[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 166 (Monday, November 22, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2529-E2530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          DEDICATION OF THE MONSIGNOR OSCAR LUJAN CALVO MUSEUM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 22, 1999

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, as you know, December 7, 1941, and the 
Attack on Pearl Harbor mark our nation's entry into World War II. For 
the people of Guam, the war began on December 8th, the Roman Catholic 
Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the patron saint of the United 
States.
  This year, on December 8th, we in Guam will again celebrate the Feast 
of the Immaculate Conception. We will recall the Japanese Invasion of 
Guam and we will give thanks for our deliverance and for the peace that 
has reigned on our island since the end of World War II. This year our 
celebrations will also include an historic first: the Archdiocese of 
Agana will dedicate its new museum and name it in honor of a native 
son, the Very Reverend Monsignor Oscar Lujan Calvo, the third Chamorro 
to be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest and the only one to date to 
reach his 58th anniversary in the priesthood.
  It is a fitting tribute to a man who has spent a lifetime serving the 
Church and contributing not only to the moral and spiritual welfare of 
the faithful in Guam but also to the knowledge about who we are as a 
people. indeed, the museum which will bear his name will also house 
many of the historic documents, books, publications, photographs, and 
artifacts that he has carefully collected and lovingly preserved over 
many, many years. Known more commonly as Pale' `Oscat, and more 
affectionately as ``Pale' Scot,'' Monsignor Oscar Lujan Calvo is 
himself an historic figure not only in the history of the Roman 
Catholic Church in Guam but also in the history of Guam itself.
  Born in Hagatna on August 2, 1915, Monsignor Calvo first attended 
school in Guam and, at age thirteen, entered the San Jose Preparatory 
Seminary in the Philippines. He returned home thirteen years later and 
was ordained on April 5, 1941, joining Father Jose Palomo and Father 
Jesus Duenas, the only other Chamorros in the Catholic priesthood. He 
celebrated his first Mass on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1941. Eight 
months later, on December 8, Japanese Imperial Forces attacked Guam.
  In an interview several years ago, Monsignor Calvo related many of 
his experiences during the Japanese Occupation of Guam, including 
conducting secret Masses in direct defiance of occupation regulations 
forbidding him and Guam's two other men of the cloth, Father Jesus Baza 
Duenas and Baptist minister, the Reverend Joaquin Sablan, from 
practicing their faiths. In that interview, Monsignor Calvo spoke about 
his concern for the many valuable church records and artifacts at the 
Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral in Hagatna. When the occupying forces 
began to use the cathedral for their own purposes, Monsignor Calvo 
secretly removed the church valuables to a

[[Page E2530]]

safer location away from the capital city. After the war, he went to 
retrieve them, only to discover that the secret hiding place and all it 
contained had been destroyed in intense American bombardment of Guam. 
Lost forever were the records of births, deaths and marriages dating 
back to the 1700s. Perhaps it was the sorrow over this immense loss 
that inspired Pale' `Scot to become such an avid collector of artifacts 
and written materials about Guam and its people.
  Whatever the reason may be, Monsignor Calvo bore no animosity toward 
the Americans who fought valiantly to recapture Guam, destroying much 
in the process, nor toward the Japanese who precipitated the 
destruction. In fact, the good monsignor worked hard after the war to 
heal the wounds. Despite criticisms from U.S. veterans groups, he 
played a major role in the establishment of the Guam Peace Memorial 
Park, funded entirely by private Japanese donations and dedicated in 
tribute to Japanese and Chamorro war dead. In recognition of his 
efforts to promote peace, friendship and goodwill, the Japanese 
Government conferred upon him its distinguished Order of the Rising Sun 
with gold and silver rays. He was the first American to receive this 
prestigious award.
  Monsignor Calvo also has been an Honorary Papal Chamberlain since 
1947. He is a knight in the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. 
John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta, with the title of Magistral 
Chaplain in 1977. In 1991 he was enrolled in the Guma Honra, the Guam 
Hall of Fame, for his remarkable social, spiritual and civic 
contributions to the people of Guam.
  With the dedication of the Monsignor Oscar Lujan Calvo Museum on 
December 8, 1999, future generations of students of Guam history will 
owe a debt of gratitude to Pale' and his diligent efforts to preserve, 
protect, and promote Chamorro culture and history and to share his 
collection. I join the people of Guam in celebrating the opening of the 
new museum. I look forward to visiting it and to viewing Pale' `Scot's 
collections, much of which will be publicly displayed for the first 
time. And to Pale', I want to say: ``Si Yu'os ma'ase, Pale', nu todo i 
che'cho'-mu put i estudion i fina 'posta-ta, i setbisiu-mu para i 
tano'-ta yan i dedikasion-mu para i Gima' Yu'os.
  We are inspired by your works, grateful for your advocacy and deeply 
appreciative of your service to our island.

                          ____________________