GUAM
The Guam Daily Post
Mindy Aguon |For The Guam Daily Post Mar 21, 2017
A 45-year-old man filed a lawsuit in the District Court alleging he was sexually abused as “penance” to get confirmed in the Catholic Church.
James A. Mafnas, of Barrigada, filed a lawsuit against the Archbishop of Agana, alleging he was abused by former priest Raymond Cepeda when he was attending confirmation classes at San Vicente Ferrer-San Roke Catholic Church in Barrigada. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, confirmation is a sacrament of initiation in the Catholic Church where a baptized person is “sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”.
In 1986, Mafnas and other confirmation students attended a weekend retreat at Cocos Island Resort. Students were instructed that all food had to be purchased at Cocos Island from the resort store, but Mafnas’ parents couldn’t afford to give him extra money for food so he packed bread, spam and corned beef to take with him to the retreat, court documents state.
Mafnas recalled that he was caught with the food and was told to report to Cepeda’s bungalow. Cepeda yelled at him telling him he would not get confirmed and made him recite 20 rosaries, the lawsuit states. Instead of returning to the other students, Mafnas was made to sleep on the floor in Cepeda’s room.
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