SNAP Responds to Agana Archdiocese "Year of Reparations"

By Neil Pang
Guam Daily Post
July 6, 2017

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/snap-responds-to-agana-archdiocese-year-of-reparations/article_4a0e3fec-61e5-11e7-8721-f7633f839283.html

Following the announcement from church leadership about the start of the Archdiocese of Agana's "Year of Reparations," a Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) representative is accusing church officials in Guam of shirking their responsibilities to victims of clergy sex abuse.

"Coadjutor Archbishop Byrnes must stop putting the burden of amends on the laity—that burden must sit squarely on the shoulders of church officials and their attorneys," Joelle Casteix, a wester regional leader for SNAP, said. "Prayers are for those without the immediate power to enact change. Coadjutor Byrnes has the immediate power to enact change in the courts, open files, stop wrongdoing and hold those who committed or covered up child sex abuse accountable."

Castiex's comments come after Byrnes held a press conference in which he announced the start of a "Year of Reparations" in which Catholic faithful are called to spend a year praying, fasting and almsgiving in a show of unity and solidarity with victims of clergy sex abuse and any who suffer.

According to The Guam Daily Post files, SNAP, and Casteix in particular, has long criticized local Catholic Church leadership for their handling of abuse allegations.

"The laity of the Archdiocese of Agana has already showed tremendous solidarity with victims by standing with them, believing them, praying for them, protesting outside of the cathedral, and demanding transparency and accountability from Archdiocesan leadership and the Vatican," she told The Post.

"The only way that the Archdiocese can now make amends is to stop fighting victims in the civil courts, cooperating completely with civil authorities, and turning over and making public all evidence of child sex abuse and cover-up in their secret personnel files."

Byrnes is scheduled to hold a press conference today to discuss the canonical process related to Archbishop Anthony Apuron's ongoing trial in the Vatican.