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Byrnes Marks First Year As Guam's Archbishop

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
October 27, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/10/27/byrnes-marks-first-year-guams-archbishop/805606001/

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes speaks during an interview at the Archidiocese of Agana Chancery Office on Oct. 27, 2017.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, who marks his first year on Guam, said one of his challenges has been addressing the loss of trust in the church and island clergy.

Pope Francis appointed Byrnes, 59, on Oct. 31, 2016, giving him the rights to succeed Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron should Apuron resign, retire or is removed.

Apuron is undergoing a Vatican canonical trial and is accused of sexually abusing or raping four altar boys in the 1970s when he was the parish priest in Agat.

Byrnes said the most challenging reality for him is dealing with child sexual abuse on Guam, allegedly committed by the clergy decades ago, and restoring people's faith in the Catholic church and its leaders.

Byrnes said no current member of the clergy on Guam has been accused of abuse, and, should that happen, the Archdiocese of Agana is better equipped to deal with the matter because of new and revised policies to protect the young. Among other things, an independent panel, and not the archbishop, will decide how to proceed with accusations.

There are now 140 Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed in local and federal court, with the latest one filed on Oct. 27.

“The most challenging, reall, has been the cases of child sexual abuse by the clergy," Byrnes, a native of Detroit, said on Friday. "Again, it’s one thing to hear the numbers, and I had the chance to meet some people personally affected by it, not so much the ones that are in the papers. But I’ve spoken to people whose lives are really different. There is a brokenness."

It's been distressing, Byrnes said, to know that so many on the island had to experience abuse at the hands of clergy.

He recalled a day when someone sat next to him during a church event, sharing his story of abuse by a clergy member. That person told him he's not suing, but only wanted to share his story.

Byrnes, the auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit before his appointment as Guam coadjutor archbishop, has also personally met with some of Apuron's accusers, including the family of the late Agat altar boy Sonny Quinata, and former altar boy Roland Sondia.

The archbishop said a part of his pastoral challenge is dealing with the loss of trust in the church and clergy, mostly as a result of the clergy abuses. Byrnes, however, said the church is committed and has been making progress in repairing that brokenness.

"I think we've begun. We made a commitment to transparency," he said.

One of the key policy shifts that the archdiocese made early on, under Byrnes' leadership, was to take a move victim-centered approach, "to pursue mediation and settlement rather than litigation of each of the cases."

The archdiocese has revised its policies to protect young people, and has ensured church employees, clergy and volunteers are trained about these policies.

Byrnes said, as of Friday, he has not heard any updates from the Vatican about Apuron's canonical trial.

But life on Guam goes on, and Byrnes said he does his best to help strengthen people's faith. He has a doctorate in sacred theology and a master’s degree in divinity, with a concentration in the Scripture.

"I'd love to see us get through all of this," Byrnes said about Guam. "People say, 'I want it back to the way it was'. I don't know if we all want it back to the way it was. I want it to be better. And I hope I'm here long enough to see it get better."

 

 

 

 

 




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