Catholics will end protests after today

By Gaynor Daleno
Guam Daily Post
July 8, 2017

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/catholics-will-end-protests-after-today/article_1a091948-6307-11e7-aa6e-174b5c49d94f.html

LAST PROTEST: Around 60 people walked the picket line, calling for the defrocking of Archbishop Anthony Apuron last month. The Concerned Catholics of Guam and the Laity Forward Movement are seeking the removal of Apuron and held their 49th picket in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica on June 4. Photo by David Castro

Today’s protest is expected to be the last.

For 54 Sundays, some of Guam’s Catholics went to church, and also joined the protest march at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica, to demand the complete removal of disgraced Archbishop Anthony Apuron from the Catholic Church of Guam.

Apuron stands accused of sexually abusing certain former altar boys under his care and is undergoing a trial before the Vatican justice system. Cases have also been filed against him in civil courts in Guam.

This Sunday will be the last of the Catholic protesters' demonstrations because participants have seen enough progress in the local Catholic church leadership’s efforts to clean house, and in the sincerity of its efforts, according to the sentiment voiced at a recent meeting among members of the Concerned Catholics of Guam and other lay Catholics on the island.

The organization has been instrumental in calling attention to the problems with the local Catholic church, starting with a call for financial transparency and later for the ouster of Apuron, as he faced mounting sex-abuse allegations from formerly underage boys who were under his care as a priest decades ago.

A former senator and former judge, Robert Klitzkie said he’s among the lay Catholics who believe the leadership of Archbishop Michael Byrnes is implementing sincere reform.

Byrnes, a few days ago, announced a Vatican tribunal is entering the second phase of Apuron’s trial, a phase that will involve a panel of three judges who will decide whether the former Guam archbishop, who ruled the local church for almost 30 years, is guilty, not guilty, or the charges against him are unproven.

Klitzkie said he’s just one voice in the protest line, but he has heard assurances that, regardless of the outcome of the Vatican trial, Byrnes has said allowing Apuron to return to the island “would be a disaster.”

With Byrnes’ leadership, and his recent actions, Klitzkie said he thinks the protesters, including himself, have made their point.