GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com Feb. 14, 2017
Former Guam priest Tomas A. Camacho, who now is a retired bishop on Saipan, still can be investigated by the Vatican and face a canonical trial over allegations he sexually abused an altar boy in the 1970s, a lawyer with expertise on Catholic Church law said.
“Yes, he can still be investigated and punished, even if he is retired,” said Minnesota-based canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger, who established Canonical Consultation and Services LLC in 2013.
Haselberger said “a retired bishop remains a priest and can still exercise ministry — say Mass, baptize, confirm.”
“If someone is defrocked, it means he loses the ability to act as a priest/bishop and do those things,” added Haselberger, who previously served as chancellor for canonical affairs at the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, but resigned in April 2013 in protest of the archdiocese’s handling of accusations of clergy sexual abuse.
Vatican policy dictates that only the Vatican can investigate bishops and archbishops who are accused of sexual abuse.
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