Victims Celebrate Passage of Bill 326, but Say They're Far from Done
By Krystal Paco
It's a law that opposers have said could potentially bankrupt the local Catholic Church. While others say it's a step toward healing for victims of child sexual abuse. Late Friday afternoon, Governor Eddie Calvo put pen to paper and signed the highly-controversial Bill 326 into law. While the church braces for doomsday, survivors celebrate. Survivors of child sexual abuse, the time is now. "We want justice," stated Roland Sondia, adding, "and we think this is the opportunity now." Sondia and others who have publicly accused clergy men of child molestation can finally get their day in court. "I'm very happy that the governor signed it. By doing that that, he just made the island a much safer place for our children," he shared. Governor Eddie Calvo shared the same sentiment in his weekly address, in which he said, "I hope that we can now move forward and begin the process of healing. I ask everyone to pray for our island's victims - of this most heinous crime, most especially the vulnerable of our community, our children." The Archdiocese of Agana meanwhile is preparing for the new law's potentially crippling consequences, including bankruptcy, school closures, and an end to the church's community services for the less fortunate. Days before Calvo took action on the legislation, the church circulated a petition to block the bill. Over 4,500 signatures were submitted to the Governor's Office to veto the measure. The church offered assurance that a trust fund was being established for victims of sex abuse by church clergy. Delegate to the administrator Father Jeff San Nicolas said, "Our archdiocese did not want to cause division and we are thankful for those who spoke up and expressed themselves and we will work cooperatively and fully with the process that justice is served and we want to meet the needs of whatever we can as a church to help that process of justice take place. And thank for all those who have made this bill, made the will of the people very clear and we're cooperative with that." While it's a small win for those who've been critical of the church, picketers grew in numbers outside the Hagatna Cathedral on Sunday morning - this time with a slight change in message. According to Concerned Catholics of Guam vice president Andrew Camacho, they want Guam's apostolic administrator, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, to call it quits citing an incident where Hon reprimanded Father Mike Crisostomo for not reading and circulating the petition to veto Bill 326 at his parish, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Toto. "I'm not sure what the repercussions will be for it," speculated Camacho, "but we are standing up for our local priests who are following their conscience. I don't think obedience needs to be blind obedience. If they disagree with something that the archbishop has said, they should be able to speak out and say, 'I'm sorry sir, we do not agree with that.'" In a statement to KUAM News, Archbishop Hon responded to concerns raised by the Concerned Catholics of Guam, in which he wrote, "As his archbishop, I have a care for Father Mike. He expressed his appreciation for my pastoral concern for him today. It's not appropriate to disclose details of our conversations publicly." Father Mike, meanwhile, was unavailable to comment.
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