GUAM
KUAM
by Jolene Toves
Guam – Today was moving day for Monsignor James Benavente who has been asked to leave his home of 20 years following his removal as rector of the Agana Cathedral.
This past Sunday’s cathedral bulletin – said it all a picture of a church divided and the quote “for the lesser road was chosen”. Today the controversy within the Catholic community continues as Monsignor Benavente was kicked out of the cathedral rectory – a place he called home for two decades.
His supporters and close friends like Jon Jr Calvo were in Hagatna today, helping him move out. He said, “For anybody to be uprooted after 20 years here at the Cathedral Basilica this is home for him it is home for many of the parishioners so to be abruptly removed at this time is very surprising so we wish him the best and we want to assure him that our prayers and support will always be there for him.”
It was two weeks ago Archbishop Anthony Apuron shocked the local Catholic community. He removed Monsignor Benavente from his position as the rector of the Archdiocese of Agana and as director of the Catholic Cemeteries. The archbishop took it another step further shutting down the Cathedral Museum, a project the monsignor oversaw religiously to fruition.
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