GUAM
Pacific Daily News
October 24, 2017
by Haidee V Eugenio
Child sexual abuse allegations against Archbishop Anthony Apuron went unchecked for years because of an inadequate policy for the protection of children and young people, according to Archbishop Michael Byrnes, who said the island’s Catholic church has completely revised its policy.
Byrnes said the decision about whether to move forward with an investigation rested with the archbishop. That decision now will be made by an independent body, he said Tuesday.
Apuron, who is facing a canonical trial at the Vatican which could decide his future as a member of the clergy, has been accused of raping or molesting four altar boys in Agat decades ago, when he was a parish priest. The former altar boys and the family of a deceased former altar boy also have sued Apuron and the church in federal court, demanding millions of dollars.
Byrnes was appointed by the pope as Apuron’s eventual replacement.
Under church policy, if an archbishop is accused of sexual abuse, the Vatican is to be notified immediately.
“So, if God forbid, one of our current clergy were to be accused of sexual abuse of minors, there would be an investigation that would be automatically prompted and the results of that investigation will go not directly to me, but to the independent review board, which is made up of a number of people who helped work on this policy,” Byrnes said during a press conference Tuesday.
The revised policy requires employees and volunteers to immediately report any allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy to the archdiocese and to civil authorities.
Failure to report immediately could result in disciplinary action, including dismissal, and could result in civil or criminal penalties under Guam law.
The policies can be viewed on the archdiocese’s website, www.aganaarch.org.
“These documents will help instigate a change of culture in our archdiocese,” Byrnes stated in a cover letter for the policies.
The review board also decides whether accused clergy will be suspended while an investigation is conducted.
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