Plaintiffs Amend Suit against Apuron

By Neil Pang
Guam Daily Post
July 25, 2016

http://www.postguam.com/news/local/plaintiffs-amend-suit-against-apuron/article_faad0460-5231-11e6-a88f-fb322ec2591a.html

The lawsuit filed against Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the Archdiocese of Agana was amended Tuesday, July 19, and now references a number of additional statements made by the archdiocese which the plaintiffs see as strengthening their case of slander and libel.

On July 1, a group of four accusers – Roland Sondia, Walter Denton, Edith Doris Concepcion and Roy Quintanilla – filed a suit for libel and slander against the archdiocese and Apuron.

The newly added statements were released by the archdiocese in response to allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct made against Apuron. In these statements, the allegations are referred to as "nonsense," described as "another malicious and calumnious accusation against the Archbishop" and that "the true nature of the plaintiffs' suit is to destroy the Catholic Church and discredit the archbishop by whatever means."

In the amended suit, the plaintiffs allege that the various statements issued by the archdiocese were prepared and released on behalf of Apuron by Rev. Edivaldo Da Silva Oliveira, the media relations coordinator of the archdiocese and personal secretary of Apuron.

The amended suit notes that none of the statements released by the archdiocese have been retracted and that the statements continue to represent the position of the archdiocese and Apuron. Further, it states that all statements released prior to archbishop Hon's appointment are equally attributable to him as to his predecessors.

Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai was appointed apostolic administrator of the archdiocese after Apuron was relieved of his duties as archbishop June 6.

The amendment to the suit accuses the archdiocese and Apuron of "acting with malice, oppression and/or fraud." The amendment posits that Apuron and the archdiocese made the defamatory statements in full knowledge that the alleged sexual abuse occurred and that the existence of a prior history of sexual abuse committed by priests in the Agana Archdiocese establishes their complicity in violating the plaintiffs' rights and the trust the parents of the plaintiffs placed in both Apuron and the archdiocese.

Letters

The amended complaint included a number of letters that had been exchanged among Deacon Stephen Martinez, Apuron and Child Protective Services intended to serve as evidence of Apuron and the archdiocese's continued negligence in regard to allegations of sexual abuse that had been brought to Apuron's attention prior to the allegations by the current plaintiffs.

The letters amended to the suit reveal Martinez's continued investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate conduct leveled against Rev. John Wadeson, Rev. Luis Camacho and a Redemptoris Mater seminarian. In the letters, Martinez called into question the thoroughness and existence of background checks performed on seminarians who came to Guam from off-island. Further, Martinez expressed concern about the archdiocese's protocol of conducting psychological evaluations by competent professionals on seminarians and whether such exams were ever conducted.

In the letters, Martinez stated his continued suspicion of sexual misconduct committed by Redemptoris Mater seminarians. In one letter, Martinez stated, "I remain gravely concerned with a growing pattern of sexual deviancy from RMS- (Redemptoris Mater Seminary) trained priests and seminarians."

In letters apparently from Apuron to Martinez, the archbishop issued a warning to Martinez to cease his involvement with the Concerned Catholics of Guam and ordered that the dissemination of certain correspondence between them be strictly prohibited.