GUAM
KUAM
Updated: Sep 22, 2016
By Nestor Licanto
One of the most outspoken critics of Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the Neocatechumenal Way spoke before the Rotary Club. Tim Rohr laid out his view of the complex controversy now gripping the local church.
Rohr has chronicled the many twists-and-turns of the apparent civil war between the traditionalists and the so-called “NeoCats” on his blog, JungleWatch. Central to the dispute is the now-replaced Archbishop Apuron, who Rohr blames for multiple transgressions: from handing over control of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary to the Way, to the removal of rival priests for an eventual Neo-friendly successor.
But in Rohr’s view, it is the lifting of the veil on a decades-old sexual abuse scandal that is transforming the ripples of dissent into angry waves. He says for too long the church hierarchy has taken advantage of local Catholics who have been reluctant to speak out.
As an example, he told the story of a woman – now in her 60’s – that was raped by a priest when she was a teenager, but ended up getting scolded when she told her mother. “She said, ‘I told you not to go there alone.’ The mother knew that this is what the priest does. That’s why she warned her not to go to the reverend. We have a lot of that going on,” Rohr detailed.
Rohr says the alleged rapist is still a pastor on Guam, but times are changing. In recent months several former altar boys have come forward about being abused by clergy, including Apuron. There are also weekly protests in front of the Cathedral Basilica demanding Apuron to be ousted – more signs Rohr believes that the Catholic faithful are no longer afraid to rise up and hold church leaders accountable.
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