VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
Guam Daily Post
December 12, 2025
By Jolene Toves
Luis Camacho is no longer a priest, according to a letter from Archbishop Ryan Jimenez which confirmed the canonical investigation into his arrest is complete and a guilty verdict has been reached.
Camacho was arrested for custodial interference in March 2015, after Guam Police Department officers patrolling Hagat found him in a vehicle at the beach with a 17-year-old girl. It later came out that Camacho and the minor were involved sexually, according to Post files.
At the time, Camacho, who was ordained a priest on November 9, 2013, was pastor of the San Dimas & Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Malesso’ and the San Dionisio Catholic Church in Humåtak, and was prohibited from hearing confessions and restricted from celebrating mass publicly, although he could still celebrate privately.
Following the allegations, Camacho left Guam for nine years, returning in 2024 after the canonical investigation was completed. Archbishop Jimenez said he recently received notification that on Sept. 19, 2025, the Congress of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith completed its review of the case finding Camacho guilty of “delicta graviora cum minore.”
This means Camacho was found guilty of “grave offenses” involving a minor. The penalty – immediate “dismissal from the clerical state,” Jimenez said.
“In simpler terms, Luis Camacho has been laicized. This means that he is no longer recognized as a priest and is permanently prohibited from exercising any form of priestly ministry in the Catholic Church,” Jimenez explained, further noting the decision is “final.”
According to Jimenez, the Dicastery’s review included the 2015 arrest, the canonical investigation and a subsequent petition for recourse that “he himself submitted in an effort to have the penalties removed and to be restored to priestly ministry.”
“As Metropolitan Archbishop of Agana, I received authorization from the Dicastery on November 5, 2024, to initiate an administrative penal process. To ensure impartiality and fairness, Bishop Robert M. McGuckin, Bishop Emeritus of Toowoomba, Australia, was appointed as Delegate to oversee this process,” Archbishop Jimenez added.
The Penal Decree was issued on May 6, according to Jimenez, finding that Camacho violated the Sixth Commandment – committing sexual misconduct with a minor – and dismissing him from his role as a priest.
“This decision, as mentioned above, has now been fully confirmed by the Congresso,” Jimenez said.
The head of the local Catholic Community acknowledged the pain the incident has brought and expressed “genuine sadness.”
“As Archbishop, I bear deep responsibility for the spiritual welfare of God’s people. The pain is intensified when the one who has fallen is a priest – someone entrusted with sacred ministry and called to reflect Christ the good shepherd,” Jimenez said.
For those the Guam Daily Post spoke with, the verdict was a welcomed sign that the church was taking action to protect island youth.
For Alexis Shai, penalizing Camacho is a step toward building trust.
“I feel like at the end of the day, we as people, we trust our Catholic Church to do what’s right, especially for our children and our children are the ones basically being attacked all the time. And so, for them to actually stand up and do something about it, I applaud them for it because at the end of the day, if we don’t stand up for our kids who will? And so, because kids are our number one victims to a lot of cases, it makes me feel like I can move towards or back towards my Catholic faith,” Shai told the Post on Friday.
However, this is not the first time a priest from Guam has had his clerical state removed, according to Post files. The late Raymond F. Cepeda, who was named in multiple sex abuse lawsuits, was laicized in 2009 for “serious allegations of abuse.” Adrian Cristobal, who was also named in sex abuse lawsuits, was laicized in 2021; however, he left Guam under Archbishop Michael Byrnes’ leadership in 2018.
Regarding Camacho, the third clergy member to have his priesthood removed in 16 years, Shai said, “I think it’s a step closer. It doesn’t make me 100% feel any better, but to me, as long as they’re doing something about it now and not a slap on the wrist like always, it makes me feel a lot better.”
Mathew, a Malesso resident who asked not to be identified by last name echoed Shai’s sentiments to some degree.
“No matter your title, you should be held accountable for your actions. So, the repercussions are already just consequences of what he’s done,” he said, however Mathew believes that one man’s actions should not impact a person’s belief.
“If you have a belief in that faith, then you shouldn’t be swayed by one person, like, one religion isn’t recognized by just one person, at least nowadays. So, don’t let him and his actions sway you from your beliefs, because anyone could put on a mask and use someone else’s beliefs to do whatever they want. He could have been another religion and done the same thing,” the Malesso resident concluded.