GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio and Masako Watanabe , Pacific Daily News Feb. 16, 2017
A Vatican tribunal sent to Guam as part of Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron’s canonical trial heard from some witnesses Thursday, but didn’t directly hear from one of Apuron’s alleged sexual abuse victims.
Deacon Steve Martinez, a former sexual abuse response coordinator — whom Apuron reportedly fired for raising concerns about the archdiocese’s mishandling of sex abuse allegations for several years — was among those deposed by the tribunal. Apuron has denied all sex abuse allegations against him and hasn’t been charged criminally, although he’s facing multiple civil lawsuits.
Former altar boy Roland Sondia didn’t agree to be deposed by the Vatican team without his counsel, David Lujan, of the law firm of Lujan and Wolff.
Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, a prominent leader of the Catholic Church’s conservative wing and a seasoned canon lawyer, heads the mission to interview Guam witnesses as part of Apuron’s canonical trial. Burke, who has clashed with Pope Francis on some issues, is the presiding judge in the Apuron trial.
Sondia and Lujan left the Archdiocese of Agana Chancery, where the deposition was being held, after the Rev. Justin M. Wachs told David Lujan the process doesn’t allow a witness to bring a lawyer. Wachs serves as the Vatican court reporter for the Apuron trial.
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