GUAM
KUAM
by Jolene Toves
Guam – The debate continues over who holds control over the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona. Wednesday we shared the responses of Archdiocese of Agana chancellor Father Adrian Cristobal in regards to the seminary his responses have left the Concerned Catholics of Guam dumbfounded as they believe his statements are “flat out lies and the proof is in the paper trail”.
Dave Sablan, CCOG vice president, said, “You got to look at the connection between deed of restriction and what that property can be used for a seminary and so it can be restricted to that he has assigned it by the decree but you connect it over to then what is this company suppose to do and how are they deciding the issues relating to their work you look at the makeup of the board because the board decides everything the policies of how they are to operate and what it can do with that property and you will find that the archbishop is just one of four individuals”. In Father Adrian’s response to KUAM News he states that it was the Archdiocese Finance Council who wanted to alienate the seminary and sell it to cover the debt incurred by the catholic cemeteries, however the CCOG contends that this is not the case and alleges that Archbishop Anthony Apuron secretly made the declaration to assign the property over to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary Corporation in November 2011.
“That’s not true,” he stated. “Mr. Richard Untalan is a member of the Finance Council, Mr. Joe Rivera is a member of the Finance Council – before both have confirmed to us personally that they advised against the alienation of that property they sought legal opinion from the archdiocesan attorney and all opined that alienation assignment the words may be different but they mean the same thing.”
And while Father Adrian is adamant that Archbishop Apuron retains control over the seminary and it remains an asset of the Archdiocese of Agana the CCOG says the paper trail shows otherwise. “The property was definitely assigned to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary Corporation if you read articles nine and ten of the articles of incorporation of that company or organization it specifically states that there are four guarantors one of them is the archbishop,” he said.
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