NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Every year, at some point during at least one of my classes I'll mention the name "Janet Benshoof." It isn't a name commonly known on Guam, at least among the general population, but it was a name that was notorious for a short period in the early 1990s, and one that probably deserves more attention. Janet Benshoof was the ACLU attorney who came to Guam to lead the fight against the strictest and harshest anti-choice, anti-abortion law within the US and its empire as of 1990. She was the only person arrested under that harsh anti-abortion law that made national headlines. Reading her obituary though I saw that her work was truly international, joining causes for the betterment of women's lives across the globe. In her obit below from the New York Times there is even a section that deals with her time in Guam and a quote from Former Governor of Guam Joseph Ada. One day I'm gonna write an article about that time in Guam's History, because it represents

I normally only consider the Catholic Church on Guam in historical terms, as Guam for the past few centuries has been a very Catholic space. I think about the Catholic Church as being a colonizer and eventually being a structure that Chamorros became intimately tied to and saw as being a guarantor of their identities. I see the Catholic Church today as being something which is deeply tied to Chamorro culture and most of its manifestations, but as much of my research is historical the contemporary politics of Chamorro culture and Catholicism aren't as pertinent. But because of all the drama locally regarding the Concerned Catholics of Guam and their campaign against the Archbishop and his Neo-Cat flock, I am now paying more attention to Catholic politics. I came across this article about the crisis the Catholic Church is facing in the United States and I wonder how it might be connected to the drama in Guam. ****************** Pope Francis Will Visit US Catholic Church Facing

Ti katoliko yu', gof ti katoliko yu'. Lao hu komprende na hagas gof tahdong i hinenggen katoliko gi kutturan Chamoru. Put este, ti hu despresia i Chamorro siha ni' manmanhohongge gi i gima'yu'us katoliko. Para meggai na Chamorro siha, yan-niha i gima'yu'us katoliko ti put i pinayon-niha ha', lao yan-niha sa' ti gof mappot luma'la katoliko giya Guahan. Guaha meggai na areklamento gi i gima'yu'us, lao ti manstriku. Guaha misa, gupot yan dinana' siha, ya este i Chamorro ma gof gogosa. Achokka' mumosmisa hao un biahi kada sakkan, katotoliko ha'. Ya gaigaige ha' i kustumbre siha achokka' tataigue ha' hao gi i gima'yu'us. I halacha' na yinaoyao gi gima'yu'us put i tinilaika siha desde un nuebu na gurupu umannok gi halom i gima'yu'us. Ti hu gof komprende i chi-na siha este na mimu. Lao hu tungo' na meggai manlinayo' put i bidada-na i Maga'obispo. Ti ha fa'taotaotao hun i taota