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Saturday, December 13, 2014

Update on Father Paul Gofigan



It has been over a year since Father Paul Gofigan had filed his case in Rome.  He is still waiting for a response.  According to Father Paul, it has been difficult for him to get in contact with Rome and with his lawyer.  He has written letters to Rome, but he has not gotten any replies from them yet.   Now, I can understand Rome.  Even the jungle has not gotten any responses from the Vatican despite the numerous emails and letters they sent.  But having a difficult time getting in contact with your LAWYER????  I guess Father Paul's lawyer is just as busy as the Vatican.  Fortunately, Archbishop Apuron was able to get in touch with Rome despite how busy they are.

The Archbishop was able to see the Pope in South Korea despite that he was not on the list of invited guest.  He managed to get through South Korea's security check points and even through the Pope's strict security guards.  It was God's will that the Archbishop meet with the Pope in South Korea.  And recently, the Pope accepted the Archbishop's request to have a private audience with him. 

I'm glad to hear that Father Paul is very contented of where he is right now.  There is always a reason why things happen.  Father Paul said that all he wanted was to be a priest.  The Archbishop never took that away from him.  Today, he still remains a priest.   

According to KUAM news:

Father Gofigan's case still waiting to be heard in Rome


by Jolene Toves

Guam - As the controversies continue within the local Catholic Church, Father Paul Gofigan continues to wait for his case to be heard in Rome. Over a year ago the riff between the priest and Archbishop Anthony Apuron first began which led to his removal as the head of Santa Barbara Church in Dededo.

"I don't really see it as persecution," he said. "I just see there are a few partialities going on in the archdiocese but I don't let that bother me I didn't sign up for that sort of stuff I signed up to be a priest a priest to serve the people and as long as he allows me to serve the people I'm happy I don't have to be a pastor I don't have to be anybody in the hierarchy I just want to be a priest and I'm actually satisfied with the life I'm living now."

As we reported Archbishop Apuron alleged that Gofigan failed to follow a directive warranting his removal, and while Gofigan says he is content with the life he is living now in the recent months a close friend of his, John Toves has taken on Gofigan's fight.  "I didn't ask him to do anything as I said he's really good friend of monsignor and myself and this is something that he feels deep down in his heart that he has to do and he's sort of acting on that making something sort of raise awareness of what's going on especially in our island church," he explained.

As you may recall at the onset of his removal Gofigan filed an appeal for a heriarchial recourse and review of his case with Rome where it is still pending.

The priest stated, "It is so difficult to be in contact with Rome you sort of don't get any responses even though I've written letters I just don't have any responses even from my lawyer I'm trying to get in contact with my lawyer."

At this point Gofigan says it is just a waiting game.
 

 

19 comments:

  1. yes or no father? did you obey? The first priest obeyed his father to his death. YES or NO father..did you obey?

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  2. Diana, Father Gofigan's lawyer has been sick. That's all.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 8:39 am.

      Really?? I guess Father Paul will have to get another attorney and update him on everything. Or perhaps, his attorney will recover soon from whatever illness he has?

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    2. How do you know that he is sick is that you fr.Paul or is that you your holiness Tim Rohr

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  3. Could it be the Gofigan's case in Rome is not heard or responded to cause there is really no case to dispute? "Do you promise to obey me and my successors?"

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  4. Boasting again. You once said let this whole affair take its course and trust that Rome will make the right judgement. Rather you laugh that Rome is taking their sweet time despite all the calls and emails and a busy lawyer. Rather use your energy and pray that Fr. Paul and the Archbishop are able to reconcile. Both these men are suffering by people like you and the jungle group who continue to attack AA or Fr Paul.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 2:00 pm,

      Just how am I attacking Father Paul in my above post. I stated the same things he said. I said that Father Paul had written letters to Rome, but he hasn't heard any response from them yet. That is not an attack. That is true......according to Father Paul because that is what he stated. I also said that he was unable to contact his lawyer. That is also not an attack. That is true.....according to Father Paul. As to why he is unable to contact his lawyer, I do not know. I never said any reason as to why he was unable to contact his lawyer. I am actually puzzled. As I said........not being able to contact Rome.......I can understand. But unable to contact your own lawyer????

      Go to the jungle, and you will see all the attacks on the Archbishop. They call him "evil." Not once did I ever call Father Paul "evil." I have said that he is disobedient, but never "evil."

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  5. There is a thing here about Fr Paul that would need special attention. I mean his case was used as a pretext to incite controversy that was blown bigger and bigger until it became enormous enough to erupt into a full fledged war inside the Catholics circles of Guam. Apart from the intentions of Fr Paul himself, a special hate language and attitude have been built up gradually at the Jungle blog, making any attempt of reconciliation impossible and pushing the controversy into a limitless abyss, an irreversible antagonism that would ensure perpetual warfare.

    The appearance of "Concerned Catholics", an island wide organization of people who are critical of the local Church leadership, shows some success of Tim Rohr's tactics in voicing some concerns, however unjustified these concerns otherwise might be. The fact that well-known members of the political-cultural elite of the island joined the Jungle's circles is evidence of serious background, even covert, efforts of building a wider political basis on Tim Rohr's platform.

