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Friday, September 29, 2017

Two Articles On Archbishop Hon's New Appointment

Two articles regarding the removal of Archbishop Hon came in Italian.  Surprisingly, one of the articles is from Sandro Magister, who has been very critical of the Neocatechumenal Way.  Below are the English translation.  However, the English translation from the blogsite is not a very good one, but understandable due to the computer translation from Italian to English.  

In Guam, Archbishop Apuron was judged guilty without due process of a trial.  Although he has tried to tell his side of the story to the local media, he was unsuccessful.  Those from CCOG and LFM have already branded him guilty, taking up their signs of "Defrock Apuron" before the canonical trial even started. In Guam, his right to due process was violated. Fortunately, Archbishop Apuron  was much more successful in getting his side of his story told in a Vatican newspaper.  In our democratic society, due process is a human right.  

From Article one:
On September 28, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, 66, Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, was appointed a new apostolic nuncio in Greece. Hon has never supported diplomatic missions and is a former professor of theology. In 2016 he was apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam. There could be two reasons for the awesome removal of Hon: his opposition to the obsequious behavior of the Vatican to China, or his erroneous judgment on the situation in Guam, where, after all, the discussed Archbishop Anthony Apuron could become the victim of a real defamatory attack.

UPDATED:

From Sandro Magister blogsite:

From China To Rome To Athens, Passing Through Guam. The Ups and Downs of Hon Tai-Fai


The announcement is telegraphic, in “L'Osservatore Romano” of this afternoon:
“The Holy Father has appointed as Apostolic Nuncio in Greece H.E. Mons. Savio Hon Tai-fai, S.D.B., tit. Archbishop of Sila, until now Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.”
But behind these three lines is the sending into exile of the only high official of Chinese nationality in the Roman curia.
His displacement, which is geographic as well, from second in command of the powerful Vatican congregation “de propaganda fide” to nuncio in Athens is in fact anything but a promotion.
Hon Tai-fai had been secretary of the congregation since 2010. And in these seven years he worked actively on the portfolio of relations between the Holy See and China, among other activities participating in the ad hoc committee created by Benedict XVI but not convened again by Pope Francis.
Hon Tai-fai was the point of reference at the Vatican for Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, archbishop emeritus of Hong Kong and an intransigent critic of an agreement with Beijing that would endanger the survival of the Chinese Catholic Church not subjugated to the regime.
A Salesian like Cardinal Zen and a talented theologian, Hon Tai-fai was a member of the international theological commission and edited the Chinese translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
it came as a surprise last year when he was sent to distant Guam, in the Pacific, as apostolic administrator, with the task of restoring order to the diocese of the island, devastated by scandals of every kind.
Charged with accusations of sexual abuse dating back decades and under pressure from the nuncio, the German Martin Krebs, to tender his resignation “at the pope’s behest,” the archbishop of Guam, Anthony Apuron, a Capuchin and a fervent supporter of the Neocatechumenal Way, flew to Rome in May of 2016 to explain his innocence to Pope Francis, but was not able to get an audience. After returning to the island, he suspended himself and asked Rome to send an apostolic visitor, who soon arrived in the person of none other than Hon Tai-fai.
He first ordered the priests of the diocese to resign from their positions, and then proceeded with new appointments that put back in the saddle the priests who had previously been demoted by the bishop and his inveterate adversaries, first among them the former pastor of the cathedral,  James Benavente, with terrible credentials as an administrator, less than exemplary virtues and a flagrantly luxurious lifestyle, and in spite of this a close friend of Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, an emblem of the new “poor” Church of pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
Hon Tai-fai  remained in Guam for five months, until the appointment as new coadjutor archbishop of the diocese - meaning with right of succession - of the American Michael J. Byrnes, who continued working in the same direction.
The price for this upheaval was mainly paid by the Neocatechumenal Way, which had its “Redemptoris Mater” seminary closed and was almost expelled from the island. Curiously, the prefect of “propaganda fide,” Cardinal Fernando Filoni,  is however a great supporter of the Neocatechumens, unlike his then-subordinate Hon Tai-fai, and the events in Guam must have widened in no small part the chasm between the two and hastened the latter’s removal from Rome.
Meanwhile, in February of this year Francis sent Cardinal Raymond L. Burke to Guam in his capacity as a canonist, to substantiate or not the accusations made against the self-suspended bishop Apuron. Burke and four other judges, all bishops, will have to make their ruling soon.
Which, if it should recognize Apuron’s innocence, would again force the diocese into yet another rearrangement, of a character opposite to that set in motion by Hon Tai-fai, who as of today has been sent not very courteously to the modest nunciature of Athens. To conduct diplomacy, but farther than ever from Beijing. 

40 comments:

  1. Thank God. Truth is finally coming out

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  2. The one thing that Tim Rohr did not know was that Archbishop Hon had been against the Neocatechumenal Way. He actually thought that Archbishop Hon was there to protect the Way. He wasn't. He was there to close down RMS, remove RMS priests from positions, and cripple the NCW.

    What Tim Rohr did not know what that before Archbishop Hon came to Guam, he wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Libreville, Basile Mvé Engone, who is a Salesian priest like Hon. The Archbishop of Libreville was taking steps to open a Redemptoris Mater Seminary in his diocese. In his letter, Archbishop Hon told Archbishop Engone that he was making a bad decision. Archbishop Hon stated that the NCW causes division and the RMS seminarians are badly deformed. The Archbishop of Libreville then told Archbshop Hon to stay out of the affairs of his diocese.

    Archbishop Hon came here with the agenda of closing down Guam's RMS and to cripple the Way. This is what Tim Rohr did not know. Only a few of us knew about Hon's letter to the Archbishop of Libreville. Because Tim Rohr did not have this information, he mistakenly thought that Archbishop Hon was on our side and threatened him with lawsuits.

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    1. So, all this time, Timmy didn't have to threaten AB Hon with a lawsuit?

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    2. Dear Anonymous at 4:22 pm,

      That is correct. Rohr did not have to threaten Archbishop Hon with a lawsuit to get him to do what he wanted him to do.

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    3. WOW! Archbishop Hon was a great actor!!!
      I really thought he came here to maintain the Status Quo until Archbishop Apuron returned. Everything that Archbishop Hon said and did when he first came made me believe that he was here to PROTECT everything that Archbishop Apuron left behind when he made that trip to Rome. I was so sure that Archbishop Apuron would be back in time for his birthday in November and Archbishop Hon would just make sure that everything was just the way Apuron left things.
      Now I read that Archbishop Hon came to close RMS. Well he did not succeed did he.

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    4. Dear Anonymous at 6:12 pm,

      How so? The priests he removed were priests walking in the Way. They were replaced by priests who did not walk in the Way. He cleared both Father Paul and Monsignor James despite the evidence against them. He retracted Archbishop Apuron's statement where he stated that he was innocent. He judged Archbishop Apuron guilty without due process. He went to Rome to convince the Pope to remove Apuron as "Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana", and he overstepped his authority by rescinding the Deed restriction.

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  3. Dear Diana:

    I really have a hard time with your claim that Archbishop Hon was against the NCW when he came to Guam. I seem to remember that you told us last year that "Because Pope Francis is unable to come himself and take over the Archdiocese, he sent Archbishop Hon in his place. This means that anyone who disobeys Archbishop Hon is being disobedient to Pope Francis who sent him here. Anyone who opposes Archbishop Hon would also be opposing Pope Francis who sent him here. In addition, they would also be opposing the Catholic Church and would not be in communion with her. Archbishop Hon has called all Catholics to work together in building unity in the Church, and we must at least strive to do that. Pope Francis has spoken through Archbishop Hon who comes in his stead. Any sign of protest or opposition would be a protest against Pope Francis, the representative and Vicar of Christ who sits in the Chair of the Apostle Peter."
    SOURCE: http://neocatechemunal.blogspot.com/2016/06/god-is-love.html

    You also said that "Patience is a virtue. Whenever there is a problem, it takes time to resolve it. It is always best to allow time to do its work. Rome has already stepped in, and so the people should give Archbishop Hon the chance and opportunity to do what he came to do."
    SOURCE: http://neocatechemunal.blogspot.com/2016/06/archbishop-hon-asks-for-patience.html

    Last year you told us that Pope Francis SENT Archbishop Hon here in his place because he couldn't come and that anyone who disobeys or opposes Archbishop Hon would be disobeying or opposing the Pope. So IF Archbishop Hon was here to close down RMS and cripple the NCW wasn't he doing that for Pope Francis?? I don't think that's why he came to Guam, but that's what you're saying now.

    You always criticize Tim Rohr for changing his story but this post (compared to your posts last year) sounds like YOU are changing your story about Archbishop Hon.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 6:32 pm, 

      I never changed my story. Like Archbishop Apuron, we welcomed Archbishop Hon when he arrived in Guam. Because he was sent by the Pope, I said that we should be obedient to him. 

      However, I have never advocated for blind obedience. And people who read my blog know rhat for a fact. We never believe in blind obedience, and that is why we asked the Vatican for help when we realize that something was wrong. When a bishop tells seminarians to obey "Apuron or a bishop invested with the powers of God"......something is clearly wrong.

      The moment the NCW learned that something was wrong, letters were written to Rome. I have always said that we should obey the Bishop, and we can correct him with charity when we feel he in error. However, if correction does not help, it is within our right to turn to the Vatican for help. Unlike Tim Rohr, I never told anyone not to turn to the Vatican. Asking the Vatican for help is NOT disobedience.

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  4. The fantastic article from Vatican Insider is a BOMB! It basically pointed out the truth about the following high ranking church personalities and has tainted their records:

    A. Archbishop Hon - an incompetent prelate who ruined the church of Guam with his ineptitude. Poor guy is now demoted as a nuncio to Greece which is mostly
    GreekOrthodox and Muslim. Roman Catholics , which are less then the moslems, are less than 5% of the population. In Greece they'll be less Catholics for him to abuse.

    B. Monsigneur Benavente for his scandalous affairs in morals and money corruption. It's gonna take a big divine eraser to expunge his corruption record if he wants to be the next archbishop of anywhere on the planet.

    C. Cardinal Tagle for associating himself to the corrupt Benavente thus ruining his chances of becoming the next pope, presumably.

    D. Archbishop Krebs for his failure to correct the problem in Guam. I can hear the papal ax being sharpened for his Teutonic neck. Francis will need to Sharpen that ax since Krebs has a stiff neck.

    Not much though is said about Cardinal Filoni who is the boss of Hon who should be answerable for Hon's actions. Seeing how Vatican intrigues operate, the clock for him might be ticking for him (like another bomb).

    These guys are involved in a desperate dance to cover their exposed tails.

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    1. B. It is unfortunate that the NEOs blames Mon. Benavente for financial mismanagement. Show the documents so AB Byrnes can take appropriate action. In the mean time Mon. Benavente is still the pastor of St. Anthony. We need to clean the church of corrupt clergies.

      C. Didn't Cardinal Tagle retired?

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    2. Dear Anonymous at 3:48 pm,

      Actually, it is very unfortunate that Archbishop Hon covered up Monsignor James's financial mismanagement. If we are going to clean up the church, let us start with the Bishop who covered it up. Archbishop Hon is now officially out of the congregation. We are still waiting for the Attorney General on Monsignor James.

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    3. Anon @ 8:46 AM, don't you worry. Absolutely NOTHING BAD will happen to Cardinal Filoni because Kiko Arguello will protect him.

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    4. Msgr Benavente's embezzlement of funds from the cemetery is factual and has been reported to the Guam Attorney General office. This is not made-up or fabricated by the NCW. It is a fact.

      If Lujan, Untalan and the Calvo's want to make this Benavente crook a bishop then it shows how deep the corruption runs in he island. It's disgusting!

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  5. Diana I have some interesting news to tell you you know cardinal Burke he wasn't supposed to be here he wasn't even the judge for the canonical trial of archbishop Anthony I don't know who was the actual judge of archbishop Anthony but according to crux news is where I got the information

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  6. 3:48 it is documented with Benavente laundering all the funds. It was in Umatuna couple of years ago. Half million plots given for free and church funds use for his lavish anniversary party.

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  7. Free plots for family and friends of Benavente

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  8. So Benavente launders and embezzles church money and he is in charge of church patrimony ?

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  9. Diana Timmy is already coming out because he just posted a blog post saying that it was them who did this and now he's trying to discredit them now because he can't accept the truth by discredit them I mean lastampa

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    1. Dear God is one,

      Tim Rohr has not been able to refute the Vatican Insider. He spent one page on the statistics of Catholicism in Oceania, on whether Archbishop Apuron suspended himself or not, and why the Hotel Accion went broke.....who cares!

      Then he stated: "“The Japanese owners refused Lujan’s offer” of FIVE MILLION but accepted Apuron’s offer of TWO MILLION?? Does anyone believe that?"

      Whether it is believable or not is not the question. The question was did David Lujan offer 5 million dollars on behalf of these Chinese investor?. The Guam Daily Post even asked David Lujan the same question. According to the Guam Daily Post:

      "Lujan was traveling yesterday and said he couldn't comment immediately because he hadn't read the story."

      He cannot answer whether he offered 5 million dollars because he did not read the whole story?? Really??? I would think that he would remember offering 5 million dollars to someone even if he had not read the story.

