Apuron decree bans Catholic group

By Louella Losinio
Guam Daily Post
June 7, 2016

http://www.postguam.com/news/local/apuron-decree-bans-catholic-group/article_dbcac650-2c7e-11e6-a3db-132ebc256cbe.html

Archbishop Anthony Apuron has issued a decree branding the Concerned Catholics of Guam as a “prohibited society” and forbidding all members of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Agana from associating with the organization.

Archbishop Anthony Apuron issued a decree Sunday branding the Concerned Catholics of Guam (CCOG) as a “prohibited society” and forbidding all members of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Agana from associating with the organization.

Apuron said in the decree that the organization has assumed the name and use of the term “Catholic” without the consent of a competent ecclesiastical authority, as required by law.

But, according to David Sablan, CCOG vice president, the word "Catholic" in the organization’s title refers to the faithful who call themselves Catholic – the laity of the church.

“We are not an organization of the Archdiocese of Agana. Otherwise, we would have to have the blessing and sanction of the archbishop. We know that,” Sablan told the Post.

Sablan said if they were to call themselves the "Catholic Society of Guam" or the "Catholic Organization of Guam," then the use of the term "Catholic" would need the approval of the archbishop.

“But that is not how we are using that term. We are identifying ourselves as Catholics – persons who are baptized Catholics, bound together for a common purpose which is not related to associations needing the approval of the appropriate ecclesiastical authority (the Archbishop of Agana) as defined in Canon Law,” he said.

Apuron accused the organization of “actively promoting opposition, both ad hoc and organized, public and private, to legitimate acts of ecclesiastical governance,” and “instigating manifest and public opposition” to the archbishop, whom the decree said, “they are obliged to preserve communion with.”

Malicious

The organization was also accused of “soliciting and disseminating fraudulent or otherwise malicious allegations against the archbishop.”

According to the decree, which was released June 5, “All members of the faithful in and of this archdiocese, clerical or lay, are to avoid association with the organization; refrain from signing, or otherwise promoting, acts or other measures of that organization; renounce membership, or any other position, within that organization; and refrain from speaking, publicly or privately, on behalf of the organization.”

Sablan said the group last year requested to officially meet with the archbishop on at least a couple of occasions to discuss their purpose and objectives. But he said Apuron never granted them the audience.

The provisions of the decree are to take effect at midnight, Tuesday, June 14. However, Sablan said with the appointment of Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon as apostolic administrator “sede plena” of the Archdiocese of Agana, it would be up to the new administrator whether to terminate the decree.

“That’s just my opinion. We are just an organization that wanted to help reform aspects of the church,” Sablan said.

CCOG’s mission includes reviewing the practices of the Neocatechumenal Way to determine if they are in compliance with their statutes and the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church and giving the laity an official voice in the governance of the archdiocese.

The organization also seeks to assist parishes in putting their finances in order, providing a forum, and providing representation assistance for those who have been abused by the religious and clergy in Guam, according to Post files.