"It's a Great Verdict"

By Kevin Kerrigan
Guam Daily Post
March 19, 2018

https://www.postguam.com/news/local/lujan-it-s-a-great-verdict/article_9c85d896-2b4f-11e8-87de-df144c2720e1.html

Attorney David Lujan reacted to the guilty verdict handed down Friday against suspended Archbishop Anthony Apuron by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"I think it's a great verdict," Lujan said. "It vindicates what everyone has been saying."

The attorney represents five people who have publicly accused Apuron of sexual abuse.

Walter Denton, Roy Quintanilla, Roland Sondia and the late Joseph "Sonny" Lujan, through his mother Edith Doris Concepcion, have accused Apuron of sexual abuse when he was a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Agat more than 40 years ago.

A fifth victim, Apuron's nephew, Mark Apuron, came forward in January accusing his uncle of raping him in the chancery bathroom nearly 30 years ago after he had already been promoted to archbishop.

A five-member tribunal, that lasted nearly one year, reviewed several accusations, including accusations of sexual abuse of minors, and found Anthony Apuron guilty of "certain of the accusations."

The suspended archbishop appealed the verdict, putting a stop to the imposing of penalties cited by the Vatican that included stripping him of his title and banishing him from Guam.

Anthony Apuron has maintained his innocence and refused to participate in any settlement discussions. He also has sought to have the civil complaints dismissed.

The lawsuits filed by Lujan's clients and dozens of other victims of clergy sex abuse bear far more serious financial consequences for the suspended archbishop and the Archdiocese of Agana.

'So that the healing can begin'

When asked by The Guam Daily Post whether the Vatican's verdict would help him and his clients, Lujan said, "Let me put it this way, I don't see how it hurts."

Anthony Apuron, though his attorney, Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje, has challenged the constitutionality of a 2016 Guam law that lifted the statute of limitations on lawsuits filed by the victims of sexual abuse.

However, Lujan said it would be better for all if the suspended archbishop settled.

"I really believe that if Apuron was a good person, he would leave it all alone," he stated. "Let it end, so that the healing can begin."

More than $500M in lawsuits

Guam's archdiocese is named in more than 150 child sex abuse lawsuits filed against various members of the Catholic clergy, most of them against retired priest Louis Brouillard. The total amount sought by these lawsuits exceeds $500 million.

The parties are scheduled to appear in the District Court of Guam today to provide the court with an update on mediation settlement protocol, as some of the parties have expressed concerns with how a settlement amount will be achieved and how it will be divided among the individual plaintiffs.