    How can we respond to that? Well, I would like to point out that the Neocatechumenal Way is based on a charism granted by Rome. In that aspect, the Way undeniably has an international Catholic character. However, our loyalty to our local leaders is an assurance that we follow local interest as much as a religious itinerary could. We are made of people who live here. We are committed to Guam and to America. I think it is very important to emphasize, as our adversaries obviously not shying away from their efforts to place us into negative light.

    As I said earlier, the Way is secure. Security of salvation is with us. Also, we grant that the Way passes any security concern that might be raised. The Way is a great friend of those who are great friends of the United States. We stand for the safety and security of people on the Holy Land. We support Jerusalem as an undivided capital of the Holy People of God. We contribute to the peaceful understanding of the rights of the Jewish people to a secure homeland. We provide the Biblical framework of Catholic teaching that restores God's plan on the Holy Land. Whoever attacks the Way, is against this peaceful understanding that is also part of the international politics of the United States in the region.

    Finally, I would like to point out that direct political speech is not compatible with the language of faith. People with connection to the intelligence communities understand this very well. When our adversaries are accusing the Way to be a "Judeo-Masonic aberration", then we should spell out very clearly that this language of conspiracy theories and Nazi terminology is totally unacceptable. When we talk about American values, it should be very clear that this right-wing extremity espoused by the Jungle blog does not belong to it. On the other side, good Catholic citizens have always been a great asset of American progress in all areas of spiritual and material life.

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    1. Dear Ernie,

      Thank you for your clarification. I believe I may have misunderstood you in the other thread. When you say the "Way is secure."..........you are correct. The Way is secure just as the Franciscan Order, the Legion of Mary, etc. are secure because these organizations are a part of the Catholic Church. I mistakenly thought that you meant the "members" of the Way are secure of their salvation.

      Salvation indeed is found in the Catholic Church together with her organizations. However, members can still fall and lose their salvation. But through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Christ can pick us up when we fall in sin. I apologize for misunderstanding you.

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    2. Diana, Ernie did actually say above that "Security of salvation is with us". What do you make of that?

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 11:56 a.m.,

      This is Ernie's exact words from the other post, which I copied and pasted:

      "But we in the Way are granted security because we are those who will come out of this turmoil intact by following God's plan on earth as He pronounced it through the prophets."

      By this, I thought Ernie was implying that members of the Way are secured in their salvation. Members of the Way (like everyone else) can lose their salvation if we turn away from God. We are not exceptional. After all, Judas Iscariot was one of the chosen Apostles, and he fell into sin. He committed suicide. If anything, the story of Judas Iscariot serves as a reminder that we still have the free will to reject God and even leave the Catholic Church. However, Ernie's last post showed that I was mistaken in making that assumption. He meant the NCW can bring salvation.

      The Catholic Church together with all her organizations is where one can find salvation. That would include walking in the Way. Those who chose to walk in the Way can find salvation.

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    4. You are right, Diana. The word security has slightly different meaning in different contexts. Security of salvation in the Way means we show the straight path to God who is the Lord of Hosts. If someone fails to be saved, it is not because of the Way, but because of personal choices. Personal choices to sin are always there to destroy one's salvation. But if you follow the Way and let the charism act upon you through guidance, then you'll make the right choices.

      There could be other instruments of salvation beyond the Way. But we have to understand that secularism has compromised mainstream Christianity to the point that may endanger salvation. Nobody really is interested of the manners of cannibals in Africa, because their custom of eating humans compromised their souls and therefore their culture was extinguished. Similarly, nobody is really sorry for those cults employing human sacrifices like the Aztecs. Their abominable ways earned them their fate of doom. The same way, nobody will weep when the shallow Christians disappear from earth because of their uncompassionate perception and outrageous acceptance of the Holocaust and the death of innocent millions during WWII.

      Murder and association with it will always invalidate your salvation. Killing is perhaps acceptable only if it furthers God's plan on earth. Abraham was willing to kill his son for God. As a reward, God exempted him from murder so that his son may live! What a wonderful faith, what a wonderful reward! You see the Angel of God killed the first born of the Egyptians, because they wanted to hinder the Exodus, the very plan of God for His People. Canaanites sacrificed their own first born to Baal. How ugly worship, how ugly god is that, reveling in bloodshed!? No wonder Palestine people, the descendants of Canaanites, are being punished by God and many are being killed justly for terrorism!

      Security in the context of being free from threats of terrorism is another aspect. The Neocatechumenal Way provides that security when we support the policies of the United States around the globe. We show the way of friendship and mutual understanding with the most important ally of our country in the region, Israel. The right of Israel for a secure homeland and the right of the Jewish people for peace on their land cannot be overridden by pagans. We stand for God's plan who is the God of Israel, Yahweh Sabaoth, our Creator and heavenly Father.

