Guam priests' child sexual abuses would have remained a dark secret were it not for 1 man

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
May 5, 2019

https://bit.ly/2VOvePq

The late John Toves was the first one to publicly accuse former Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron of sexual abuse of a minor in 2014. Toves said his cousin was abused by Apuron, who denied the allegation and threatened to sue Toves. Five years later, the Vatican upheld Apuron's conviction over sexual abuse of minors, after former Agat altar boys, his own nephew and others came forward about what Apuron did to them when they were children.

The late John Toves with his sisters Noreen A. Toves-Phillips, center, and Charlene, during Christmas 2016. Toves-Phillips says it was their last Christmas together before cancer started to take a toll on her brother.

The late John Toves, second from right, with his parents Charles Toves and Nacrina Ada Toves and nephew Christian, during Charles Toves' July 2016 birthday. When the photo was taken, the family just came from Mount Carmel Church in Redwood City where John Toves sang in choir every week.

Back when no one dared to publicly accuse any Guam priest, much less the archbishop, of sexually abusing a child, former Agat resident John Toves did so in 2014.

It was about 12 years after the Archdiocese of Boston's sex abuse scandal exposed widespread wrongdoing in the American Roman Catholic Church.

"My aunt referred to my brother as the David who slew Goliath," Noreen Toves-Phillips, of California, said about her brother John

Toves' call for justice for his cousin, who he said was sexually abused as a child by former Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, was met with threats of a lawsuit. Toves sparked hope for others who found their courage to tell their stories. Accusers came forward and said Apuron sexually abused, molested and raped them when they were children.

"I'm sure the victims had been living with the pain of his crime, but because of the nature of that kind of trauma, it is not likely that any of it would have come to light if my brother had not brought forth his accusation and had not fought so hard to hold Apuron accountable for his crimes and his sin," Toves-Phillips said.

Toves died on April 17 in Foster City, California. He was 54. Toves was laid to rest on April 27 in California.

Apuron has been publicly accused of sexually abusing eight minor boys, including Toves' cousin, in the '70s, '80s and '90s.n Pope Francis suspended Apuron in June 2016 and put him on canonical trial for allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

Toves, who had relocated to California, testified in the trial in 2017. He said he' was happy he got to directly tell a Vatican tribunal about Apuron's sexual abuse of Toves' cousin some 30 years earlier.

“At the time, nobody wanted to believe the story about Apuron. I’m glad it’s all coming out now," Toves said in May 2017.

A Vatican tribunal found Apuron guilty. He appealed his conviction in 2018 and continued to deny the allegations.

On April 4, 2019, the Vatican announced that a tribunal upheld the sentence on Apuron  for sexual abuse of minors, permanently stripped him of his title as archbishop, and banned him from ever returning to Guam.

"I don't believe that Guam as a community would have had any idea what Apuron had done," Toves' sister said, looking back at her brother's efforts to bring Apuron to justice from 2014 until Apuron's fall from grace.

Since the Apuron accusers came forward, more than 200 childhood sexual abuse claims have so far been filed involving more than two dozen priests and others associated with the Catholic Church on Guam. They included two archbishops and one bishop.

"I would credit him for being the catalyst for others coming forward and being public about the abuse inflicted upon them by Apuron when they were young boys," Concerned Catholics of Guam President David Sablan said.

Sablan said he admires Toves for his courage to seek an apology on behalf of his cousin.

"I do believe John Toves gave others courage to come forth and set a spotlight on a flaw of Apuron's character and deep down what he truly is, and that is, a serial sexual abuser," Sablan said.

Richard Untalan, former president of the Archdiocesan Finance Council, said Toves was passionate in all that he did and in how he lived.

"Something drove him to confront evil and he did it with courage and faith; faith that with his act to confront and come out publicly first, and act that became the catalyst to give others courage, his beloved Church would be cleansed and renewed," he said.

Toves, according to Untalan, "lived long enough to see that the cleansing and renewal has not only begun but is well underway. That is his legacy. May he now rest in peace."

Toves' sister said her brother spoke to her at length about bringing Apuron to justice.

"At the beginning, we had no idea the number of other victims there were. Once that became apparent, it became even more urgent for my brother to bring healing to these individuals. especially since he had already been diagnosed with liver cancer," Toves-Phillips said.

His sister said when Toves went back to Guam, he had already been undergoing treatment and was on the Stanford Transplant Program and the United Network for Organ Sharing list.

Some two weeks before Toves' death, the Vatican announced the final decision that Apuron was guilty of sexual abuse of minors.

Toves' sister said it's sad Apuron continues to deny the abuse.

"We can only hope that he will come to terms with that when he faces God for judgment. I'm guessing that because of the stand that he has taken, that it is not likely that he will ever express his apologies and amends to the victims," she said.

On Guam, Father Paul Gofigan officiated a Mass for Toves on April 27 at the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Yigo. Gofigan and Toves attended seminary in San Francisco in the early '90s. Some of Toves' classmates from his time at Father Duenas Memorial School were at the Mass, Sablan said.

"According to Father Paul, in his Homily, John and he quit the seminary because they were not being inspired by their professors and instructors," Sablan, who attended the Mass.

Toves' calling was to set the record straight when he saw an opportunity, Sablan said, recalling Gofigan's homily. Gofigan couldn't be reached for comment.

Sablan said Toves wanted Apuron to apologize to Toves' cousin, who almost committed suicide.

Toves, according to his sister, was always full of life and light and love.

"(He) would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it. That's just how he was and he got that from my parents. He truly was that special," Toves-Phillips said.

Toves was such a "wonderful person throughout his life," she said.

"How many sisters can honestly say that their baby brother was one of their best friends even throughout childhood? Usually little brothers are more rascals and pests," Toves-Phillips said.

She said her brother's doctor delivered the devastating news in November 2018 that there was nothing more that could be done for her brother. They were at their parents' home and their father asked what they would like to do for Thanksgiving.

"I had said that I didn't feel like doing anything because I couldn't feel thankful in light of the doctor's hopeless prognosis," the sister said. "My dying brother looked at me and said, 'There's always something to be thankful for.'"