Investigation process for accused bishops ‘vague’

By Jasmine Stole
Pacific Daily News
June 19, 2016

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2016/06/19/investigation-process-accused-bishops-vague/85970968/

Members and supporters of the Concerned Catholics of Guam and Laity Forward Movement hold a protest against Archbishop Anthony Apuron at Dulce Nombre de Cathedral Basilica in Hagatna on June 19.

After a fourth person came forward Wednesday accusing Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron of molesting him almost 40 years ago, apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai said that necessary steps would be taken to present the matter to the Holy See.

But what those steps are have not been made public. A canon lawyer also said there’s little known about how bishops accused of abusing minors are investigated.

Roland Sondia, 54, said Wednesday that Apuron molested him one night when he was a 15-year-old altar boy and Apuron was then a parish priest, both serving for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Agat.

The Agat resident recited the alleged events of the night in 1977 at a press conference last week, standing before his family and the media on the steps of the pastoral center at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña. He said he told Apuron to stop when Apuron rubbed his private parts, but Apuron persisted. Sondia said he then broke away from Apuron and left the rectory in Agat in the middle of the night.

In recent weeks, two other men, Roy Quintanilla and Walter Denton, have publicly and directly accused Apuron of sexually abusing them when they were altar boys. Doris Y. Concepcion, mother of a former Agat altar boy, also has accused Apuron of abusing her now deceased son.

Minneapolis-based canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger said while there are regulations in Canon law that dictate how to handle investigations, it refers only to how a bishop is to handle investigations of another priest.

“Because the Code of Canon Law says nobody but the Holy See can investigate a bishop, they don’t need to explain that policy,” Haselberger said. “Because they’re the only ones who are going to do it.”

The pope is not going to write instructions to himself about how to investigate a bishop, Haselberger said.

Haselberger also said there is no universal procedure to handle bishops accused of molesting minors.

“It’s pretty vague, to put it mildly,” she said.

The three men alleging Apuron sexually abused them as kids, and their families, have publicly called for Apuron to resign.

Members of Concerned Catholics of Guam and the Laity Forward Movement, who are openly critical of Apuron, also sought his resignation. While Archbishop Hon is apostolic administrator, Apuron still bears the title of archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana.

According to canon law, bishops who reach 75 years old are required to retire. The same law states bishops who have become “less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause” are to present their resignation from the office.

Haselberger cited two bishops in the Minneapolis archdiocese last year, who resigned because of “some other grave cause,” before they were 75 years old.

The two bishops resigned after prosecutors charged them in connection with another priest accused of sexual misconduct.

Archbishop John C. Nienstedt resigned at the age of 68, and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piché was 57 years old when he resigned.

Apuron is 70 years old.

Apuron, as of Wednesday, is still in Rome, according to Hon.

He has denied abuse allegations made by Roy Quintanilla and the mother of Joseph “Sonny” A. Quinata.

Apuron has not responded to allegations from Sondia, but hours after Sondia came forward, Archbishop Hon issued a statement about Sondia’s accusations. Part of the statement said that Holy See has final authority in cases related to bishops.

Agat resident Sondia said the night of the alleged abuse left him in shock. “I was confused, offended, humiliated and disappointed that the man I looked up to had just asked me if I wanted to have sex with him. I cried as I walked home that night,” he said Wednesday.

For victims, Haselberger said if an investigation has not yet begun, they can ask, in writing, for the congregation overseeing their diocese to investigate bishops accused of abuse.

Locally, to date, Apuron has not be charged with a crime.

According to the Office of the Attorney General, a criminal prosecution against him cannot be pursued because of existing local statute of limitations laws, and the ex post facto clause of the Constitution.