Apuron declares Concerned Catholics 'prohibited society', by Gaynor Dumat-Ol Daleno, Pacific Daily News (June 7, 2016)

Archbishop Anthony Apuron has issued a decree declaring Concerned Catholics of Guam a “prohibited society” and warning island Catholics to avoid associating with the whistleblower group.

Apuron issued the decree on June 5, a day before Pope Francis removed Apuron’s administrative authority over the Archdiocese of Agana and named a high-level official from Rome, Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon, as temporary apostolic administrator in Guam.

Apuron has been placed on leave, but gets to keep his archbishop title, while Hon will govern the archdiocese.

Apuron stated his decree would take effect on June 14, but now that a new administrator from Rome is in charge, it’s unclear if his ban on the Concerned Catholics of Guam and its supporters will stand.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Apuron’s decree remained posted on the Archdiocese of Agana website. His decree states:

“All members of the faithful in and of this archdiocese, clerical or lay, are to:

Avoid association with this organization;
Refrain from signing, or otherwise promoting, acts or other measures of that organization;
Renounce membership, or any other position, within that organization;
Refrain from speaking, publicly or privately, on behalf of that organization.”

Concerned Catholics responded that the organization doesn’t fall under the authority of the Archdiocese of Agana and doesn’t need the blessing and sanction of Apuron.

“We are identifying ourselves as Catholics — persons who are baptized Catholics, bound together for a common purpose, which is not related to associations needing the approval” of Apuron, according to the organization.

Concerned Catholics’ members include churchgoers who have publicly questioned some of Apuron’s decisions in recent years, including the transfer of control of a prime piece of real estate — the former Accion Hotel that was turned into a seminary — from archdiocesan control to a board in which the archbishop is a minority member.

The majority of the board members are officials of the Neocatechumenal Way movement, whose practices aren’t supported by the Concerned Catholics.

Members of Concerned Catholics have also called for Apuron to step down as he faces sexual abuse allegations involving certain minor altar boys who were under his care decades ago.