GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Written by
Shawn Raymundo
Pacific Daily News
Archbishop Anthony Apuron responded this weekend to an allegation that he molested a former co-seminarian and relative, stating in a press release that the accusation is “a horrible calumny.”
Apuron said because of the allegation, he is “obliged to defend not my person but the Church.”
The archbishop said he intends to file a lawsuit for defamation and that any damages received will be given to charitable causes of the church.
John Toves, a Guamanian who lives in California, has stated in recent letters to the archdiocese that while he was an altar boy for then-Agat parish priest Anthony Apuron, he had personal knowledge that Apuron sexually molested a former co-seminarian.
Toves sent one letter to officials at the Vatican and the Vatican’s delegate to the Pacific islands, Archbishop Martin Krebs.
“I come forward now as I realized that no one else has, and I believe the Archbishop must be held accountable for his actions,” Toves wrote.
Apuron said in the press release that he has dedicated his life to spread the Catholic faith through his words and actions.
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