Concerned Catholics Consider Legal Action

Guam Daily Post
August 22, 2016

http://www.postguam.com/news/local/concerned-catholics-consider-legal-action/article_203ac3a4-683d-11e6-ba30-f32b8bb12498.html


“It is time to return the property to the Archdiocese of Agana,” said David Sablan, newly elected president of the Concerned Catholics of Guam.

In a press conference yesterday, Aug. 22, CCOG officials responded to Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai’s recent statement regarding the ongoing dispute over the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona.

In a statement Thursday, Aug. 18, Hon reported findings presented to him and the Archdiocese’s Presbyteral Council detailing the current status of the seminary property. Hon said that while the property was “acquired” by the Archdiocese of Agana, its use had “been conceded in perpetuity to RMS and (the Blessed Diego Theological Institute).”

“Archbishop Hon’s announcement is an admittance that the seminary property is not controlled by the Archdiocese of Agana,” Sablan said. “An asset of the church worth anywhere between $40 million and $75 million was given away for free with no benefit to the local Catholic church.”

While Hon claimed that legal rights to the Yona property belong “uniquely” to the Archdiocese of Agana, Sablan and CCOG take issue with a “deed restriction” that Archbishop Anthony Apuron filed with the Department of Land Management in November 2011.

The ambiguities created by the deed restriction in regard to the actual ownership and management of the Yona property have been at the heart of tensions between church leadership and Catholic laity, especially because the declaration was made outside the limits of ecclesiastical law and against the advisement of the Archdiocesan Finance Council, Sablan said.

“It was done covertly to hide the fact that Apuron was directly conspiring against the Holy See,” Sablan said.

Hon admitted that the Holy See knew about the deed restriction and its complications more than a year ago and, in fact, ordered Apuron to rescind and annul it.

“Clearly, this instruction has not been carried out accordingly,” Hon stated.

Hon ended his Thursday statement by asking RMS Corp., a nonprofit organization under the civil law of Guam, to voluntarily renounce the Yona property and return it to the sole jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Agana.

'Do the right thing'

“We ask: Will the board of guarantors and the board of directors of RMS Corp. do the right thing and return the property?” said Sablan.

During the press conference, Sablan aired CCOG grievances with Hon’s administration and his lack of immediate action regarding the property dispute especially because Hon and the Holy See admittedly knew about the complications created by the deed restriction for more than a year, he said.

Sablan said that while CCOG hopes that RMS officials will acquiesce to Hon’s demands, they are prepared to take legal action.

“We are raising funds and we are studying that matter of going to court,” Sablan explained. “It’s just a matter of some final touches before we make that move.”

He declined to disclose details of their potential litigation and would not provide the names of potential legal representatives, but said that a number of lawyers had come forward.

When contacted for comment, representatives of the Archdiocese of Agana would only state the following: "Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, SDB issued his message of Thursday, Aug. 18 in the spirit of great hope and collaboration with all Catholics. The Church will update the faithful as it progresses in this area."