Community Reacts to Apurons Letter, Nick Delgado, KUAM, October 23, 2009

Community Reacts to Apuron's Letter

By Nick Delgado
KUAM
October 23, 2009

http://www.kuam.com/Global/story.asp?S=11370482

Guam Youth Congress Speaker Derrick Hills

Archbishop Anthony Apuron has issued another letter to parishioners, this time clarifying some points in a pastoral letter read during masses last week. The clarification comes as the debate over same-sex civil unions appears to have hit a plateau.

The leader of the island's Catholic faithful wants to make it clear that he did not intend to target or condemn homosexuals when he issued a pastoral letter last week. Apuron says the Catholic Church continues to love and embrace all individuals.

As for claims made regarding sexual abuse of children at the hands of members of the clergy on the island, the Archbishop assured parishioners that the Archdiocese of Agana takes its responsibility to ensure a safe environment for all minors in its care seriously. He added a policy with clear procedures for action is in place and will be enforced quickly should there be any reports of improper behavior of the clergy. Apuron stressed that the Catholic Church does not and will not tolerate any kind of sexual abuse.

Vice-Speaker B.J. Cruz meanwhile says since he admitted to being sexually abused by a priest when he was a teen in California he's been approached by more people giving their own accounts of alleged abuse. "Ever since our interview the other day, I've been getting e-mails, people telling me their incidents. Before I came here a man called me from the States, and he says 'I want to tell you that I support you', and then he started to cry and tell me that he had been working for one of the parishes here and suffered the same thing.

"I went to Cost-U-Less last night and some man came up to me and started to talk to me about the incidents he suffered."

While he's received concerns, the vice-speaker says it's up to the victims to come forward and report the incidents to authorities. "Even if I did, the child would deny it. And so unless I manage to be in there and witness first hand, I'm not going to get any young boy to admit that publicly that it's happening. I mean, you would be run out of school," he stated.

Cruz also agrees with Attorney Howard Trapp, who believes local law already provides for same-sex civil unions. But Cruz says that the Guam Department Public Health sees otherwise, noting, "Despite the law, they don't read it that way, and so their not going to do it."

Members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community meanwhile are just waiting on how lawmakers will act on Bill 185.

In the meantime, Guam Youth Congress Speaker Derrick Hills says he accepts the Archbishop's apology and is ready to move on to what, he says, are the real issues surrounding Bill 185 - the rights and benefits. "I believe that it could be a move as well to keep in the Catholic Church any LGBT remaining members. And again, we just need to move forward in the discussion that it s about equal rights and benefits, and I do gladly accept his apology."

And while the debate continues as lawmakers delay moving the legislation to the session agenda, Senator Telo Taitague believes lawmakers may not be the ones who should vote on the issue. She said, "We're hoping that with more of these people's voices or concerns with regards to how to go about deciding on this bill, [a] majority of the things that are coming in my office are saying 'go for referendum', that the people of Guam should have the option to choose on something that will affect our community on a big-time way."