HAGåTñA (GUAM)
Pacific Daily News [Hagåtña, Guam]
November 10, 2024
By Haidee Eugenio Gilbert
A portion of the Archdiocese of Agaña’s chancery property on San Ramon Hill in Agana Heights, photographed March 2, 2023. The government of Guam bought for $2.3 million the historic chancery property in Agana Heights, which the archdiocese had been trying to sell as part of its bankruptcy exit linked to the settlement of nearly 300 Guam clergy sex abuse claims.
The government of Guam bought for $2.3 million the historic chancery property in Agana Heights, which the Archdiocese of Agana had been trying to sell as part of its bankruptcy exit linked to the settlement of nearly 300 Guam clergy sex abuse claims.
It’s where the late Pope John Paul II, who later became a saint, stayed overnight in 1981, among other things.
Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governor’s director of communications, confirmed the purchase on Sunday, saying GovGuam used $2.3 million in approved U.S. Treasury capital projects funds to buy the chancery property.
“The sale is currently in the closing process,” she said.
GovGuam, according to Paco-San Agustin, will use the property to provide services to individuals with disabilities, as well as for community outreach.
There’s a six-month transition period under the purchase agreement, giving the archdiocese ample time to move into a new chancery.
“During this period, they will continue to assume all operational costs,” Paco-San Agustin said, referring to utilities and other expenses associated with occupying the property.
The chancery property on San Ramon Hill, with a sweeping view of Hagåtña and the bay, has been the home of archbishops for several decades.
It holds an immense spiritual, cultural and historic significance not only to the Catholic Church but to Guam as a whole, the archdiocese said, because of Saint John Paul the Great’s unprecedented visit to the property some 43 years ago.
The pope visited Guam from Feb. 22 to 23, 1981.
‘Bittersweet’
David Sablan, president of the grassroots Concerned Catholics of Guam, which helped bring to the forefront clergy sex abuses on Guam, on Sunday said the purchase is “somewhat bittersweet.”
“We’re (CCOG) pleased that the proceeds will go to the Trust Fund for the victims and their families affected by clergy sex abuse. But it’s also sad that the seat of our Church on Guam and Micronesia had to be sold,” Sablan told the Pacific Daily News.
GovGuam’s purchase comes about a year after Phoenix Foundation and its donors tried to buy — but did not raise the full $2.3 million — to successfully purchase the property.
The foundation came up short of about $250,000 to complete the purchase on the eve of the Oct. 17, 2023 bankruptcy court deadline. The foundation has since started returning the donations.
“There was a group before GovGuam who was going to buy the Chancery property and then donate it back to the Church. This would have been great. Unfortunately, they could not raise enough funds to finalize the sale before the deadline. This would have been preferable,” Sablan said. “But if this Chancery property can help the disabled citizens of our island, which is the intent of the Government of Guam, then this is an honorable option for the use of our Chancery.”
The Phoenix Foundation’s members included former Gov. Eddie Calvo, former adjutant general of the Guam National Guard Benny Paulino, and realtor Chris Felix.
The chancery property sale is part of the court-approved deal to settle the clergy sex abuse claims and get the archdiocese out of bankruptcy.
Phoenix Foundation’s goal in buying the prime property on San Ramon Hill, according to its members, is to preserve the chancery complex’s historic and religious significance, and allow the archdiocese to continue its use for the Catholic Church.
A majority of the Guam population is Catholic.
The chancery property is among the archdiocese’s prime properties for sale, under order from the bankruptcy court.
Proceeds of the sale were supposed to cover some of the church’s bankruptcy costs, help pay for some of the archdiocese offices’ relocation to the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagåtña, and help settle the claims of about 280 survivors of Guam clergy sexual assaults that happened as far back as the 1950s.
More than 80 archdiocese properties, including those near or adjacent to Catholic parishes and schools, are up for sale to help settle the abuse survivors’ claims.