The Vatican comment followed a federal judge ordering the Holy See's counsel to report on whether Pope Francis could meet with all survivors of Guam clergy sexual assaults to help settle abuse claims.

Attorneys for the Vatican, led by California-based Jeffrey Lena, said the Holy See "has given no indication that it is currently inclined to settle the case at bar" or participate in similar lawsuits.

The plaintiff, known as ‘DM', claims Apuron allegedly raped him when he was a minor student at Father Dueñas Memorial School from 1994-1995.

US District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood is currently weighing the Vatican's motion to dismiss this particular case filed by DM.

Tydingco-Gatewood ordered the Holy See's counsel to file a formal report indicating whether he conferred with the pope on specific questions before deciding whether to dismiss the case against the Vatican.

These include whether the Vatican is amenable to accepting service of process, and whether Pope Francis is inclined to meet with all the Guam plaintiffs - who were allegedly abused at the hands of clergy - to discuss a global settlement.

The Vatican said the court inquiries directed to Pope Francis as a head of state are "improper" under the doctrines of absolute immunity and personal inviolability.

"As a matter of international comity, a federal court should not be requesting information regarding Pope Francis' ‘inclinations' as to a particular legal controversy, any more than a foreign court should request such information from the President of the United States," the Vatican legal team said in a 13 September court filing.

The Vatican legal team also said the court's recent inquiries "inappropriately" enter into the sphere of the attorney-client relationship.

"In light of the attorney-client privilege, the Holy See respectfully declines to provide a response indicating whether counsel has conferred with the Holy See about two questions and, if so, what is the Holy See's responses to the court's questions," the Vatican legal team said.

Sources

Guam Daily Post

Pacific Daily News

CathNews New Zealand

While the Vatican's ruling following its guilty verdict has banned Apuron from returning to Guam and has removed him permanently from his post, he is still a priest.

His successor, Archbishop Michael Byrnes, has apologised and pledged to help the Church and its followers in Guam.

Byrnes admits there are still plenty of questions as to why Apuron wasn't completely exiled from the Church.

"It means he can still act as a priest, he can still say Mass," Byrnes says.

"There's still some blurry areas around this for me, and I'm just trying to get my head around it."

The Church is already being criticised for what many say is a case of double standards.

In February, the Vatican expelled the former US cardinal Theodore McCarrick from the priesthood over allegations he sexually abused adults and minors.

Source

• ABC
• Image: ktuu.com

"Our church on Guam can now continue with certainty, our collective journey toward healing and reconciliation. Most importantly, the victims, survivors and their families who have suffered greatly can have some measure of solace that justice has been rendered in the church's tribunal process," Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes of Agana, said of his predecessor. Read more

This chapter allows the debtor to propose a plan of reorganisation to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time.

Multitudes of sexual abuse claims against clergy have driven the Church to take this step.

The US territory's Archbishop Michael Byrnes decided to file for bankruptcy because it is the most expedient way to support the alleged victims.

"Over the last two years, we've done our best. We've strengthened our policies for a safe environment. We've educated over 2,000 people in the practices of safe environment protection of minors. We've made a lot of great strides.

"But our biggest issue is the almost 200 victim survivors of sexual abuse," he said.

"This path will bring the greatest measure of justice to the greatest number of victims. That's the heart of what we're doing."

Byrnes said the bankruptcy will provide "finality for victim survivors that they've been heard and understood."

His predecessor, Anthony Apuron, was suspended following accusations of abusing minors and helping hide similar abuses by priests and other Catholic authority figures in Guam. The allegations date back decades.

The allegations have resulted in the Church in Guam becoming buried under "a mound of lawsuits."

Keith Talbot, a lawyer for the Church, said the decision to file bankruptcy grew out of information from mediation sessions that began in September.

"Bankruptcy does two really good things for us.

"One is finality for the archdiocese going forward," Talbot said.

As part of the process, a judge will set a deadline — effectively a kind of statute of limitations — for claimants to come forward with any new lawsuits.

"The other part is that bankruptcy is the method to deliver the greatest measure of justice to the greatest number of victims."

Leander James, a lawyer representing several alleged victims agrees with Talbot.

"I think this bankruptcy was necessary to create an avenue toward a final settlement," James said.

"It will also provide the archdiocese with a road out of this dark jungle it's been in. For years now, they've been trying to find their way out. I think this may provide that path."

The Guam diocese is not alone in filing for Section 11 bankruptcy.

