GUAM
Pacific News Center
Guam – While attorneys and organizations are work on getting justice for victims of church sex abuse, the Archdiocese of Agana is also embarking on a new initiative for “spiritual” justice.
Spearheaded by Archbishop Michael Byrnes, this endeavor will be called the Year of Reparation.
It’s not just the scores of sex abuse lawsuits that have rocked the church or the controversial dispute over the Redemptoris Mater Seminary property, or even the division between the traditional catholics and the neocatechumenal group, Coadjutor Archbishop Byrnes says problems exist within the community that are hurting the fabric of society like divorce rates, crime, child abuse and drug abuse.ltimately the metric of Christian success
“Ultimately, the metric of christian success is, do we see some of these social ills going down? Do we see more healing and less brokenness?” noted Byrnes.
In an effort to heal a divided church and community, Archbishop Byrnes called upon the Liturgical Commission to assist. Archbishop Byrnes was sent to Guam by Pope Francis after Archbishop Anthony Apuron was ousted stemming from the multiple allegations of sexual abuse. Liturgical Commission Chairperson Father Paul Gofigan says reparation was a priority for Archbishop Byrnes.
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.