GUAM
Kuam News
October 31, 2017
By Krystal Paco
A year ago today he was Vatican appointed to lead Guam’s faithful amid a laundry list of controversy. To commemorate his one-year anniversary, we sit down for a one-on-one with Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes.
“I’m at a lot of firsts,” said His Excellency. “The first thing was getting over the shock of coming to a place I’ve never been before.” Exactly one year ago, the Vatican appointed Michigan’s Michael Byrnes to serve as the Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana.
“I remember getting up that very first morning and one of the first things I had was a meeting with the lawyers,” he said. Then, there were only 20 clergy sexual abuse lawsuits lodged against the Archdiocese of Agana. Fast forward to today, there are 140 and counting. “That’s been a constant source of distress,” said the archbishop. “I’d love to be able to do more. I just don’t know the venue for it.
“I think once we’re through with the legal case, I think we’ll have a greater freedom to extend more pastoral care.”
Now a year on the job, he reflects and prioritizes. “The sexual abuse cases is number one. Probably number two is the loss of trust, number three is the quest for financial transparency. I think that’s been a key effort,” he said.
Making his list of priorities, he says he wants to address the social ills affecting the island – issues ranging from domestic violence to substance abuse and high divorce rates. “If we’re doing our work right, we should see a lessening of some of those issues,” he explained.
Rounding out that list, he wants to continue to develop those who spread the gospel: the priests. “I’ve met with all of them. We’ve got some really good guys. This is more of a personal concern for me that we develop their ability to lead, to preach, to become even better priests than they already are,” he said.
So, how would he rate himself as Guam’s Sheppard for the faithful? He admits that while accountability can be painful, it’s working, noting, “I think we’re winning it back…I think we are.”
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