So far at least 19 dioceses and religious orders have been reported to have filed — or announced their intention to file — for bankruptcy protection in the US in efforts to settle sexual abuse claims, according to Catholic watchdog BishopAccountability.org.

To date, claims of clergy sex abuse have cost the Church more than $3 billion in major settlements and awards doled out to alleged victims.

Source

• National Public Radio
• AP
• Image: NBC News

A five-judge apostolic tribunal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced its verdict in Apuron's canonical case on March 16.

The release did not specify which acts the archbishop had been found guilty of.

It said he had been ordered from office and could no longer live in the Archdiocese of Agaña.

The press release from Vatican news stated that in the absence of an appeal, the sentence becomes final and effective.

In the case of an appeal, penalties are suspended until final.

In a statement through his lawyer later on March 16, Apuron said he had already appealed the ruling.

"I am innocent and I look forward to proving my innocence in the appeals process."

In a statement, Michael Byrnes, who is now the new Archbishop of Agaña, said it had been a long and painful period for the church in Guam and for the island community in general.

"This long-awaited announcement by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is very much welcomed.

"It is a monumental marker in our journey toward healing as one Church, one people in God. I pray that all people would embrace this call for healing."

Byrnes extended his prayers as well as gratitude to the individuals and their families who came forward to share their stories of being abused by the then Father Tony Apuron.

"Regardless of whether there is an appeal or not, our focus shall remain on penance and reparation," Byrnes said.

Source

• vaticannews.va
• umatuna.org
• washingtonpost.com
• ncronline.org
• Image: usatoday.com

Byrnes said that he learned from the Notary of Canonical Tribunal in the Vatican that "the discovery period of the trial has ended" and the three judges overseeing the case will convene to deliberate on the evidence presented.

He could not say how long the deliberation would take but did say there were three possible findings the group could render: guilty, not guilty, or not proven.

Regardless of which ruling is made, Archbishop Byrnes said he agreed with former Apostolic Administrator for our archdiocese Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai who said last September that Archbishop Apuron should be removed as Archbishop of Agaña.

"His sentiments I entirely endorse. I'm convinced actually, that this archdiocese would be unable to achieve peace really, until it's clear that Archbishop Apuron is no longer the bishop of record for this archdiocese."

Byrnes said he was not making that statement on the basis of the trial but from his experience of being here for the past seven months. He described seeing "widespread disarray" in our archdiocese and "ineffectiveness of many of the operations that you'd would expect to be going on in a regular archdiocese."

On the day before the press conference, Concerned Catholics of Guam president David Sablan and Laity Forward Movement president Lou Klitzkie, along with Catholic issues blogger Tim Rohr, announced that they would bel hold their last picket in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica on Sunday.

The pickets have been held each Sunday for about a year.

Klitzkie said those who have showed up at the Sunday pickets have accomplished a lot in drawing the Vatican's attention.

Source

• FaceBook
• umatuna.org
• RNZ
• USA Today

But that has not stopped her joining the weekly picket outside the cathedral in Hagåtña which is calling for the defrocking of the former Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Concepcion is the mother of a now deceased former altar boy who was allegedly raped by Apuron in the 1970s.

She said she's glad Byrnes acknowledges that abuses by priests happened, and the church has been doing all it can to address those, including creating a Hope and Healing nonprofit to counsel victims.

Concepcion now lives in Arizona, but is visiting Guam and has made it a point of joining a picket in front of the Catholic Church in Hagåtña when she can.

She also testified before a Vatican tribunal for Apuron's canonical trial.

"Everyone's saying a decision will be out by June, I don't know for sure but I hope it's going to be soon. The Vatican has more than enough evidence."

The first picket calling for Apuron's defrocking was held on June 12 last year. The picket has continued every Sunday since then.

"Now that all evidence is in Rome, we want to see Apuron defrocked so that we can have healing in the church and healing also for victims of Apuron and other priests," Laity Forward Movement President Lou Klitzkie said.

David Sablan, Concerned Catholics of Guam president, said the group hopes the pope and the Vatican, as the centre of moral authority for the Catholic Church, will not allow Apuron to remain an archbishop or continue being a priest.

"We must be patient as we methodically clean up our church of pedophile priests, so we can begin the healing process and restore trust and confidence in our new Archbishop and the good priests of our Archdiocese. We will not ever give up on our church and faith in God," he added.

Source

• usatoday.com
• Image: usatoday.com

John Toves, the first to publicly accuse Apuron in 2014 of sexual abuse of a minor, testified before the Vatican tribunal at the archbishop's residence in San Francisco on Monday (Tuesday, Guam time), about Apuron's alleged sexual abuse of Toves' cousin while the cousin was an altar boy at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña. Continue reading

The cathedral has been placed in an internal receivership, which has taken over its financial management and operations to help pay off its debt and meet its monthly obligations.

