‘Archbishop did not meet with Pope Francis about accused pedophile’

By Jasmine Stole
Marianas Variety
November 26, 2014

http://mvguam.com/local/news/38062-archbishop-did-not-meet-with-pope-francis-about-accused-pedophile.html#.VHXJK4vF-Sp

REV. Adrian Cristobal, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Agana, has denied that Archbishop Anthony Apuron met with Pope Francis last Friday at the Vatican about an accused pedophile.

The International Catholic Press Agency, based in Switzerland, reported that Apuron met with the pope and is “blamed for covering an accused pedophile.”

Cristobal said Apuron made the appointment to speak with the pope and was granted an audience with him. “The archbishop was very pleased with the meeting,” Adrian said, adding that Pope Francis was supportive and encouraging, and that the meeting was positive. “The archbishop was not summoned to the Vatican,” he stressed.

The content of the meeting has not yet been relayed to Cristobal, but it is expected that when Apuron returns to Guam, the archbishop will brief him about the meeting.

“The meeting of the pope and archbishop was not regarding the accused pedophile. That is totally inaccurate,” Cristobal said.

Molestation allegations

On the same day Apuron met with Pope Francis in Rome, a former Guam seminarian, John Toves, emailed a letter to Deacon Larry Claros on Guam alleging that Apuron molested Toves’ cousin. Claros was appointed the sexual abuse response coordinator for the archdiocese effective Oct. 24, according to the archdiocesan website.

In the letter from Toves to Claros published on Catholic blogger Tim Rohr’s blog, JungleWatch, Toves wrote that he knew Apuron molested his cousin between 1980 and 1983. This is the first of any public allegation of molestation against Apuron and archdiocese officials have not authenticated the contents of the letter nor have they responded publicly to Toves’ claims.

In Toves’ letter, dated Nov. 21, he wrote: “I know my cousin and brother seminarian, (name concealed), had been sexually molested by Father Anthony Apuron sometime in the period between 1980 and 1983. We were both in the seminary at Tai, Guam. I did see that Father Apuron would pick (name concealed) up from the seminary and then bring him back. This happened with some regularity as I had noticed this practice enough for it to stay in my memory.”

Toves said he noticed his cousin distancing himself from other seminarians in 1983 when they went to another seminary in Los Altos, California and sometime after Toves left the seminary in 1985, his cousin attempted suicide.

Toves wrote that his cousin informed one of the priests at the Los Altos seminary that Apuron had molested him. Toves said other seminarians knew about the abuse and he only revealed it now because he realized that no one else has. “I believe the archbishop must be held accountable for his actions,” Toves wrote to Claros.

Toves hopes the archdiocese will begin an investigation into his allegations. “I expect to be regularly updated as to the status of your investigation,” he wrote.

Cristobal did not comment yesterday about Toves’ letter.

Toves lives in California, according to information he provided in a video he uploaded online this month, in which he addresses the archbishop and Cristobal.