Archdiocese Was a Mess under Apuron's Leadership

By Krystal Paco
KUAM
July 6, 2017

http://www.kuam.com/story/35821017/2017/07/Thursday/byrnes-archdiocese-was-a-mess-under-apurons-leadership

[with video]

The group investigating Archbishop Anthony Apuron is done gathering testimony. Now all that's left is a decision. The Archdiocese of Agana, in a press conference today, confirms they're anxiously awaiting the verdict of Apuron's canonical trial, which could be revealed any day now.

Should his name be cleared, current church leadership predicts disaster ahead.

The fate of Apuron now rests with three unnamed judges. "The discovery period of the trial has ended and the next phase that will happen in the next several weeks, will be a convening of the three judges to deliberate on what they heard. There's three possibilities: not guilty. Guilty. Or not proven," said Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes.

Along with the thousands of faithful who await the decision, there's so much uncertainty for Guam's current leader, Archbishop Byrnes. "There's this question: what happens if Archbishop Apuron comes back?" he proposed. "I think it would be a disaster if Archbishop Apuron were to return as the bishop of record. And again, that's my opinion. My estimation. It's based on nothing that I've heard from Rome, but really, sincerely, from my experience."

In his seven months on island, Archbishop Byrnes says the Archdiocese was a mess under Apuron's leadership.

The sentiment from the Faithful, he says, is they want Apuron out. "There was a very widespread disarray and ineffectiveness many of the operations that you'd expect to be going on in a regular archdiocese. Some of the consultative bodies were not being utilized in the way they should've been used. Some of the policies that had been around for a long time, for instance the sexual abuse policy, was sorely lacking," he said.

Should Apuron be found guilty, there's no guessing what the penalties may be. But after consulting with canon lawyers, Archbishop Byrnes confirms Apuron would have a right to appeal. "This is the first time they've gone through this process for a bishop, so I really can't speculate on what they could possibly do," he said.

Praying for the best, but preparing for the worst, Archbishop Byrnes says he's fallen in love with the island, the diocese, and would like to be part of the rebuild for the future.

When asked if he'd like to stay on Guam, he responded, "Yeah, I do."

"I'm part of the body here."