Yona Seminary Is a "Sham"

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
August 30, 2016

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/08/29/group-yona-seminary-sham/89527908/

[with video]

A group that has repeatedly called for the removal of Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron said on Monday, Aug. 29 that a seminary in Yona is a “sham” and should be shut down, but the seminary's rector said it will start a brand new academic year on Sept. 5 with 38 students enrolled.

Andrew J. Camacho, vice president of the Concerned Catholics of Guam, cited alleged problems and deficiencies of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, which he said include a lack of strict admission requirements, poor quality and quantity of permanent and visiting faculty, and a sole focus on the Neocatechumenal Way. There is an ongoing rift in the local Catholic church between traditional Catholics and those who follow the Neocatechumenal Way, including Apuron.

Camacho also said the seminary lacks a true vetting process for students, its priests do not serve the faithful in Guam and there is a high operational cost.

“In my opinion the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona is a sham. The beauty of its exterior masks an empty shell. This seminary should be shut down,” Camacho said during a press conference in Tamuning, Monday afternoon. The Yona property, which used to be the 100-room Accion Hotel has been valued between $40 million to $75 million.

Camacho said his group hopes that an ad hoc committee reviewing the seminaries on island will soon come up with “some very strong recommendations” regarding the seminary in Yona.

This press conference was held a week after the Concerned Catholics announced it is preparing a lawsuit to ensure the Archdiocese of Agana takes back control of the church property, which is being used for the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and the Blessed Diego Theological Institute.

A deed restriction signed by Apuron allows the seminary to use the Yona property indefinitely, but temporary Guam Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai has said the deed is unusual, and that the pope has instructed Apuron more than once to remove it.

Apuron said in a written statement dated Aug. 25 that he will not lift the deed restriction on the property in Yona. He said doing so would damage the ability of the seminary to exist and carry out its canonical mission.

Camacho said it was a surprise that Apuron would submit any kind of statement, especially because it contradicted what Hon and the Vatican have said.

The Rev. Pius Sammut, rector of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, said the seminary's academic year 2016-2017 will start as usual.

He said of the 38 enrolled students, 22 are from the RM Seminary in Guam, three from John Paul II Seminary in Guam, seven from the Diocese of Kiribati, two from Pago Pago, American Samoa, one from Dallas and one from Vancouver Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

The seminary, according to Sammut, has eight permanent professors, five adjunct professors and 13 visiting professors.

“For the academic year 2016-2017 we foresee some slight changes since some of our former students, ordained as priests for the Diocese of Agana, are completing their studies at the Lateran University in Rome and will acquire soon the titles of Licentiate and Doctorate,” Sammut said. “They will be coming back shortly to be part of the Institute Faculty.”

Sammut said as invited professors during the previous years, the Redemptoris Mater Seminary had the honor to have scholars of international prestige “like Cardinal Josef Cordes, Prof. Etienne Nodet, the late Prof. Emiliano Jimenez, the late Prof. Jean Galot, Bishop Charles Morerod, and Prof. Bruno Esposito, among others.”

Comparing seminaries

The Concerned Catholics of Guam said a brief look at a true, properly functioning seminary such as St. Patrick’s Seminary in California shows a stark contrast with Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

At the St. Patrick’s Seminary, for example, the bachelor of arts completion degree program is designed primarily for those men who wish to study for the priesthood but do not have the required college background, said Camacho. He said at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, the qualifications are not clear.

“A reliable source who has seen things from the inside said no records for the seminarians can be found. This raises so many questions, which can be answered by one statement: The Redemptoris Mater Seminary is a sham,” Camacho said.

He said the seminary in Yona does not come close to meeting the standard of requiring students to undergo psychological screening, which he said increases potential to admit seminarians with psychological problems.

As for another seminary in Malojloj, Camacho said he believes it’s a boarding house or dormitory for a few seminarians who go to the seminary in Yona.

“And at one point I was thinking a kind of an analogy. If a person is living at the dorms at UOG, but goes to GCC every day for classes, at the end of four years can he say I’ve earned my UOG diploma? I don’t think so. It’s almost the same situation,” Camacho said.

Camacho also said when a seminarian from RM Seminary completes his studies, he will have earned the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree but he said this is questionable due in part to the faculty or lack of faculty.

He said RMS lists several permanent professors, many of them are not on island. He said the seminary also has a very extensive list of visiting professors who come to Guam for an average of 10 days.

“This is not what you would expect from a permanent faculty. Then we have to consider the credentials of the faculty,” he said.

Camacho added that the seminary in Yona is also below par compared to other Redemptoris Mater Seminaries in the U.S. mainland. He said in Guam, Apuron did not require seminarians to be well educated.

“Is RMS a seminary for Guam? Absolutely not. According to the articles of incorporation, the purpose of RMS is to form priests following the life and practice of the Neocatechumenal Way. The number of local Catholics in the NCW is quite small. Why would there be a need for so many NCW priests? What about the vast majority of local Catholics?” he said.

Camacho said of 17 priests produced by the seminary in Yona in the last few years, seven are serving local parishes, two are at the seminary itself, eight are not in Guam, some are serving in other countries and the status of others is unknown.

He also said running the seminary in Yona costs about $1 million annually, and approximately $200,000 of that comes from the Archdiocese of Agana.

“What do we get for our ‘investment’? Poorly formed priests? Priests working in other countries? And for the ‘missing priests, it is just money down the drain,” Camacho said. “If we must have a seminary it must be a fully accredited diocesan seminary to properly form local priests for our local parishes, for our local Catholics.”

The Concerned Catholics of Guam’s mission is summed up by the words “Return, Restore, Resign.”

Camacho said the seminary in Yona must be returned to the Archdiocese of Agana; Father Paul Gofigan and Mons. James Benavente must be restored to their former positions; and Apuron must resign.

“Does Guam actually need a seminary? Would it be more cost effective to send our men to accredited institutions of priestly formation? Wouldn’t they be better-formed priests? If we must have a seminary it must be fully accredited diocesan seminary to properly form local priests for our local parishes, for our local Catholics,” Camacho said.