"Do the Right Thing"
By Neil Pang
As the Friday deadline for the governor's action on Bill 326-33 draws close, proponents of the sex abuse legislation urged Gov. Eddie Calvo to sign the bill into law as a matter of moral necessity. "Gov. Calvo, please sign Bill 326," said Roland Sondia in a press conference at the foot of the stairs leading up to the office of the governor in Adelup. Sondia, one of the four individuals who first came forward with accusations of child sex abuse against Archbishop Anthony Apuron in June, asked the governor to sign the bill into law. "Today I'm here to ask Gov. Calvo to do the right thing and sign Bill 326," Sondia said. Sondia, along with Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton and Doris Concepcion – representing her late son – alleged that Apuron had sexually abused them more than 40 years ago when they were altar boys at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Agat, where Apuron was pastor in the 1970s. "The Archdiocese of Agana must take total responsibility for the actions of Anthony Apuron and the other perpetrators," Sondia said. "This is not about money or destroying the church." Sondia said it is time for the church to stop stalling and hiding behind excuses and fear and that the litigation offered through the Bill 326 was fundamental for the healing of the victims and the community. "It is time for the community to heal and unite," he said. "It is time for the survivors to become whole again." Sondia confirmed that if the bill is enacted, he plans to pursue civil litigation against the archdiocese. Silent No More With him was Joe Santos, founder of Silent No More, one of three major organizations that have been holding weekly protests outside the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagatna. "In late April of 2016 we started the petition drive in the Tanaka building parking lot," Santos said. "The mission then was to get the legislature to pass a bill that would lift the statute of limitations on civil actions against sexual abusers of children." Inspired by the actions of Sondia and other victims, Santos said that the movement evolved to consider adding an amendment to the bill to include larger entities and not just individuals. According to Santos, the language was amended so that victims could file for compensation not only from the abusers, but their aiders and abettors. In this case, the Archdiocese of Agana would be considered an aider or abettor because, as Santos said, there is evidence to suggest that officials within the religious organization knew about the abuses being perpetrated against children and yet did nothing and in fact aided in covering up the abuses. Santos offered his own plea to the governor in support of the signing of Bill 326. "I'm not sure what direction the governor is leaning toward, but I feel that we have accomplished all that we set out to do," he said. "It is my hope that the governor will sign this bill to protect the people and, most importantly, the children of Guam." Santos said that five other individuals had come to him with claims of having been victims of sexual abuse. Tim Rohr At a different event yesterday, Tim Rohr, Catholic activist and blogger, spoke to members of the Rotary Club of Guam at the Pacific Star Resort & Spa. Rohr reiterated comments concerning Apuron and the dispute surrounding the Redemptoris Mater Seminary property in Yona. "He isn't in charge and hasn't been for years," he said in reference to statements made by Rev. Jeff San Nicolas earlier this week. San Nicolas, the delegate to the apostolic administrator in the absence of Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, said that he had received communication from the acting rector of RMS that established a chain of command terminating with Cardinal Fernando Filoni. Other evidence released by San Nicolas included the visitation reports of RMS that revealed, as Rohr put it, no benefit to the Archdiocese of Agana. Rohr stated that the only way for the archdiocese to get the RMS property back would be to sue the RMS over dealings made covertly and not following proper protocol. Rohr responded to claims by the church that Bill 326 would force the sale and subsequent closure of schools and charitable functionaries. "(The church) won't lose churches or schools, and charitable services won't be closed," he said. "The only thing they'll lose is bad priests." Rohr said that he wasn't sure what the governor would do, but stressed that the current status of legislation of this kind was the sole result of the protests held outside the Hagatna cathedral every week. "We're within 24 hours of this being over," he said referring to the governor's pending action on the bill that is due today. Rohr stated that if Bill 326 is signed into law, his goal will have been achieved and that the subsequent legal action served against the church would purge it of its current blemishes. Rohr said that he is aware of a number of other victims who had approached him and told him of their experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy, but that he could not make their statements public until they or others do so first.
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