GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com Published
April 11, 2017
Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes on Tuesday named the head of a new independent body to help victims of clergy sex abuse on Guam find healing and closure, using an initial $1 million in funding.
California attorney Michael Caspino was named executive director of the non-profit Hope and Healing Guam, which the Archdiocese of Agana said could impact the dozens of clergy sex abuse cases currently in local and federal courts.
In the weeks ahead, the archdiocese plans to ask the federal court to postpone the clergy sex abuse cases for three to four months while the church tries to address the complaints outside of court, through the new program.
The archdiocese, through its attorneys, this week also asked the federal court to dismiss the lawsuits, arguing the 2016 law that retroactively lifted the statute of limitations was unconstitutional.
Caspino, who served as general counsel to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County, and who has dealt with hundreds of victims of clergy sex abuse, said experience has shown that court litigation does not necessarily solve abuse cases and can make the victims feel more alienated.
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