[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18643]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING TOMAS AGUON CAMACHO OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands (Mr. Sablan) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor one of the Northern Mariana 
Islands' finest individuals, Tomas Aguon Camacho. The Most Reverend 
Tomas Aguon Camacho is the first bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Born to Maria Borja Aguon 
and Vidal Palacios Camacho on September 18, 1933, Bishop Camacho was 
ordained a priest on June 14, 1961, and was given the honorary title of 
Monsignor in 1974. On January 13, 1985, he was installed as Bishop, the 
same time that the Northern Mariana Islands became a separate 
ecclesiastic jurisdiction from the Archdiocese of Hagatna, Guam, to 
what was and is now the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.
  As a shepherd to Catholics in the Northern Mariana Islands, which 
total approximately 80 percent of the general population, Bishop 
Camacho is looked upon by the people as a compassionate pastor, a 
humble servant and a concerned teacher to his flock. He recently 
finished translating into the vernacular the books of the New 
Testament, making the Word of God available in Chamorro, an indigenous 
language unique to the Northern Mariana Islands and to Guam. He is now 
working on the books of the Old Testament. Additionally, the Bishop has 
commissioned a group to translate the Bible in the Refalauwasch, the 
other indigenous language of the Northern Mariana Islands.
  Bishop Camacho is not only a strong spiritual leader, but he is also 
a compassionate father who tries his best to address the needs of his 
people. Bishop Camacho initiated and founded various diocesan 
commissions that, up to the present time, provide invaluable services 
to the people.
  KARIDAT Charity, for example, is a social service provider under the 
diocese serving the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota. It provides 
youth and family counseling, emergency food and shelter assistance, 
hotline and outreach assistance to victims of crime. Founded on May 5, 
1980, KARIDAT has to this day served thousands of residents. Moreover, 
in the early 1990s, through the leadership of Bishop Camacho, the 
diocese has maintained a Human Rights Advocacy Office. This office was 
instrumental in protecting the rights of foreign workers and upholding 
the church's social teachings.
  However, due to founding constraints, the office was closed in the 
late 1990s. Over the years, Bishop Camacho has guided the faithful in 
facing major community issues by releasing pastoral letters on casino 
gambling, human trafficking, substance abuse, abortion and their impact 
on individual and family values. Mr. Zaldy Dandan, the editor of a 
local newspaper, The Marianas Variety, described Bishop Camacho as 
``the island's most trusted, most revered and most beloved public 
figure, an exemplary representative of the One, Holy, Catholic, and 
Apostolic Church. He is the soul of Saipan, the conscience of the 
island, and the pride of the Northern Marianas.''
  In October of 2008, the Northern Mariana Islands Council for the 
Humanities presented Bishop Tomas A. Camacho its Lifetime Achievement 
in the Humanities award for his efforts in preserving the Chamorro 
language. Having tendered his resignation last year at the age of 75 as 
required by the law of the church, Bishop Camacho is now waiting for 
Pope Benedict XVI's appointment of our next bishop, pastor and friend.
  Forty-eight years a priest and now 24 years in the Episcopacy, Bishop 
Camacho, the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, and the people of the Northern 
Mariana Islands will have to look back at the years and hear the Master 
say, ``Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have shown you are 
trustworthy in small things, I will trust you with greater, and join 
your Master's happiness,'' Matthew chapter 25 verse 21. Only God knows 
what greater things there are that are beyond what Bishop Tomas A. 
Camacho has attained. Only God knows.

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