Vatican-sent archbishop arrives amid sex abuse allegations against Apuron

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
June 8, 2016

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/06/08/vatican-sent-archbishop-now-guam/85587520/

Savio Hon Tai-Fai

The archbishop appointed by the Vatican to temporarily oversee the Catholic church in Guam now is on island and is expected to remain here while accusations of sexual abuse against Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron are being investigated, according to the church.

Pope Francis on Monday gave Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon temporary authority to govern the Archdiocese of Agana, but Apuron remains the island’s archbishop.

In a statement Wednesday, Hon said the priority of the apostolic administrator is to “take stock of the present pastoral situation of the diocese; to identify the difficulties present among the clergy, religious, and lay faithful and to take urgent measures, at the earliest, in order to promote and restore unity and harmony in the local church.”

“The Apostolic Administrator, after carefully discerning the needs of the Archdiocese will take all necessary decisions to assure that this goal is being implemented,” the statement adds.

The statement also said Pope Francis asks for “the trust and prayers of the local church and sincerely hopes that the entire Catholic Community will put all of its energy in promoting unity, harmony, and stability of the church.”

Hon is scheduled to lead a prayer meeting 4 p.m. Thursday at Saint Anthony and Saint Victor Church in Tamuning, church pastor Monsignor Brigido Arroyo said Wednesday.

“It is open to everyone — priests, deacons, religious leaders, lay people. It is a prayer meeting,” Arroyo said.

A prayer vigil also is scheduled for noon Thursday, at the old rectory of Agat Catholic church, where the alleged sexual abuses by Apuron happened in the 1970s.

In recent weeks, two former Agat altar boys, Roy Quintanilla and Walter Denton, have come forward to say they were sexually abused by Apuron when he was the parish priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the 1970s. Doris Concepcion, a former Guam resident who now lives in Arizona, also said her son told her, before he passed away 11 years ago, that Apuron molested him when he was an altar boy in Agat.

Denton and Concepcion are scheduled to attend the Agat prayer vigil.

Apuron has denied the allegations by Quintanilla and Concepcion. Apuron, who was in Rome earlier this week, and the archdiocese have yet to comment on the accusation by Denton.

David J. Sablan, vice president of the Concerned Catholics of Guam, said the Vatican’s appointment of a temporary administrator “is a step in the right direction.” One goal of the group is to provide a platform for Guam’s faithful and clergy to state complaints about the church.

As one of his last official acts before being temporarily relieved of his administrative duties, Apuron issued a decree, declaring the Concerned Catholics of Guam a “prohibitive society.” The decree states no one is to associate with or assist the group.

Sablan said Apuron issued the decree without meeting the group, despite the group’s repeated requests for such a meeting.

“The decree emboldened us, not weakened us,” Sablan said.

The group’s membership includes churchgoers who have publicly questioned Apuron’s decisions in recent years, including the alleged transfer of a prime piece of church real estate and the training of Catholic priests in Guam.

“The cause of all the problems is the archbishop,” Sablan said. “We believe he should be removed as archbishop. His victims are coming forward. That warrants his removal. In the church history, most of the time when there’s an appointment of an administrator ‘sede plena,’ the archbishop is eventually removed as archbishop. We hope that’s what’s going to happen here.”

Joelle Casteix, Western Regional Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, the world’s largest support group for clergy abuse victims, has urged Archbishop Hon to engage in a “complete and independent investigation of the allegations against Apuron and act upon the findings swiftly and appropriately.”

She said the group believes Guam lawmakers also should revisit legislation that allows victims of sexual abuse to sue their abusers and organizations that cover up and facilitate abuse.

Bill 326, introduced by Sen. Frank F. Blas Jr., seeks to eliminate the statute of limitations on lawsuits against child molesters. Guam lawmakers in the past temporarily gave victims of child sexual abuse a two-year limit to file lawsuits, but the window has closed.

The Vatican’s temporary stripping of Apuron’s administrative powers comes shortly after Pope Francis issued new rules for removing bishops who fail to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse.