Archbishop Gives Deacon New Deadline to Cut Ties with Concerned Catholics Group

By Janela Carrera
Pacific News Center
December 23, 2014

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/guam/item/1375-archbishop-gives-deacon-new-deadline-to-cut-ties-with-concerned-catholics-group

Guam - Just a few days after Deacon Steve Martinez was practically fired as a Deacon of the Church, Archbishop Anthony Apuron has decided to reinstate him.

In a letter Deacon Steve Martinez wrote to his supporters, he announced that just a few days after he was censured by the Church as Deacon, he was reinstated. However, Deacon Martinez notes that he’s not out of the woods yet.

Instead, Archbishop Anthony Apuron gave him a new deadline of January 19 to cut ties with the Concerned Catholics of Guam, a new organization whose mission is to investigate the Archdiocese of Agana and to provide a forum for concerned Catholics who feel they have been mistreated by the Church.

Last week, after failing to meet a 24-hour deadline to leave the group, Deacon Martinez accepted Archbishop Apuron’s punishment.

And now Deacon Martinez’s sudden reinstatement and new deadline appears to coincide with big events also slated for January. The Archdiocese is expecting a pastoral visit from three Vatican officials next month, the Papal Nuncio Archbishop Martin Krebs, the secretary for the Vatican Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, and Father Tadeusz Nowak.