|
Unrest in Guam archdiocese goes back several years
Pacific Daily News
June 13, 2016
http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/06/12/unrest-guam-archdiocese-goes-back-several-years/85801358/
 |
| Archbishop Anthony Apuron speaks at the 2016 Academy of Our Lady of Guam Commencement Ceremony at the Phoenix Center on May 18, 2016. |
Questions about the leadership of Guam’s Catholic church reached a tipping point June 6, when Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon to temporarily run the local archdiocese. While the move comes shortly after Archbishop Anthony Apuron was accused of sexually abusing altar boys in the 1970s, the local church and Apuron have been battling public dissent for many years. Here are some of the key events:
-
October 2009: Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz states he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a priest in California when he was 13, and said he knows of “pedophile priests” in the Guam archdiocese. Cruz stated the allegations publicly after Archbishop Apuron lobbied against Cruz’s bill to allow for same-sex marriage. Cruz called Apuron’s opposition “hypocritical.” Apuron stated, “Unfortunately, sins committed by individuals from every walk of life bear consequences that are painful and should be prevented.”
-
February 2011: The Archdiocese of Agana tries to stop a proposed law that would eliminate the statute of limitations and open a two-year window for those who were sexually assaulted as children to sue their attackers. The archdiocese, which argues the bill targets the church, asks the governor to veto the bill, and Archbishop Apuron speaks to the governor and several lawmakers about his opposition. The bill becomes law.
-
July 2013: Archbishop Apuron removes the Rev. Paul Gofigan as pastor of Santa Barbara Church in Dededo, stating Gofigan failed to terminate the employment of a known sex offender. Gofigan, in January 2014, threatens to file a defamation suit, saying Apuron slandered him.
-
July 2014: A newly formed, anonymous group — Concerned Catholics of Guam — calls upon the archdiocese to publicly disclose its finances, saying Guam should be consistent with other Catholic churches.
-
July 28, 2014: Apuron announces that Monsignor James Benavente recently was removed as rector of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica, citing financial problems in the church administration and a multimillion-dollar church debt. He later provides more details, saying there were problems with the Catholic cemetery finances and bookkeeping, and contracts were missing.
-
July 31, 2014: Former church finance official Richard Untalan says he and several other members of the Archdiocesan Council were fired two years earlier after they voted against transferring title of a church property in Yona. The former Accion Hotel, which the church uses as a seminary, is worth about $35 million.
-
August 2014: Guam parishioners send letters of concern to church officials in Rome and New Zealand, saying they object to Benavente’s removal and question Apuron’s leadership. One parishioner, choir member Franklin Gutierrez Jr., states he believes Apuron’s affiliation with the Neocatechumenal Way movement has caused division in the local church. Archbishop Martin Krebs, in a letter to Gutierrez, stated he has received and noted Gutierrez’s letter and forwarded a copy to the Vatican.
-
September 2014: The archdiocese publicly releases financial statements, through June of 2013, which note $26 million in revenue for the year, mostly from tuition and fees for Catholic private schools.
-
November 2014: Former Guam seminarian John C. Toves sends letters to the archdiocese and the Vatican, accusing Apuron of sexually molesting one of his relatives, who also was a high school seminarian, in the early 1980s. Apuron denies the allegation and says he will sue for defamation. Toves says he welcomes a lawsuit because it would allow for access to confidential church documents.
-
Dec. 4, 2014: Deacon Larry Claros, the archdiocese’s newly appointed sexual abuse response coordinator, says a victim in the molestation allegation against Apuron has not come forward, so there is nothing to investigate. Claros says Apuron is clearly innocent. A 2010 Vatican policy states sexual abuse allegations against bishops are supposed to be investigated by the Vatican, not locally.
-
Dec. 9, 2014: A group of private citizens forms a nonprofit organization, “Concerned Catholics of Guam,” saying they are concerned about financial and leadership problems in the church and want to gather evidence from concerned citizens in an attempt to influence change. The group notes a perceived drop in the number of churchgoers at some parishes. “Many of the Catholic faithful are at a loss and confused as to what is going on at the Chancery,” says Greg Perez, president of the organization.
-
January 2015: Parishioners schedule vigils, walks and public prayers in an attempt to get the attention of a visiting delegation of Vatican officials. Prayer vigil organizer Carmen Kasperbauer says it is a way for island Catholics to be heard, including their concerns that Apuron has lost touch with those who aren’t affiliated with the Neocatechumenal Way.
-
Nov. 1, 2015: Protesters gather outside the Hyatt Regency Guam Resort and Spa to protest a birthday fundraiser for the archbishop. Protesters cite a division within the church and call for transparency in church finances.
-
March 11, 2016: Former Guam Sen. Robert Klitzkie says land documents released in November by the church to support its position that it still owns the former Accion Hotel, in Yona, are “bogus” because they miss key supporting documents. Church critics contend the property secretly was transferred to the ownership of the Neocatechumenal Way.
-
May 17, 2016: Roy Quintanilla, a former Agat altar boy, publicly accuses Apuron of molesting him in the 1970s, when Apuron was parish priest in Agat. Apuron denies the allegations.
-
May 31, 2016: In a story published in the Pacific Daily News, former Guam resident Doris Concepcion accuses Apuron of molesting her son, Joseph Quinata, when he was an altar boy in Agat in the 1970s. She says her son told her about being molested in 2005, shortly before he died. The archdiocese denies the allegations.
-
June 3, 2016: Guam’s archdiocese states there is a concerted effort to topple Apuron because he opposed selling the Yona seminary property and because he removed Monsignor Benavente.
-
June 6, 2016: Pope Francis announces the appointment of a temporary archbishop to lead the Archdiocese of Agana, pending an investigation into the abuse allegations. In a video statement from Rome, Apuron says he asked for the appointment and welcomes it. Appointed Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon, during a prayer meeting in Tamuning several days later, calls for unity.
-
June 7, 2016: Former Agat altar boy Walter Denton, who now lives in Arizona, publicly accuses Apuron of raping him during a sleepover at the church rectory in 1977.
|