      Furthermore, the fact that Archbishop Hon was removed from the congregation AFTER the publication of Vatican Insider showed that Vatican Insider had substantial evidence on Archbishop Hon's inappropriate behavior.

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    2. Yep. All Timmy did was deny and deflect. He can't come out straight and say there were no Chinese investors and no 5 million dollar offer. He has to go around in circles trying to explain why the hotel went bankrupt. Even Lujan couldn't give the Guam post a straight answer. You know why? Cuz Vatican Insider has the testimonies of the Japanese owners.

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  10. Diana, Tim has posted his refutation of the La Stampa article today. I am not one to believe what he posts, but how did he obtain a copy of Cardinal Filoni's letter to CoAB Byrnes? There is one thing thing Tim got wrong regarding Hon and the Samoan Bishops. Hon KNEW about one of the Samoan Bishops decision to recall his seminarians back home. Hon knew from so-called sources. He was in contact with the other Samoan Bishop. However, Hon told these Bishops not to make any decisions until he completed his report on the RMS seminary which was still in progress at the time he was informed of the news. At that time, no date was set or known of their departure when Hon suddenly met personally and questioned the seminarians from both Samoas. Unfortunately, some of those seminarians were not in favor of the style of formation offered at RMS which was clear in that ad hoc report.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 5:07 pm, 

      There has always been a mole in the chancery. How did he get a copy of Cardinal Filoni's letter to Archbishop Byrnes, you ask? The same way he got a recording from a closed clergy meeting.

      As for the ad hoc report from Father Jeff, there were a lot of false things in that report, so I would not put a lot of weight on it. For example, the report recommended that the seminary be accredited by WASC. The seminary was accredited by the Lateran University in Rome, and the committee who put that report together actually thinks that WASC is higher than the Pope's University??? What is wrong with that picture???

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    2. I, too, found that report to be bogus and bias. Of those Samoan seminarians that were recalled to their respective dioceses, two of them still remain in Samoa after a year and a few months of their removal from RMS. They should've been in Rome by now to continue their studies and formation but nothing as of yet. It's sad how misinformation and hidden agendas have caused them to suffer this terrible injustice of being removed from the Seminary through no fault of their own. If only Rome could intervene in their situation some way, some how.

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    3. I wouldn't trust Hon's words about what he said about the Samoan seminarians. It's obvious that he is against the Way. His removal from the congregation showed that the Pope wasn't happy with how Hon handled the situation. I tend to believe Vatican Insider. I was there when Hon said he has all the power. If he can say that to the Catholic faithful, then he can tell the seminarians to either obey AB Apuron or an archbishop invested with the powers of God.

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  11. Lujan, Rohr and their subordinates like Jeff, mike, james CCOG etc will painfully ignore the article hoping to will go away and will always deny deny deny.

    The fact is that ALL THE VATICAN OFFICES ARE AWARE OF THE ARTICLE AND will act accordingly. Be prepared for more from Rome!

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  12. Diana you should look at patty arroyo and her gang because she read it out loud on the radio

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  13. Yes...patty arroyo a big part of all this because her part on media (fake news) using the media to spread evil...
    Shame on her!!!

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    1. Dear God is one and anonymous at 6:49 am,

      Patti Arroyo was also the one who suggested that the removal of Father Paul was due the NCW. She is not an objective reporter.

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    2. Diana @ 7:31 AM: Here are 2 big FYIs: (1) Patti Arroyo does not claim to be a "reporter" who must be "objective." (2) Patti Arroyo is a personality on a talk show program.

      There is a big difference. The few times Patti that reads news stories as part of her program she is reading a report written by others. So she really is not a "reporter" (the one who gathers the facts and writes the report). At best she's a news report reader.

      Her job as a talk show personality is to say things that will generate discussion. And based on the complaints about her on this blog Patti Arroyo is doing her job really well. She made that comment in 2013 and people are still writing about it today.
      LOL

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 9:17 am,

      She did not generate discussion. She started a false gossip.

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    4. Whose job is it to verify facts? Whose job is it to determine the truth?

      Obviously people are going to go with easy to recall information rather than actually taking the time to think critically. People "should" be smart enough or better yet "humble" enough to ask questions and search for the truth. But we live in a reality where some people don't want to or care to do so.

      Can we really blame Patti for bringing up gossip as a discussion point when she's just doing her job to make the show interesting enough to generate followers?

      What about those in charge of educating the community? Why don't we ask THEM why THEY aren't teaching or encouraging "critical thought"? Why don't we ask THEM why they aren't telling or showing by example why we shouldn't stop at surface level assumptions?

