-to-twenty year sentence before his prison term was commuted to home confinement. Somehow, even while in prison without income, his entire $288,000 restitution bill was paid in full. In February of 2019, Arsenault’s remaining twenty year sentence was mysteriously and quietly vacated and commuted to time served. Many in the State and the Diocese of Manchester, though no one would go on the record, state their belief that Monsignor Arsenault received very special treatment in the Justice System. This was less true in the Church at higher levels. Before his sentence was terminated, Arsenault was dismissed from the clerical state by Pope Francis.

Of interest, one of the charges against Monsignor Arsenault was that he had forged Bishop McCormack’s signature on travel and hotel vouchers for himself and his “guest” to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. Arsenault also created and forged phony invoices from a psychologist for $15,000.

It seems that Arsenault developed his forgery technique directly from the case of Father MacRae. Between 2002 and 2005, Arsenault is alleged to have forged Bishop McCormack’s signature on official letters sent to MacRae and on documents sent to the Vatican seeking canonical dismissal of Father MacRae from the priesthood. This commenced two to four years after Bishop McCormack stated his informed belief that MacRae is innocent and unjustly imprisoned.

It seems clear who Bishop McCormack’s “struggle” was with. It was in the interest of Arsenault’s ties and commitments with insurance companies that all claims against the diocese be settled. MacRae’s obstinacy in refusing to accept plea deals and settlements proved an obstacle that had to be removed. From 2001 to 2005, Father Arsenault carried out a pattern of misinformation to the Vatican and collusion with attorneys to summarily deprive the imprisoned priest of his rights to canonical, civil, and criminal due process. The manipulation against MacRae is its own scandal.

In 2002, Arsenault had Prisoner MacRae summoned to a prison office to engage him in a telephone conversation for a proffered deal. If MacRae would sever all communications with Dorothy Rabinowitz and The Wall Street Journal, Arsenault reportedly said, the diocese would retain counsel on his behalf for a new appeal.

Having just learned that all documentation sent to The Wall Street Journal was destroyed in the attacks of September 11, 2001, MacRae felt he had no other options. In March of 2002, Arsenault asked MacRae to send to his office all his defense files used at trial for the purpose of consultation with Attorney David Vicinanzo, a lawyer Arsenault claimed was retained to review MacRae’s case.

Six months later, MacRae learned that his legal files were never given to Attorney Vicinanzo, but were instead turned over to the NH Attorney General’s Office. Multiple letters to Arsenault and Attorney Vicinanzo for an explanation were never answered.

In January, 2003, MacRae was informed by other lawyers hired by Arsenault that a vast public release of files would take place as part of a diocese-wide settlement with the Attorney General in March of that year. MacRae was assured that he would be given a ten-day notice to review files in his regard and to challenge their release. Among all 73 priests on the list of the “credibly” accused published this month, MacRae was the only one never provided with the ten-day notice or any opportunity to review and challenge the release of his own privileged files.

Father MacRae’s letters of protest to Arsenault were never answered. His letter to Bishop McCormack resulted in a claim that the Attorney General issued a subpoena on the Diocese and walked off with priests’ files without regard for their source or for legal confidentiality.

In contrast, the Attorney General wrote to MacRae stating that, over the course of a week, the Diocese provided unfettered access to its files with no attempt at oversight. Further, the Attorney General wrote that all the files were reviewed as a result of a Grand Jury subpoena and were to remain confidential by law, however Bishop McCormack signed a waiver surrendering the rights of all the priests involved. It is unclear, given the history above, who actually signed that waiver.

To its great credit, Vatican officials have not seen fit to move with a canonical process against this wrongly imprisoned priest. They have, however, administratively dismissed Monsignor Arsenault from the clerical state.

To release a list of names of the accused today under the guise of transparency with Father Gordon MacRae identified solely as “convicted” is anything but transparent. It only further obscures this travesty of justice and turns it into just another kind of cover-up.

More Will Come

Last year, I wrote about the Boston sex scandal, which began in 2002.  However, despite the sex abuse policies that were implemented after 2002, the Archdiocese of Boston continues to get allegations of sex abuse.  According to the Boston Globe dated January 5, 2017, hundreds of alleged victims from around the world still continue to come forward claiming they were sexually abused in the State of Massachusetts.  Even after 15 years, the sexual allegations continue to come.  The only difference is that these new wave of sexual allegations are coming from younger people in their 20s and 30s.  