      Those low key operatives who work for the intelligence communities will have to respect our commitment for American values. When we see those uneducated agents and clueless covert operations trying to upset the island's religious peace and climate of benevolence, we have to raise a voice of sobriety and responsibility. Whatever means these people possess they will fail to draw an image of Guam as a wayward, 3rd world province somewhere at the ends of the earth. We have to refuse that obnoxious insinuation of our island and of our people.

      We are part of the modern world, just like any region of the United States. We represent modern Catholicism, in harmony with Vatican's and Pope Francis' best intentions to spread the gospel of truth around the globe. Those who hope to hit on us by abusing security concerns and misusing their connections to the intelligence communities, will have to retract and act responsibly. They must stop conspiring against us. They need to accept that the Way is part of a secure future of the Catholic Church and the American Catholics in the 21st century.

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  6. If his lawyer is sick, then leave it there. If the vatican has yet to respond, then leave it alone folks. Fr. Paul is waiting to hear from vatican. So, we should just wait. I just find it strange though that his lawyer is sick for almost a whole year and has not reassigned the case. If the lawyer is a big name in Manila, as was reported by Rohr, then shouldn't he have other lawyers under him who can carry through the case like we see in he big law firms? Bottom line, is lets just wait.

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  7. The jungle folks are mocking us by using the word "presbyters." They're saying that our presbyters have no experience being priests. This is what Timmy says in the jungle:

    WHY YOU MUST NOT CALL YOUR PRIEST "PRESBYTER"

    The NEO's, including the Archbishop (since he is one of them) refer to their priests as "presbyters". Here is what the Catholic Church says, the real one, not Kiko's:

    Prominent among the problems is the decision of the translators to break with common Catholic usage and translate the Latin "presbyteri" into English not with "priests" but with "presbyters". This cannot meet with the Holy See's consent since it risks being misunderstood by the people and represents an unacceptable theological tendency. In particular it constitutes a retreat from a term that carries a sense of sacrality, that carries with it the history of the development of the faith in favor of a term which does not.

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  8. Retirement of former bishop camacho in clouds.

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  9. The Catholic Church has been known throughout history for making bad mistakes on how it handled in house scandal and corruption.
    However, we now live in a world that is viral and is able to exploit institutions and individuals on many blogs that can be biased against them or in favor, depending on the issue at hand. These blogs are connected by satelites and servers that allows for information to be read within seconds by the entire world. Although we have information from all over the the world at are fingertips, by the. press of a button ,sometimes we are mislead about the truth.
    Whats even sader is that the Catholic Church for years has protected itself by having the power to sweep all bad press under the rug and protect its own without ever thinking about the victim, and in some cases institutions.
    Concerning the Archbishop Apuron of Guam, and the way in which He clearly mishandled the case concerning Rev. Paul Gofigan is a direct example on how the Catholic Church in Rome ,"The Holy Sea," is able to deny the preist that serve the church faithfully to be wrongly accused of not following orders due to the very biased and persknal issues. What does it say about the most powerful and largest Church in the world, when one its high ranking official in charge of a large religious community has the power to destroy a man who studied very hard to serve tbe very Church who doesnt even answer his letters a inquires as to what is happening in hiskng gking case
    Iam sorry, but sometimes i wonder if being a practicing Catholic is sometimes more about politcs and corruption of its leaders. In addition, like all large corporations when you don't play the game and are singled out, the good man is destroyed.
    Well Rev. Paul Gofigan, God called you to be a man of his Church. Keep the faith, because its the Archbishop and Rome that need to look at their policies. As we are all very aware, The Roman Catholic Church is losing many of its people due to their handling of bad and dihonest leaders that lead their institution.

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  10. Thankyou Diana.

    I am a catholic and I go to mass Sundays but not every sunday. If I miss sundaybi go Wednesday nights depends on my activities. I also am a follower of Joel osteen. I read his books, watch his v show when in Texas I attend his gatherings. I'm also interested in NCW. But I wold like to continue following Joel and his wife as they at nice evangelists. My question can we belong to two church groups same time" Thankyou.

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    1. Dear Berni,

      I have a few books written by Joel Osteen, but remain in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church teaches faith and morals without error. As a Catholic, you cannot be a member of two different churches.

      Joel Osteen is a Christian, but his teachings are in error. Joel teaches that we can receive all the abundance of health and wealth in this life. He teaches that God does not want us to suffer, but be successful. The problem with this teaching is that Christ never called us to be successful. He called us to be faithful. God can grant us treasures on this earth, but He warns us not to worship these treasures. The greatest treasures are not the riches and the successful life. The most prized treasure of all is eternal life, which God promised us. That is worth more than all the success and riches that Joel Osteen advocate for on this earth. The things that Joel Osteen teaches are things that one can also find in psychology books.

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  11. Thankyou Diana I'm happy you like Joel Osteen. My priest friend also teaches prosperity theology. He collects land propert teaches God gave these things because he is a good boy and his mother told him as he is a good boy God will prosper him. So prosperity theology is gift. But now I met NCW members they invite me to meeting so now am interested in learnn about he way.

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