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    5. Dear Anonymous at 3:48 pm,

      Gossip is not even close to critical thinking. Since when has gossip been a job? The last I heard, it was a sin.

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    6. Even if P Arroyo is a "personality " on radio, she should have common decency and basic human respect to at the least speak the TRUTH.

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  14. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2017/09/29/0641/01418.html

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    1. Diana this is what their doing just trying to protect father Paul Monsignor James and patti arroyo look at their round about when we talk about father Paul they get affended when we talk about Monsignor the same thing I see it because they know the truth about them

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  15. Diana you should even see what the pope did for this past angelus address because he did the angelus address outside of the apostolic apartment with the people so like what we do is approved

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  16. Diana look at this saying by el papa Francisco Be sinners on a journey, not 'sitting sinners', Pope says






    Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square. April 30, 2016. Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy
    Mary Rezac
    Bologna, Italy, Oct 1, 2017 / 01:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In his homily on Sunday, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to be sinners on a journey, always working towards conversion and repentance, rather than “sitting sinners” who are closed off to the Lord.

    His reflection was based on the parable in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus asks the people about two sons - one who initially refuses to do his father’s will but then does it anyway, and one who says he will do his father’s will but then does not.

    “...there is a big difference between the first child, who is lazy, and the second, who is hypocritical,” the Pope said.

    Pope Francis gave his homily at Mass on Sunday during his day trip to the northern Italian cities of Bologna and Cesena. During the trip, he met with various groups including religious, workers, students and migrants.


    “Let's imagine what happened inside them,” Francis said, referring to the sons in the parable.

    “In the heart of the first, after no, his father's invitation again resounded; in the second, however, despite saying yes, the voice of his father was buried.”

    This ultimate rejection of the father’s will made the second son’s heart “impermeable to the voice of God and conscience, and so he had embraced a double life without any problems.”

    Rather than living double and hypocritical lives, we need to recognize that while we are sinners, we can choose to repent, the Holy Father said.

    “...we can choose to be sinners on a journey, who are listening to the Lord and when they fall they repent and rise, like the first son; or sinners sitting, always and only ready to justify ourselves with words according to what is convenient,” he said.

    Jesus originally addressed this parable to the chief priests and elders of the people, which shows us that rank does not make us holy, Pope Francis noted.


    “(The) Christian life is a humble journey of a conscience never rigid and always in relationship with God, who can repent and entrust itself to Him in its poverty, never pretending to be enough in itself,” he said.

    “The key word is to repent: it is repentance that makes it impossible to be rigid, to transform the ‘no's’ to God into ‘yes’, and the ‘yes's’ to sin into ‘no’ for the love of the Lord.”

    The Pope then asked the people to remember three “P” words on the journey: the parola (the Word of God), the pane (the Bread of Life), and the poor.

    “In all of them we find Jesus,” he said. “The Word, the Bread, the Poor: We ask for the grace to never forget these basic elements that support our path.”

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  17. I was curious when I was reading Tim Rohrs answer to the La Stampa article, particularly in regard to the Lewis Roca opinion of January 2015. SO I went to have a look at that document, which I don't think I've seen before. this is the opinion that Archbishop Apuron and others made such a big deal about, in relation to the "ownership" of the seminary property.

    Lo and behold, here is the official description of the two entities - the Archdiocese and the Seminary - according to these specialist lawyers:

    "the civil corporate structure of the canonically erected entity that is the Archdiocese of Agana is clear - it was incorporated under the laws of Guam as "Archbishop of Agana, a corporation sole". Similarly, the civil corporate structure of Redemptoris Mater is clear from the corporate documentation reviewed - its was incorporated as a non-profit incorporation with a sole member which is the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana. From the public filings, including the Articles and ByLaws, Redemptoris mater is clearly a nonprofit charitable organisation with a religious purpose under the civil laws of Guam"

    This is exactly what Tim and his friends were saying all along, but which was outright denied by the NCW inclduding Arch Apuron, Gennarini, fr Pius and most of all Diana.

    This blog is full of claims that the Redemptoris Mater is a "corporate sole". Yee it seems that these claims by the nCW were made in full knowledge that their own lawyer consultants had clearly agreed with Tim and the others.

    Now, that is shameless.

    Are you going to post a retraction to all of those claims now Diana?

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    1. Dear dear anonymous at 1:02 it says archbishop and the church is not a government entity it's not ran by the governor of Guam so the governor doesn't make the rules of the church

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