August 15, 2019 was the deadline for filing any sexual abuse against the Archdiocese.  Some people are probably breathing a sigh of relief that the deadline is over.  According to the Pacific Daily News, there are 272 claims of sexual abuse filed against the Archdiocese by the August 15th deadline.  However, that is not the end.  According to the Pacific Daily News:

Judge Bordallo during Friday's hearing, said since the statute of limitations was lifted, lawsuits could still be filed despite the Aug. 15 deadline, which he and Tydingco-Gatewood said applies only to the archdiocese's bankruptcy case and not to the other defendents. 

Clergy sex abuse claims can still be filed against the archdiocese, but new cases won't be included in the settlement that the church is currently working on, attorneys said. 

Any NEW cases will not involve the settlement that is currently in the process.  Will it involve future settlements?  I would assume that there would be new settlements for any new cases otherwise why even bother filing a lawsuit against the Archdiocese to begin with.  

As I said since the beginning, the lifting of the statutes of limitations is an unjust law.  It only creates new victims....in this case the Catholic faithful who have to pay for these lawsuits.  This law does not allow for the investigations of the child sex abuse allegations; therefore, we cannot know for certain whether the allegations are truthful or false.  Many of these allegations are also against dead priests, who cannot defend themselves.  There are people out there who are out to defraud the Catholic Church despite that it is a mortal sin.  After all, we now live in times when some people have no shame in stealing from the Church (See story here).   

Also, remember that it was the Junglewatch Nation, Laity Forward Movement, CCOG and Silent No More who supported and worked for the passage of this unjust law.      

The Truth Revealed

In time, the truth will come to light because the truth is stronger than all the lies put together.  The truth about Mother Dawn has already revealed itself.  In the past, the NCW often said that we have the permission to celebrate the Easter Vigil from the Pope, and our story have never changed.  Nevertheless, the jungle accused us of lying.  According to the jungle:

Diana, please show me and everybody else, where in this statute is the papal permission to celebrate your own vigil apart from the parish. In fact, § 3 instructs the Neocatechumenate to "stimulate the parish" to a "richer celebration of the Paschal Vigil. And lest there be a question about what that means, note the footnote number 46. Footnote 46 references the letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship entitled Paschalis Sollemnitatis. You may want to read the letter, Diana. See paragraph 94 of the letter. Here is what it says:

The celebration of the Easter Vigil for special groups is not to be encouraged since, above all in this Vigil, the faithful should come together as one and should experience a sense of ecclesial community. 

Tim Rohr also wrote Junno Arocho Esteves, the author of the Zenit article and accused him of promoting NCW propaganda:  According to Tim Rohr: 

So, I wrote to Junno Arocho Esteves, the author of this Zenit article about the problems with his article. This was his response: 

Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions on the article. While I had attempted to show nothing more that the Eucharist and Easter Vigil celebrated by the parishes with Neocatechumenal Way were permitted,......

Yes, Mr. Junno Arocho Esteves wrote that the NCW's celebration of the Eucharist and Easter Vigil were already permitted.  However, Rohr's response to his readers is to UNSUBSCRIBE to Zenit.  Then Crux published this article dated March 29,2019, which stated (the bold is mine):

“To express visibly the unity of the holy people of God and express the deepest meaning of belonging to an ecclesial community,” the council said, those who frequent non-parish churches, chapels and oratories or who belong to special groups, associations or new movements “are exhorted to take part in the celebrations of the Easter triduum in parish churches. 

 An exception exists for “national churches,” like the U.S. Catholic community at St. Patrick Church in Rome, and for members of the Neocatechumenal Way, whose Vatican-approved statutes allow for small-group celebrations of the Easter vigil, Midili said. 

"An exception exists for.... members of the Neocatechumenal Way, whose Vatican-approved statutes allow for small-group celebrations of the Easter Vigil,...."  Did anyone think that these exceptions came only on March 29, 2019 at the time the article was published?  As the NCW had been saying all along, we ALREADY had permission from the Holy See to celebrate the Easter Vigil including the Eucharist.  

RMS in Macau Gains Worldwide Attention

Recently, I posted about the RMS that will be established in Macau.  Apparently, it has gained such worldwide attention that it has been in numerous news media.  I remember Kiko Arguello once saying that he wanted to bring about 12,000 priests from China into the Catholic Church.  With an RMS established in Macau, that could actually happened.  After all, there are currently more men in China than women due to China's campaign of killing female babies in the past. 

