[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 17, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1916-E1917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CAPUCHINS IN GUAM AND HAWAII

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 17, 2001

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Capuchin 
friars of the Province of Star of the Sea as they celebrate their 
centennial anniversary of Capuchin presence in the Pacific. For the 
past 100 years, Capuchin friars have tended the faithful in our area 
through mission work, construction of churches, administration of 
parishes, establishment of parochial schools and the promotion of 
language and culture.
  This extraordinary religious community trace their origins from the 
Order founded in the twelfth century by St. Francis of Assisi. Known as 
the Franciscans or the Order of Friars Minor, this group of mendicant 
friars had grown into a large, complex institution by the sixteenth 
century. Some members came to seek a lifestyle closely resembling the 
one lived by St. Francis himself and were gradually drawn together to 
form the distinct branch of the Order we now know as the Capuchins.
  Many of the first Capuchins were attracted to contemplative prayer in 
hermitages, which they soon combined with traveling and preaching. 
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Capuchin friars came to 
be known as some of the most effective preachers and missionaries the 
world had ever seen. In their preaching, they refrained from artificial 
oratory and set forth their message with simplicity and directness 
which came from the heart. In accordance with the example set forth by 
St. Francis, the friars also became endeared for their all-embracing 
charity.
  At present about 12,000 members of the Capuchin community live and 
work in every part of the world. One third of the friars tend to the 
faithful in underdeveloped countries. In the words of Pope John Paul 
II, the Capuchins live ``a truly brotherly life based on simplicity and 
evangelical charity, open to the meaning of the universal brotherhood 
of all people and indeed of all creatures.''
  The arrival of the Capuchins on Guam in 1901 signaled an 
unprecedented growth and restructuring of the island's church and 
administration. At the time, Fr. Jose Palomo, the first Chamorro to be 
ordained to the priesthood, was the sole Catholic cleric on the island 
due to the eviction of Spanish Augustinian Recollect priests in 1899 
following the American takeover of Guam. Fathers Luis de Leon, Vicente 
de Larrasoana and Brother Samuel de

[[Page E1917]]

Aparecida, former missionaries to Yap and the Palauan Islands, came to 
Guam to assist Father Palomo.
  The Catholic church administration on Guam further developed and 
members of the Capuchin community were called to serve in a number of 
important positions. In 1911, Guam was raised to Apostolic Vicariate 
under its first resident bishop, Bishop Francisco Villa y Mateu, a 
Spanish Capuchin. As with Bishop Villa, the succeeding Apostolic Vicars 
were also to come from the Capuchin community. When Guam was raised to 
the level of Diocese in 1965, another Capuchin, Bishop Apollinaris 
Baumgartner, was named the first Bishop of the newly created Diocese of 
Agana. Earlier in 1945, Bishop Baumgartner became the first American 
bishop appointed to serve on Guam. Succeeding Archbishop Felixberto 
Flores, who was the first Chamorro bishop, Father Anthony Apuron, 
became the first local born Capuchin to be appointed Auxiliary Bishop 
in 1984. He would be named Archbishop of Agana in 1986.
  Since their arrival in 1901, the Capuchins have maintained their 
presence and consistently served the faithful on Guam. Father Roman 
Aria de Vera, who arrived on Guam in 1915, published a number of books 
on the Chamorro language and became the foremost authority on the 
subject at the time. In 1918, the Capuchin friars were called on to 
assist the sick and the dying when an influenza epidemic ravaged the 
island. Guam was briefly left without the guidance of the benevolent 
friars during the Japanese occupation during World War II when the 
local Capuchin community was exiled to Japan in 1942. They were 
returned and welcomed back to the island in 1945 after the U.S. 
liberation.
  The 1950s saw the construction of St. Fidelis Friary, the community's 
home in Agana Heights, and their assumption of control over Fr. Duenas 
Memorial School, the Guam's Catholic school for boys. By the 1980s, the 
Capuchin community on Guam was raised to the rank of Vice Province--the 
Vice Province of the Star of the Sea. They extended their work to the 
Diocese of Honolulu in 1984. The current total membership of 26 friars 
comprising of the archbishop, priests and brothers. Thirteen of the 
friars--half of the membership--are local born.
  On Saturday, October 20, 2001, a Mass will be celebrated at Guam's 
Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica to honor the centennial 
anniversary of Capuchin presence in our area. Representatives from Rome 
and several provinces of the Capuchin community will be in attendance. 
Through mission work, the administration of schools, parishes, and the 
archdiocese itself, Capuchin friars have made tremendous contributions 
to the physical and spiritual growth of our island. Mr. Speaker, I 
would like to take this occasion to commend and congratulate the 
Capuchin community and the Vice Province of the Star of the Sea for 
their excellent work and wish them the best in the years to come.

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