GUAM
USA Today
[with video]
Jojo Santo Tomas and Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News (Guam)
HAGATNA, Guam — Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai asked Guam’s clergy to deliver a message to Catholic churchgoers during Mass on Sunday: “… I am in Rome to urge the Holy See to remove Archbishop (Anthony) Apuron as archbishop of Agana and to appoint a successor.”
It was what Catholic protesters had demanded on picket signs since their first protest against Apuron late last year. Since May, members of the Concerned Catholics of Guam, the Laity Forward Movement and nonaffiliated parishioners staged protests every Sunday morning in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica.
And while it was welcome news that Hon stood behind Apuron’s removal, the rest of Hon’s letter only served to disappoint and anger the protesters.
Hon asked churchgoers to sign a petition lobbying against the signing of Bill 326 into law. The bill would lift the time restriction on lawsuits against institutions such as the Archdiocese of Agana that have employed those accused of child sexual abuse. He said the bill would expose the archdiocese to unlimited financial liability and bankruptcy. Hon also wrote that similar legislation enacted in 13 U.S. dioceses led to school closures and cessation of vital services.
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