Archdiocesan Finance Council: Time to "Set the Record Straight"
By Neil Pang
During a press conference yesterday, two members of the AFC that was dissolved by Archbishop Anthony Apuron in January 2012 met with local media to clarify claims made against them. Untalan and Joe Rivera, former AFC member and current chief financial officer of Calvo Enterprises, presented a statement signed by other AFC members including Monsignor James Benavente, Deacon Stephen Martinez and Sister Mary Torres. Sole use Untalan said that contrary to statements that the Yona land was purchased for the sole use of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary (RMS), it was actually purchased with the intention that it be used for “the benefit of all Catholics in Guam.” “Because of its size, it will allow the archdiocese to build other buildings for use by parishioners, without interrupting the operation of the seminary,” he said. Provision of use Sammut claimed that the previous owner of the former Accion Hotel placed a provision on the property’s acquisition that it be used as an educational institution and that funds used in the purchase came from an off-island donor. “This place in Yona was found and acquired without any cost to the archdiocese. He designated this site to be used as a seminary, which was after all the sole and exclusive reason for which the land was acquired in the first place,” Sammut said in an email to the Post. Untalan responded by stating first that the AFC approved the purchase of the Yona property in 2002 by securing a loan of $2 million from the Bank of Guam. “The previous owner did not have a proviso that the building be used for an educational facility,” Untalan said. Instead, Untalan provided written evidence of correspondence between the anonymous donor and Apuron in which the donor refused to sign a letter stating that the money was given with the intention it be used for the establishment of the RMS. Done in secret Lastly, Untalan responded to the claim made by Apuron in a statement released to the media last week that the then-AFC had tried to sell the Yona property. “The AFC denied the request of the RMS to transfer the title of the property to the RMS. Archbishop Apuron agreed and directed us to directly transmit the decision of the Archdiocese to the RMS,” Untalan said. Unbeknownst to the AFC, Untalan said that Apuron later, and in secret, made the transfer and recorded the deed restriction without any consultation following ecclesiastical law on Nov. 22, 2011. Untalan speculated that the reason council members were fired was to prevent them from accidentally discovering Apuron’s actions before the documents were finalized. “We were fired to hide the fact that the archbishop and others secretly and in violation of canon law, and perhaps civil law as well, not to mention their fiduciary responsibility to the Catholic faithful, gave away the Yona property to the RMS, a separate entity controlled by the NCW, for free.” Why now? Untalan responded to questions about why the AFC did not come forward sooner by stating that the members had taken an oath upon being appointed to the AFC, but that certain claims recently made against them forced their hand. In addition, Untalan said that he invited Concerned Catholics of Guam (CCOG) to use their statement going forward in any potential litigation and further reported that a defamation suit was possible. “If the truth, the facts as we state them, will help this Archdiocese, Archbishop Hon, CCOG and others to regain what was wrongfully taken from them by secret document, then yes, by all means they can use this document, and certainly we will be supportive of any efforts to do that,” Untalan said. Untalan stated that the possibility of a defamation lawsuit against Sammut or Apuron had crossed his mind, but that he would have to “wait and see.”
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