New or Infrequent Visitor

If you are new to this blog or not a frequent visitor, you may have the feeling of having just walked into the middle of an argument and feel at a loss for bearings. In fact, you have - walked into the middle of an argument. 

Most blogs post a story as a single post and then move on. This blog has become one long story with each post dealing with the next episode of that story and the comments often directing where the story goes. For now, it is necessary to proceed in this manner so as not to stifle the conversation that we are all finding so interesting. 

The main reason we are finding it interesting is because our major opponents in this story, the neocatechumenals - with their private liturgies, closed communities, hidden catechism, and generally separatist ways - are, in the context of the comments on this blog, telling us much about their beliefs and practices, and much that we would not otherwise know through normal inquiry. 

So we will continue to let the conversation flow. But to help those who are just wandering in. Here's some context.

In July of 2013, Archbishop Apuron, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana, demanded the resignation of the much respected and well-liked pastor of Santa Barbara Parish, Fr. Paul Gofigan.

The archbishop's charge against Fr. Paul, (that he had not terminated an employee as previously ordered) was not only proven to be wrong, the archbishop, in his haste to be rid of Fr. Paul, violated the provisions of Canon Law required for the removal of pastors. 

Fr. Paul, as was his canonical right, retained a canon lawyer and has appealed the archbishop's action against him. The case is currently before the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome and is awaiting a hearing. 

In addition, Fr. Paul was not only fired as pastor, he was removed as Director of Vocations and Director of Diaconate Formation. AND he was also effectively ex-cardinated, having been told to go find another bishop. 

These actions were sudden, vicious, canonically illegal, and so "out of the blue", that it caused many to question if the archbishop had an ulterior motive, especially given that Fr. Paul was immediately able to produce a letter showing he had terminated the employee as ordered two years previously. 

This suspicion of an ulterior motive was heightened by the fact that even with the evidence Fr. Paul had produced - that he had obeyed the earlier directive, the archbishop changed the charge against Fr. Paul and proceeded with his actions against him. 

To understand why the archbishop acted so viciously and has persisted in the removal of Fr. Paul despite the evidence that his charge was false, one must read the account against the backdrop of the presence and influence of the Neocatechumenal Way in this archdiocese for the last two decades and particularly its influence over the archbishop. 

The Neocatechumenal Way is supposed to be a particular method of adult Catholic formation, similar to Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). But "supposed to be" are the operative words. The Neocatechumenal Way regularly flaunts Vatican authority, especially in its celebration of the "eucharist." 

In 2006, Archbishop Apuron, already a member of the Way - as they refer to themselves - took a public stance against Rome and the universal Church and sided with the leaders of the Way on a dispute over the way the NCW celebrated its eucharist. In short, Apuron questioned the credentials of the Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship who spoke in the name of the pope and who had asked the Way to conform its liturgy to the liturgical books. 

This was a major act of defiance: i.e. bishop tells pope NO. Of course Apuron was only echoing what the leaders of the Way had already themselves told the pope, but Apuron's act, being a bishop (the leaders of the Way are only lay persons), was huge, and it attracted major media attention in Rome. But it also attracted major attention here at home, leading to an open protest in front of the Agana Cathedral in April of 2008. 

With Apuron's defiance, the Archdiocese of Agana unofficially split into neo and non-neo factions, neo and non-neo priests, with the archbishop beginning what some priests refer to as a "reign of terror". 

In the middle of this was Fr. Paul, not because he wanted to be, but simply because he was pastor of the largest parish on the island. Fr. Paul did not oppose the Way, but he did demand that they conform the liturgies to the liturgical books as already required by Rome which was further required by their own Statute as approved in 2008. 

Because Fr. Paul's parish was the biggest "peach" (numbers equal money and power), and because he was its pastor, it was only a matter of time before he got "the letter". And so he did. 

The archbishop, never having his power questioned for nearly three decades, did not expect Fr. Paul to stand up to him, nor did he expect a layman like me to dare publicize the atrocities against Fr. Paul and others. 

Where this will end up, we don't know. It really doesn't matter at this point. What is important is that whoever is bishop, and whoever is pastor, knows that the laity want their clergy to be accountable, that they are not feudal lords, that we are not vassals, that we are the "active participation of the laity" they say they want. Well here we are. 

The archbishop and his neo-conferrers are, for the most part (we think) keeping quiet, probably hoping we will go away. But the neo-defenders are out in force, attacking wherever and however they can. And in so doing, tell us who they really are. 

And that's the "conversation" you have just waded into. Good luck.