Richard Untalan, president of the Archdiocesan Finance Council, made the announcement of an internal receivership during a Friday afternoon press conference.

Untalan said about $1.1 million of the cathedral's debt is outstanding payables to suppliers, vendors and other creditors.

He said the remaining $800,000is owed to the Bank of Guam, and the council has not yet determined how that money, which refinanced part of an older loan, was spent.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, in consultation with his presbyteral council and the Archdiocesan Finance Council, said he placed the cathedral under temporary receivership as a last resort.

Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, who is undergoing a Vatican canonical trial, removed Monsignor James Benavente as rector of the cathedral basilica in 2014, creating an uproar among parishioners.

Apuron then named Monsignor David Quitugua as rector.

When Pope Francis suspended Apuron in June 2016, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai appointed the Rev. Paul Gofigan as rector of the cathedral.

Ricardo Duenas, a member of the Archdiocesan Receivership Committee, said prior to Benavente's removal as rector, the cathedral's basket collection was about $10,000 a week.

When sex abuse allegations against Apuron surfaced, on top of his questionable financial and leadership decisions, the number of parishioners coming to the cathedral declined, and so did the weekly collection, an Archdiocesan Finance Council member said.

Source

• guampdn.com
• Image: bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com

He is presiding over the church tribunal hearing the case against Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who faces multiple allegations of sex abuse of altar boys in the 1970s.

Apuron has denied the claims and has not been criminally charged.

The Guam archdiocese said the Cardinal left the Pacific island U.S. territory on Saturday after meeting this week with witnesses.

Burke is a canon lawyer and former prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Holy See's highest court.

He currently serves as the chaplain of the Knights of Malta, where he has clashed with the Holy See over the removal of the Grand Chancellor of the Knights.

He is also one of four cardinals who signed the controversial dubia, a letter asking Pope Francis to clarify parts of his apostolic exhortation "Amoris Laetitia".

Some have interpreted the decision to send Burke to Guam as a punishment but Burke has denied that interpretation in a new interview with Italian TV.

The TV outlet reports that it was the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, not Pope Francis, who entrusted him with the assignment.

Francis didn't even know about it until Burke was already in Guam.

"The pope has never spoken to me about this responsibility," Burke said.

"I've communicated exclusively with the superiors at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the usual procedure in these cases."

Source

• cruxnow.com
• nzherald.co.nz
• catholicnewsagency.com
• Image: a57.foxnews.com

The Archbishop, Anthony Apuron, is facing a Vatican trial after several former altar boys accused him of sexual assault in the 1970s, when he was a parish priest. Continue reading

But he failed to heed the calls, and the subsequent public allegations that Apuron sexually abused Agat altar boys in the 1970s made matters worse for him, Hon said.

Hon said the January 2015 pastoral visit to Guam by himself, Archbishop Martin Krebs and the Rev. Tadeusz Nowak included checking on the November 2014 allegation by California resident John Toves that Apuron sexually abused Toves' cousin.

Hon said he came up with recommendations to help the Archbishop improve his pastoral governance and unify the church on island.

"Unfortunately, 17 months later when I returned here, very little, almost none, has been done," Hon said.

Among Hon's recommendations were:

• Give time to sit down and talk to his own priests at the Archdiocese of Hagåtña.
• Involve more people in decision-making for the archdiocese. "I was suggesting, even inviting some sisters or lay people to be there (decision-making body)," said Hon.
• Set certain goals, such as when the archdiocese was about to mark the 50th year of its foundation as a diocese in 2015 and when Apuron was about to reach the age of 70 also in 2015.
• Avoid favouritism towards one group. (Apuron is a member of the Neocatechumenal Way, whose practices and beliefs are in conflict with the majority of Catholics on Guam).
• Ensure constant communication with the Holy See, through Archbishop Martin Krebs, the Vatican's delegate in the Pacific islands.

Hon said Apuron also didn't follow multiple instructions by the Holy See as early as 2015 to rescind and annul a deed restriction that gives the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and a theological institute, both controlled by the Neocatechumenal Way, the legal right to use church property indefinitely.

Source

• guampdn.com
• Image: kuam.images.worldnow.com

"It's been initiated, I know that much. The argument has been exchanged and now it's kind of like in the second phase of investigation, examination," said Archbishop Michael Byrnes, the newly appointed coadjutor bishop of Hagåtña (Guam) at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

Byrnes, who arrived on Guam at around 1 a.m. Monday, said the tribunal has been established and the Apuron trial proceeds, with more or less three judges on board.

Canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger, a Minnesota-based expert in church law, has said there haven't been enough trials of bishops to reach any conclusion about what penalty is normal.

"It will be for the judges to determine the penalty warranted, which could be dismissal from the clerical state or removal from office," Haselberger has said.

As well as the canonical trial ten civil lawsuits have also been filed against the Archdiocese of Hagåtña and its priests — including Apuron.

The lawsuits became possible after Gov. Eddie Calvo signed a law on Sept. 23 that lifted the statute of limitations on civil cases against those accused of sexually abusing children.

Byrnes said he has read the complaints filed. "I'm aware of those. It's shocking whenever you read that kind of thing," he said.

He said he intends to meet with survivors, victims or those who have filed lawsuits against priests and the archdiocese.

But he said there are no firm dates as to when those meetings will occur.

The governor, senators and other government officials attended the prayers for the start of Byrnes' ministry.

85 percent of the island's population is Catholic.

Source

• guampdn.com
• usatoday.com
• kuam.images.worldnow.com

The Carmelites had anonymously donated the $2 million used by the Archdiocese of Agãna, to buy a former hotel in Yona.

They considered suing the church after finding out the property was not being used by the archdiocese, but for a seminary operated by the Neocatechumenal Way,

Sr Dawn Marie says they were asked to state that they had purposely earmarked their gift for the use of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and for the Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores Catholic Theological Institute for Oceania.

She said it was a "pretty toxic environment for the nuns to live in."

"Because the gift was an anonymous gift from the very beginning, that anonymity was not respected by the archbishop."

"So many people knew and misunderstood that the Carmelites in Malojloj had donated the $2 million. The Carmelite community in Guam hadn't even have a savings account," she said.

The latest edition of The Archdiocese of Agãna's newspaper, Umatuna Si Yu'os corrected its earlier story about the ownership od trhe former hotel.

A story published on the front page of the newspaper on 29 November last year it carried the headline indicating that the Archbishop was the legal and sole owner of the property.

The story did not include any information about a declaration of deed restriction that clearly stated that the Owner hereby covenants and declares that the Property is and shall be held, used, transferred, sold and conveyed subject to the covenants and restrictions set forth herein:

The restriction stated:

The property shall be dedicated, to and for the use, of the Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary of Guam, a non-profit coporation with identification number #66-0626532, in perpetual use as a see of the Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary of Guam, and by the Blessed Diego Luis de san Vitores Catholic Theological Institute for Oceania."

This week, the Archdiocese announced that it has "acted to transfer complete and unrestricted control and possession of the Yona property back to the Archdiocese of Agaña."

Source

• umutuna.org
• guampdn.com
• Image: guampdn.com

Some consider him to be an "outsider". Guam will be Byrnes' first long-term assignment out of Detroit, Michigan.

"I wonder about the prudence of Rome when I heard about this. It goes to show that the people that are advising Pope Francis just have absolutely no idea about Guam," said Attorney David Lujan.

Lujan is representing alleged victims of clergy sex abuse including those filing lawsuits against the church and Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

"I think it's offensive that Rome selects someone from Detroit of all places, and a white person at that, to send that person to Guam, really, to sort of shepherd us when we got numerous brown priests that were born here, that grew up here, that know the people of Guam and are part of the people of Guam, whether they're Chamorros or Filipinos..."

"We have more than enough qualified leadership in the local clergy who Rome should have contemplated. So that's my reaction to this coadjutor. I can't wait to see him served," Lujan said.

Hon Tai Fai said newly Byrnes should never be considered an "outsider"

"Archbishop Byrnes may not be given, in one instance, 'infused' knowledge of every detail of our island but he is generally informed about the current situation of the local Church and is ready, as expressed humbly by himself, to learn more from the people of God on Guam, whether they be clergy, religious, or lay," Hon said in a Nov. 3 congratulatory message to Byrnes.

While there was initial apprehension among some community members about Byrnes' selection, there is also expressed relief from some lay groups such as the Concerned Catholics of Guam, which said the appointment of a coadjutor archbishop means Apuron is on his way out.

Another group of Catholics, the Laity Forward Movement, said it will continue to lead the picket in front of the cathedral-basilica even after Byrnes has arrived on island and so long as Apuron holds the title of archbishop.

