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Title : Possible Priest Shortage in Guam?
link : Possible Priest Shortage in Guam?
Possible Priest Shortage in Guam?
The following comment was made by Jokers Wild, which can be found here (the highlights are mine):
I wonder if Coadjutor Archbishop Byrnes have done any serious discernment or reflection as to why several priests prefer to be removed from incardination to this Archdiocese and several others prefer not to renew their contract and return to the Philippines.
Considering these factors, I would be careful with making ultimatums. After all, there is a shortage of Catholic priests in the U.S. and many other places; therefore, any Bishop would be glad to take them in. After all, the four local seminarians who were refused by Coadjuator Archbishop Byrnes were quickly taken into another Diocese. According to an anonymous poster (the highlight is mine):
AnonymousMarch 23, 2018 at 9:31 PMCLARIFICATION: The four Chamorro Seminarians who graduated from the Yona Seminary were college students and because they were never ordained by AB Byrnes, they never officially belonged to the Archdiocese of Agana.
In fact, here is Byrnes' statement from an October 4, 2017 article in the Guam PDN: "Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes announced on Wednesday the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, which is controlled by the Neocatechumenal Way, will close by the end of the year because its model of priest formation is not sustainable for an island like Guam." (https://ift.tt/2Jc3205)
The four Chamorro Seminarians met one on one with AB Byrnes and it was his decision not to ordain them under the Archdiocese of Agana because he felt the RMS was not the acceptable model of priest formation for Guam. Guam has lost these four Chamorro Seminarians to U.S. mainland Archdioceses during a time when Guam really needed younger priests to begin replacing some of the aging and sickly priests on Guam. Sad, Sad Decision by AB Byrnes.
The Coadjutor Archbishop stated that the RMS seminary will close because its model of priest formation is not sustainable for an island like Guam. It would be more believable if he had simply come out and stated that he was closing the seminary because he needed the money to pay the alleged victims.
The idea that the RMS seminary is unsustainable FIRST came out in the jungle on January 11, 2015, more than a year before Archbishop Byrnes was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Agana. According to Tim Rohr (highlight is mine):
Of course we managed, even thrived without a local seminary. Many dioceses, especially small ones do not have their own seminaries and for good reason. Given the small population of such dioceses it is cost prohibitive to sustain a seminary of such quality that men desirous of the priesthood should have access to.Now, fast forward more than a year later, and we find Archbishop Byrnes saying practically the same thing. According to the Pacific Daily News (highlight is mine):
"The main reason for closing the seminary is that it is just not a sustainable model for the Archdiocese of Agana," he said, adding that the RMS model envisions a type and formation of priesthood that works in a place like Denver or Miami, for example, where there are millions of Catholics.Amazing, is it not? As I pointed out earlier in my post Changing Stories. Tim Rohr changed his story before Archbishop Byrnes took the title for himself or was that a coincidence. It is also remarkable that the Coadjuator Archbishop who is new to Guam compared the existence of the RMS seminary to the population of a place or was that a coincidence.
By the way, when the media asked Archbishop Byrnes how much money the Archdiocese save after closing the seminary, he said he did not know the answer, which I find odd. One would think that before closing something down, one would already know how much money would be saved. After all, when closing down a seminary, this means that the seminarians would have to be transferred off-island, which the Archdiocese would have to pay. One would think that Archbishop Byrnes would already know the cost of sending a seminarian off-island. So, why is it that he did not know? Who kept that information from him?
According to the previous RMS Board of Directors (the highlight is mine):
The real amount of archdiocesan support to the RMS on FY 2016 was therefore only 5% of the total budget. During the last five years, the Archdiocese has contributed to priests' formation in the RMS with an annual average of 5%-8% of the total budget. Thanks to our benefactors (who, contrary to what the Report writes, have continued to donate generously), thanks to voluntary workers and especially thanks to the Divine Providence, the RMS can grant formation and lodging to our seminarias for $10,000 per year, less than one-fourth of the cost of a seminarian in U.S. mainland ($40,000 average per year). So that, since the archdiocese contributes 5 to 8% of this cost, the real cost of one seminarian studying in Guam for the Archdiocese is about $500-800 a year vs. $40,000 on the mainland.Considering this factual data, it would have been more believable had Archbishop Byrnes simply come out and stated that he was closing the seminary because he needed the money to pay for the settlement. It had nothing to do with saving the Archdiocese any money. In fact, they will now spend more money for sending even one seminarian off-island.
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