GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Joe R. San Agustin April 23, 2016
Archbishop Anthony Apuron claims that his deed of restriction, filed secretly with the Department of Land Management, in November 2011, did not transfer ownership and control of the seminary property in Yona. Not true. In my analysis, the advancement of the NeoCatechumenal Way’s agenda and the enthronement of its cultic religion on the Catholics of Guam is at the center of all this hoopla.
The Way, in the mid- to late-1990s, convinced Apuron that a seminary in Guam will enhance his leadership of the Church in the Pacific region. Thus, the establishment of a Redemptoris Mater Seminary … in Guam in December 1999 became a necessary prelude.
Serendipitously, the former Accion Hotel was put up for sale at a very low price of $2 million. Its value today, however, has been pegged at between $40 million and $75 million. The Archdiocese of Agana took out a bank loan to buy that property, which was shortly thereafter paid in full by a donor.
The archdiocese now has a seminary fully paid for, with The Way operating it. The title to the seminary property, however, was not in the name of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary corporation, something The Way wanted done to ensure perpetual ownership of the property.
In September 2011, the Archdiocesan Finance Council was asked by Apuron to agree to the transfer, since the council’s consent was required, as well as Vatican concurrence. The council voted against the transfer; Vatican approval/concurrence was not obtained. Even the archdiocese’s own legal counsel at that time advised against the transfer.
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