GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News September 27, 2016
The island’s Catholic church has issued a new statement, encouraging anyone who knows about sexual abuse by clergy or others in the Archdiocese of Agana “today or in the past” to contact the church’s sexual abuse response coordinator.
The call comes shortly after Gov. Eddie Calvo signed into law a bill that would allow victims of child sex abuse to sue their abusers and the institutions with which they are associated, at any time.
Public Law 33-187 makes the Catholic church on Guam open to lawsuits by those who, in recent months, have publicly accused priests, including Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, of raping or molesting them. The Vatican placed Apuron on temporary leave over sex abuse allegations, but he has not been charged with any crime.
“Do you know of sexual abuse within our Church?” the Archdiocese of Agana’s statement reads.
The statement says the Archdiocese of Agana cares deeply about the protection of minors and all people entrusted to its care.
“Sexual abuse is a matter of the gravest concern, as Our Lord calls us to protect the most innocent and vulnerable among us – our children. We take the protection of children very seriously,” it adds.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.