GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana
November 8, 2016
Congratulatory Message from Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, SDB
At the vigil of All Saints’ Day, the Holy See made public that His Holiness, Pope Francis, appointed the Most Reverend Michael Jude Byrnes, Coadjutor Archbishop, with Special Faculties, of the Archdiocese of Agaña. The Catholic faithful are grateful to the Holy Father for this appointment and also to Archbishop Byrnes for his acceptance.
I have spoken by phone with Coadjutor Archbishop Byrnes and on behalf of all the Catholic faithful in Guam, the clergy, religious, and laity, I convey our heartfelt congratulations on his appointment as well as our warmest welcome, assuring that he will certainly be in our prayers.
As instructed, Archbishop Byrnes has all the Faculties, Rights, and Obligations of the Archbishop of Agaña, civilly and ecclesiastically, without any exception.
One is never a bishop on one’s own, but always and only in the College of Bishops. Moreover the latter cannot be enclosed in the time of a single generation. The interweaving of all generations, the living Church of every epoch, is part of collegiality. It is the mission of a bishop to preserve this Catholic communion. In this regard, the Lord made St Peter and his Successors responsible for being the visible foundation and center of this communion.
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