Archdiocese deals with deep financial, trust issues

By Haidee V Eugenio
Pacific Daily News
June 25, 2017

http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/06/25/agana-archdiocese-deals-with-financial-trust-issues-debt/407739001/

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes speaks during a press conference at the St. John Paul the Great Center for Evangelization on Monday, June 5, 2017. Photo by Rick Cruz

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes calls for sacrifices as the Archdiocese of Agana deals with financial problems, the details of which will be released to the public in the weeks to come.

"Using an analogy, in simple terms, we have maxed out our credit cards and payment is due," Byrnes said in a June 18 pastoral letter.

David Sablan, president of Concerned Catholics of Guam, said the group is aware of an option to have the Catholic schools help the archdiocese with its finances, but he said this could end with increased student tuition and dwindling enrollment at those schools.

Byrnes said it is unfortunate that some entities under the archdiocese got in over their financial heads, but urged everyone to come together and help those units experiencing financial difficulty.

In the weeks ahead, he said, the archdiocese will share its financial realities and challenges as well as strategies to resolve them.

"We understand that there is a trust issue involved which will take time to heal. However, we are all in this together and together, rooted in Christ, I firmly believe we will emerge as a stronger church and Archdiocese," Byrnes said in his pastoral letter, titled, "Together as one Body in Christ, we will prevail."

Byrnes' pastoral letter on finances comes three months after the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagåtña was placed under an internal receivership.

The internal receivers have taken over the cathedral's financial management and operations to meet its monthly obligations and help pay off $1.9 million in new debt incurred the past two and a half years.

The poll, Rate your level of concern over the Archdiocese of Agana's finances, will close at 5 p.m. June 26, 2017. 

The archdiocese has already started sharing some of its financial issues with more than 40 parishes, schools and agencies.

For example, the archdiocese's legal fees are being paid from a separate source, he said.

The archdiocese hired Guam and U.S. mainland-based law firms to deal with clergy sex abuse lawsuits. The complaints filed in the U.S. District Court of Guam alone demands either $5 million or $10 million in minimum damages each case.

"No parish or school funds are being used to pay legal fees," Byrnes wrote.

The archbishop said highly qualified financial advisers have been assisting in developing an acceptable plan to bring the archdiocese back to good economic health, but Byrnes said sacrifices, big and small, need to be made.

"We have a lot of work to do but every action we take will be completed in the upmost transparency," Byrnes added.

Despite the financial challenges, Byrnes noted Guam's enduring faith even with the events of the past 12 months, most notably the scourge of clergy sexual abuse.

"I have also been extremely impressed with the quality of people who have come forward to assist me and the Archdiocese during these trying times. While we may have a secular crisis on our hands, I find the spirituality of the Guam faithful to be strong," Byrnes wrote.

Pope Francis appointed Byrnes in October 2016 to permanently replace Apuron should Apuron retire, resign or is removed by the Vatican. The Vatican suspended Apuron on June 6, 2016, after former altar boys came forward to accuse Apuron of rape or sexual abuse in Agat in the 1970s.