As many already know, there are a few junglefolks against having an RMS in Macau. These are basically the same people who opposed Guam RMS.  However, do not be discouraged, brothers.  The NCW have the support of four popes including Pope Francis.  According to a letter by Pope Francis sent to the Neocatechumenal Way dated March 5, 2015:

And today I confirm your call, I support your mission and I bless your charism. 

Any bishop who opposes the Neocatechumenal Way and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary should bear this in mind: If one is truly in communion with Pope Francis, then one should support what the Pope endorses rather than oppose it.  The same goes for the laity.  Pope Francis has already expressed his support and given his blessings to the Neocatechumenal Way.  Those who do not support what the Pope has blessed and endorsed have placed themselves outside God and His Church.  The following article can be found here.
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Macau to host new seminary for Asian evangelization

HONG KONG - A new seminary to train priests for all of Asia will open in the Chinese territory of Macau in September.

The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples has entrusted management of the Redemptoris Mater College for Evangelization in Asia to the Neocatechumenal Way, ucanews.com reported.

The seminary was established by a decree signed June 29 by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, congregation prefect, after an audience with Pope Francis.

Filoni told Agenzia Fides, information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, the college is “the fruit of apostolic creativity that looks to evangelization in that continent and expresses a will of decentralization of the congregation.”

The Neocatechumenal Way has long-standing experience of forming priests for the mission in Asia, he said.

The new college’s “specific nature is to take care of the formation for missionary priests who will have the evangelization in the territories of Asia at heart,” he continued.

The choice of Macau, a former Portuguese colony returned to China in December 1999, is linked to its history as a gateway for Jesuit missionaries such as Matteo Ricci, Francis Xavier and Alessandro Valignano who passed through it before going to China or Japan.

The seminary is being opened in response to St. John Paul II’s 1990 encyclical Redemptoris Mission (“Mission of the Redeemer”), which identifies the Asian continent as a territory where “the Church’s mission ad gentes (to the nations) ought to be chiefly directed.”

It is also a response to the call of Pope Francis, who in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”) invited the church to “go forth” to always proclaim the Gospel.

Filoni said Macau “has historically represented the door or a bridge for the mission of the Church in the East and as a promoting center for evangelization in the Far East.”

Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-sang of Macau accepted the congregation’s request to host the new college. However, appointments and authority over it will remain the direct prerogative of the congregation.

The Neocatechumenal Way was founded in Madrid, Spain, in 1964. It is estimated there are more than 100 Redemptoris Mater seminaries, 40,000 communities and 1 million members worldwide.

Bishop Keenan's Interview

There are many bishops and cardinals who speak well of the Neocatechumenal Way.  They had many good things to say about the Way, which has borne many good fruits for the universal Church.  Bishop John Keenan is one of those many bishops who spoke well of the Way.  In his interview, he stated:

I would always refer to the newer movements and our university chaplaincies in particular: Faith, Evangelium, the pro-life movement, Neocatechumenal Way and Communion and Liberation, to name but would also add, however, that this is also true of older movements like the Legion of Mary and the SVP, particulary when they are active with enthusiastic younger members.  What they do is offer a serious way of your faith.  If you want to live your faith more intensely, with more commitment then this is a good way to go.......... 

........the key to many of these movements is the proposal of a serious prayer life, and seriously teaching the Catholic faith and why we believe it.  Those who come then conclude: now I see how it all fits together.  Now I see the faith as a unity, and I see the extent of the faith.  A test of renewal and strength then is to be asked by the world what it is to be Catholic and to be able to confidently answer.  This confident faith, supported by authentic Catholic friendships, is what these movements can offer. 

 Bishop's Keenan's full interview is found here.  Although the interview is too long to publish on this blog, it is worth a read.  

There are some Catholics in Guam who prefer to focus only on the homeless and the poor.  However, the homeless and the poor are NOT the ones set out to change society and destroy the Catholic Church.  It had always been the pro-choice movement, feminist movement, and LGBT movement that sought to change the norms of society and destroy the Catholic Church because they sought POWER.  The homeless and the poor never sought power because they are simply too busy struggling to survive as always.  As Bishop Keenan stated in his interview: 

It is a new manifestation of what Orwell said: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."  This is where we are now.  All rights are "equal", be they religious rights or LGBT rights...but some are more equal.  Orwell used that as a parody of communism, and eventually he identified this as a fatal flaw which would bring about its downfall.  It was predicated on a contradiction, as is postmodern society.  He said that of the Eastern Bloc, but it now equally applies to the politics of the West.  You cannot have equality for all and say that some are more equal.  Ultimately it ceases to be about truth, but about power.  It is built on sand, not nature, or reason.  It is built on the will to power. 

