GUAM
KUAM
Updated: Jul 27, 2016
By Krystal Paco
The church previously called Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s accusers liars whose motive was to oust Apuron and destroy the Catholic Church. Now, face-to-face with a $2 million lawsuit, the church is taking back their words and hoping to correct the wrongs made by previous church leadership.
And for the first time ever since his appointment to Guam over a month ago, apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai addressed the press.
While plaintiffs in the libel and slander lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana and Archbishop Apuron are looking to clear their names, so is the apostolic administrator. Archbishop Hon announced, “Archbishop Apuron’s statements were not consistent with the gravity with which the church approaches all allegations of abuse. I recant and retract all such statements.”
Last Friday, Archbishop Hon was officially served the $2 million libel and slander suit filed earlier this month against the archdiocese and Apuron. While he’s not listed as a defendant, the suit names Archbishop Hon for failing to retract previous statements made by Apuron and then-church leadership. He continued, “Immediately after I arrived on Guam, I ordered the removal of these statements from all diocese media organs, including the website of the archdiocese and that of the archdiocesan newspaper.”
Instead, he offers a different message to alleged victims, saying, “I take all reports of sexual misconduct by officials of the church very seriously and I have not, do not, and will not, consider a person presenting such reports as malicious, or calumnious, or motivated by desire to attack the church or any other improper purpose.”
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