GUAM
Pacific Daily News
A top official of Guam’s Catholic church said the leadership of the Neocatechumenal Way, both here and internationally, has been advancing the group’s interests to the detriment of other Catholics on Guam.
“A personal plea to Cardinal (Fernando) Filoni and those leaders in the Neocatechumenal Way who are seeking to advance the agenda and interest of the Neocatechumenal Way — Please be merciful. Have mercy on the people of Guam,” the Rev. Jeffrey San Nicolas said Tuesday during a press conference in Hagåtña.
The archdiocese called the press conference to discuss its objections to a bill that would allow victims of child sex abuse to sue the perpetrators and the institutions they work for, including the church.
But San Nicolas talked mostly about the Neocatechumenal Way — a movement within the Catholic church whose practices sometimes are at odds with those of Guam’s traditional Catholic community.
Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who has been temporarily replaced as a result of sex abuse allegations, belongs to the group, sometimes referred to as “The Way.”
“Neither I nor Archbishop Hon is the church authority over decision-making regarding the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, even over simple matters such as who can visit. Cardinal Filoni is in charge.”
San Nicolas currently is the delegate for Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who temporarily is in charge of the local archdiocese, by order of the Vatican.
San Nicolas said the lines of authority in the Guam archdiocese are not clear because Cardinal Filoni, in Rome, and other leaders of the Neocatechumenal Way are interfering in Guam church matters.
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