by Lannie Walker

Guam - Cathy Gogue is the founder of a support group to provide an outlet for Catholics and others to understand different issues with in the church and work together to deal with those issues. "Yesterday when the press release went out [from the] Chancery, was I angered by it? How do we make ourselves available to people that are coping with this?" she said.

She is doing this by starting an organization called HOPE - Helping Our People Endure.

Therese Matanane, producer of the Catholics on the Move television program, is a member and says the impetus for forming the organization was, "From what happened with [the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests], but other issues that came up with in church over last few years."

She says the recent news surrounding the church concerning abuse by priests and may over shadow many of the positive aspects. "While we are at a very tumultuous time right now, it's not prevalent, it's not a dominant reason or what our faith is about," she explained.

Gogue says the group is open to working with SNAP, adding, "If SNAP is a support network, so are we. We will work with SNAP if they are saying they are a support network for victims, so are we."

While the group is in the inception stage currently consisting of about 50 to 100 members, their purpose is fully-formed, as Gogue said, "We will come together and see this through and help those that need help support those that need support and that are what we wanted to with HOPE."

If you would like to learn more about HOPE, contact the archdiocese of Agana's Chancery Office at 472-6116.