Pioneer promoter of the CHamoru language. Father Roman Maria de Vera (1878 – 1959), a Catholic missionary on Guam from 1915 until 1941, was one of the first important writers in the CHamoru language.
Father Roman de Vera Read Post »
Father Marcian Pellet (1909 – 1996), OFM Cap. was a Capuchin missionary, artist, sculptor, and amateur archaeologist. He spent 57 years dedicated to the Catholic Church in the Mariana Islands, almost four of those years in a civilian Prisoner of War camp in Japan during World War II. His artistic works grace several locations in Guam.
Father Jesus Baza Duenas (1911 – 1944) was the second CHamoru to be ordained a priest. He led the Catholic Church during the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II and was later killed by the Japanese in July of 1944.
Father Jesus Baza Duenas Read Post »
In April 1898, war broke out between Spain and the United States. On 21 June 1898, Lieutenant Colonel Juan Marina, Spanish Governor of the Mariana Islands, surrendered Guam to the control of Captain Henry Glass of the US Navy.
Expulsion of the Augustinian Recollects Read Post »
For almost 300 years, the Spanish overseas Catholic missions took firm root in the Marianas. Spanish clergy and superiors — Jesuit, Augustinian Recollect or Capuchin — governed the Catholic Church in the Marianas. However, on 26 October 1945, that era came to a close with the departure of Miguel Angel Olano Urteaga, OFM Cap., the last Spanish bishop of Guam.
Bishop Miguel Angel Urteaga Olano Read Post »
Francisco Javier Vilá y Mateu (1851 – 1913) was the first missionary bishop of Guam. He was born Ricardo Vilá y Mateu in the Catalonian town of Arenys de Mar in Spain on 9 May 1851.
Bishop Francisco Javier Vilá Read Post »
The period between 1907 and 1911 when German Catholic missionaries were officially in charge of Guam is a relatively unfamiliar time in the history of the island’s Catholic mission. In 1899, the Spanish Augustinian Recollect missionaries who had been in Guam since 1769 were expelled by US Naval Governor Richard P. Leary.
An Attempted German Mission Read Post »
Every year, during the Christmas season, Catholic families gather for nine nights of devotional prayers reciting the Nobenan Niño, a nobena (novena) in honor of Christ’s birth. For Chamorro families, the nightly prayers may be said in Chamorro or English.
Nobenan I Niño Jesus-Novena to the Christ Child Read Post »
The following are texts of Fundamental Catholic prayers in both Chamorro/CHamoru and English. They are recited during daily prayers, novenas (nobenas), and rosaries.
Organized western religion has created two major upheavals in the daily lives of the Chamorro people of the Mariana Islands throughout history, both taking place with the arrival of two colonial powers: Spain and the United States.
Americans Bring Upheaval in Religious Practices Read Post »
