GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com
A new program that the Archdiocese of Agana initiated seeks to resolve dozens of Guam clergy sex abuse cases by summer’s end, offering an alternative to years of court litigation, according to the attorney in charge of the program.
Attorney Michael W. Caspino, executive director of the non-profit organization Hope and Healing Guam, said the independent program seeks to offer professional counseling, treatment, spiritual healing, compensation and justice to clergy abuse victims.
The program is two-pronged:
* Professional counseling has started for those who have already called the Hope and Healing Guam hotline, 1-888-649-5288. This will be followed by rehabilitation and long-term treatment as needed, and guidance from a spiritual director.
* Individual review of each claim for compensation, along with referral for investigation, once an independent board is formed, as early as next week.
Caspino, of California, said similar programs in other states could be administered by the diocese. But in Guam’s case, Hope and Healing is acting independent of the Archdiocese of Agana, whose only role is fund the program in the millions of dollars.
That’s partly because the suspended Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, who is among those facing clergy sex abuse cases in court and is undergoing a Vatican canonical penal trial, is still technically an archbishop, Caspino said.
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