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Archbishop's Lobbying Denies Justice for Abuse Victims

By Jojo Santo Tomas and Haidee V Eugenio
USA Today
September 19, 2016

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/09/18/protesters-archbishops-lobbying-denies-justice-abuse-victims/90626148/

[with video]

A protest was held for the defrocking of Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the renunciation of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Guam property by RMS Guam at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagatna on Sept 18. Protesters have also gathered to support Bill 326-33, which would lift the statute of limitations for sexually abused children.

Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai asked Guam’s clergy to deliver a message to Catholic churchgoers during Mass on Sunday: “… I am in Rome to urge the Holy See to remove Archbishop (Anthony) Apuron as archbishop of Agana and to appoint a successor.”

It was what Catholic protesters had demanded on picket signs since their first protest against Apuron late last year. Since May, members of the Concerned Catholics of Guam, the Laity Forward Movement and nonaffiliated parishioners staged protests every Sunday morning in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica.

And while it was welcome news that Hon stood behind Apuron’s removal, the rest of Hon’s letter only served to disappoint and anger the protesters.

Hon asked churchgoers to sign a petition lobbying against the signing of Bill 326 into law. The bill would lift the time restriction on lawsuits against institutions such as the Archdiocese of Agana that have employed those accused of child sexual abuse. He said the bill would expose the archdiocese to unlimited financial liability and bankruptcy. Hon also wrote that similar legislation enacted in 13 U.S. dioceses led to school closures and cessation of vital services.

The legislation would permanently remove the statute of limitations for all child sexual abuse crimes, allowing victims to file civil cases against their alleged assailants, retroactively.

“In the coming days, church leaders and members of the lay leadership will be speaking publicly about the unintended consequences that the bill will have on the archdiocese, our parishes, our schools and other community organizations. I encourage everyone to listen to those messages and to speak together about them so that the governor is fully informed when he considers whether to sign the bill into law,” Hon wrote in the letter.

Bill 326 is on Gov. Eddie Calvo’s desk. Hon warned that the bill, once signed into law, could mean the forced sale of church properties that house schools and social services, and “the result will very likely be to drive the Archdiocese into bankruptcy.”

Apuron has been publicly accused of raping and sexually abusing altar boys in the 1960s and 1970s. He hasn't been charged with any crime.

Other members of the Guam clergy have also been publicly accused of molesting altar boys on island, including the Rev. Louis Brouillard and the late Rev. Antonio Cruz. The alleged abuses happened in the 1950s and 1970s.

“The church has repositioned itself to look after material goods and worldly goods and money, and it kind of deprioritized the abuses of the past, and literally ignored the abuses of the future,” said Piti resident Jeni Shimizu. “And I’m a little confused about our church getting involved in the legal part of it as well – we need to let that proceed.”

Dededo parishioner Teri Untalan said Hon’s letter was a scare tactic, and the devastation he projected on Guam didn’t happen in the states.

“Why didn’t they do their homework and see what had happened to these other parishes where this had happened? Yes, you declare bankruptcy but bankruptcy protects the assets of the defendant,” she said. “Had they consulted with the other parishes … they would have seen that they became better. What it did was it cleaned up the church. It took all the filth out of it, and it got them to be better. It became a smaller, cleaner, more faithful church.”

David Sablan, president of the Concerned Catholics of Guam, said Saturday night that asking the governor not to sign Bill 326 is “a little too late” and is “an insult to the intelligence of the people of Guam.”

“Where was Archbishop Hon and the other members of the clergy when the Legislature held public hearings and comment period on the bill?” Sablan said. “This is a case of fear mongering.”

Untalan's voice rose as she described the events unfolding at islandwide church services all day Sunday, and agreed to a notion that Hon is unfairly using his influence on the Catholic faithful.

Concerned Catholics of Guam President David Sablan speaks during a press conference in Tamuning on Monday, Aug. 22. (Photo: Rick Cruz/PDN)

"There were two public hearings; nobody from the church showed up. They ignored it, I don't know for what reason, but here they are at the 11th hour with the governor reviewing the bill and getting ready to sign it or not, and (Hon) is rallying the people to sign a petition in objection of this," she says. "You sign this, you're going against the victims and the survivors of sexual abuse ... all these years, all these poor children had to go through what they did, survive through it. They lived with this horrible ... crime that was committed against them. And now the church wants to save its buildings? Its assets?

"What about the souls, and what about the children that are now men?"

Toto resident Lou Bamba said she attended 6 p.m. Mass at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Saturday. She listened to the Rev. Paul Gofigan read the letter to the congregation and right after he was done, she said she walked out in anger.

"I remained angry until I went to bed last night. I just don't understand why they did what they did," she said. "And, it's OK for them to read that – but it's not OK for us to tell people in church not to sign the petition? Now where is fairness there? It's ironic because the gospel last night said, 'you cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and someone else, you have to choose one.' Now, in reading that letter, they're telling us to do both — serve God and protect the assets of the church."

In this file photo, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, at the Chancery Office. Hon has called on Pope Francis to remove Archbishop Anthony Apuron as head of the archdiocese of Agana. (Photo: PDN file photo)

But not all Catholics are ready to see Bill 326 enacted as is. Private attorney Douglas B. Moylan, who was Guam's first elected attorney general from 2003 to 2006, said it would be morally wrong to expose the assets of the church — which he says represent most of the community – because it would financially destroy the good works the church does. Besides being the Legislative counsel in the 24th, 25th and 26th Legislatures, Moylan was brought up in a Catholic family and attended Catholic schools from junior high through law school. He said he does not believe that any alleged wrongs done by church leaders can be attributed to the teachings of the church.

"If any changes are made to the law it should be to lift the civil statute of limitations against the individuals personally, and to their estates," he said. "There remains a serious legal question if the lifting of a civil statute of limitations is even possible, especially against the church given the concepts of fundamental fairness to defend itself after so much time has passed, and due process. The Supreme Court of Guam may eventually have to determine this legal question."

 

 

 

 

 




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