Many of us are aware of the story The Emperor With No Clothes.  We must be a Church who exposes the emperor with the solid truth....that he actually had nothing on.   

The Conspiracy to Destroy Guam RMS

It was in 2010 when the Pacific Daily News reported the incredible story of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona.  According to that news report (the bold is mine): 

 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.

In 2010, Father Pius mentioned to the Pacific Daily News that the benefactors made the purchase of the seminary possible; however, he never said who those benefactors were.  On August 3, 2014, Father Pius once again told the Pacific Daily News that an off-island benefactor helped make the purchase of the seminary possible; and once again, he never named who that off-island benefactor was.  According to news report (the bold is mine): 

The money for the purchase of the hotel was donated to the archdiocese by an off-island benefactor who offered it with the explicit intention of erecting the seminary and the theological institute. The previous owner of the hotel sold it for just $1.9 million with the proviso that the building be used as an educational facility. Actually, the archdiocese did not put down a penny.

None of the NCW members knew who that off-island benefactor was.  They were never told by the catechists or by Archbishop Apuron.  In fact, there were a lot of speculations in the NCW as to who the benefactor was.  Some NCW members such as Jeff Skvaril thought the benefactor was a rich NCW member in Guam.  On August 12, 2014, Jeff Skvaril wrote the following letter to the Voice of the People in the Pacific Daily News.  According to Mr. Skvaril:

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. 

Other NCW members thought that the benefactor was a rich NCW member from the States.  As it turned out, the NCW members were incorrect.  All these were speculations because the leaders of the NCW NEVER revealed who the benefactor was.  HOWEVER, Tim Rohr already knew who the benefactor was since November 26, 2013.  Tim Rohr wrote on November 26, 2013 in his blog (the bold is mine):

Arrangements were made to purchase the property on terms, but the completion of the purchase was accelerated when the archdiocese received a large gift to assist in the purchase of the property through a religious order based in the states. 

The gift had the condition that the source remain absolutely anonymous. The condition of anonymity was critical because the donor did not want to hurt the religious order through which it came, and of which, there is a branch on Guam. 

While NCW members were speculating that the benefactor was an anonymous wealthy NCW member, Tim Rohr already knew that the donation came from a "religious order" of which there was a branch on Guam.  How did he know that the donation came from a religious order?  None of the NCW ever suspected the donation came from any religious order.  Most of us suspected it came from a wealthy NCW member from Guam or the U.S.   

Then on August 6, 2014, Mother Dawn told Tim Rohr the NAME of the donor or the NAME of that "religious order.", and that information was published on Junglewatch on August 6, 2014.  According to Junglewatch:

The 2 million dollar gift to purchase the Yona property did not fall from heaven. Mother Dawn, because she is devoted to our Catholic Church, spearheaded the effort to find a donor through her order and specifically through her fellow Carmelites in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Through the Carmelites in St. Louis, Mother Dawn was able to identify a donor, a private person, who agreed to give the money on two conditions:

• That the gift be used to purchase a defunct hotel property for the "purpose of a seminary"
• That the identity of the donor NOT be made known

Archbishop Apuron immediately proceeded to violate both of those conditions:

As many of us already know, Mother Dawn came out on November 2016 and spoke to KUAM.  According to KUAM news (the bold is mine):

In a rare press conference, Mother Dawn talked to local media to share her side of the story relating to the RMS property in Yona. You see, after years of speculation about who was the mystery $2 million benefactor that allowed for the archdiocese's acquisition of the RMS property.

She finally came out, saying all it took was a phone call to her Carmelite sisters in the US mainland.  "There was no he, it was a she - and it was me," she said.  "So the truth of where the money came from is as easy as that." 

According to the mother superior, her wish to remain anonymous was not respected. 

Mother Dawn stated that her wish to remain anonymous was not respected.  The truth was....it was respected.  Archbishop Apuron nor Father Pius ever revealed the identity of the donor.  The NCW members also did not know the identity of the donor.  It was Mother Dawn HERSELF who revealed the donor's identity on social media back in August 6, 2014. August 6, 2014 was the day the donor's identity was made public through Junglewatch and was the beginning of the conspiracy to bring down not only Archbishop Apuron, but also Guam RMS. Why Mother Dawn chose to reveal the name of the donor is something only she can answer herself since it was she who identified the donor through social media on August 6, 2014.