"We welcome the pope's decision to designate a replacement for Apuron," Laity Forward Movement President Lou Klitzkie said on Monday. "Apuron must be removed from the Archdiocese of Agana."

Source

• guampdn.com
• guampdn.com
• guampdn.com
• Image: umatuna.org

He has been given full pastoral responsibility and administrative authority in the archdiocese.

"I got a call from the papal nuncio (Archbishop Christophe Pierre); it was a 5-10 minute conversation, where he asked me if I would accept the appointment to become the next archbishop of Agaña, Guam," Archbishop-designate Byrnes said in an interview with The Michigan Catholic.

"I said yes, I'm willing to do whatever the Holy Father asked of me."

Byrnes was born in Detroit in 1958 and ordained a priest for the archdiocese of Detroit in 1996.

He has a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and has served as a pastor and as vice rector of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

He was consecrated bishop and appointed auxiliary bishop of Detroit in 2011.

Though he is still formally archbishop of Agaña, Anthony Apuron was relieved of his pastoral and administrative authority in June.

Since then, the Agaña Archdiocese has been cared for by an apostolic administrator, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai.

Apuron was suspended after multiple sex-abuse charges, has welcomed the appointment of a coadjutor archbishop.

He said that the Vatican's appointment of Byrnes, a Detroit was "a most welcome answer to my request for help in the governance of the island at this time."

Apuron, who has consistently denied the charges against him, said that he is currently "working with the authorities in the Vatican to establish my innocence."

Tai Fai told the National Catholic Reporter the Vatican is preparing to put Apuron on trial.

Last Tuesday he told reporters that "they just formed all the conditions for the trial."

In an interview Byrnes said he hoped that "we will be able to strengthen all our parishes' ability .. .the kind of sensitivity and awareness of protecting God's children"

Byrnes said the Guam church's victim response coordination team is "a very good first step."

"As far as the Neocatechumenal Way, I am aware of them," Byrnes said. "I met some of them, and my thought there is that we are all Catholics, we worship the same Jesus, and we might do it a little bit different in certain cases.

"But, you know, my point there would be to say that's why I need to investigate myself and come to know the people involved."

Read Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai's press release

Source

• kuam.com
• themichigancatholic.org
• ncronline.org
• ncregister.com
• catholiculture.org
• guampdn.com
• Image: i.ytimg.com

Sen. Frank Blas Jr., R-Barrigada, introduced Bill 326-33 a few months ago, following several public accusations by former altar boys who allege that Archbishop Anthony Apuron sexually abused them while he was parish priest in Agat, Guam, during the 1970s.

Pending the governor's signature, Blas' bill would give any victim the opportunity to file civil action and seek monetary restitution from the person who allegedly sexually abused them, as well as the institution or entity that was "acting in concert" with the perpetrator.

If the bill becomes law, it could allow the alleged victims to sue Apuron.

Last week, Joseph "Joe" Santos, the founder of a local grassroots group advocating to help victims of child sexual abuse, presented Blas with a petition that contained signatures from more than 3,000 people who support the bill.

"In light of growing awareness of child sexual abuse, many states have begun to reform criminal statutes. We are hoping to the do same here on Guam," Blas told his fellow lawmakers during session Monday morning.

In 2011 the legislature passed a similar measure, opening a two-year window for any victim of childhood sexual abuse to file a civil case.

At the time, the local Catholic church advocated against it.

Source

• usatoday.com
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: guampdn.com

Six are from the Archdiocese of Samoa in Apia, and two are from the Diocese of Samoa in Pago Pago.

However, the number will reach 10 if two other RMS seminarians from American Samoa that are currently on mission outside Guam do not return to Guam.

Father Jeffrey San Nicolas, the delegate of the administrator for the Archdiocese of Agana, said the number of seminarians that were pulled out represented about 24 percent of the population at the seminary.

He said there are now 31 seminarians at RMS, down from 41.

"They left in early July. Their bishop decided to pull them out," San Nicolas said of the Samoan seminarians. "It is a dramatic, shocking situation."

The RMS is a Neocatechumenal seminary.

It forms priesthood candidates ot only for Guam, but for the wider pacific region and other parts of the world

The Neocatechumenal Way is an organisation within the Catholic Church that was formed in Madrid, Spain, in 1964 by Kiko Argueello and Carmen Hernandez.

Archbishop Apuron and the rector of RMS, Fr. Pius Sammut, are both members of the Neocatechumenal Way.

One of the four ad hoc committees that Archbishop Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, apostolic administrator of Agana formed in June is now assessing the status, not only of the RMS in Yona, but also the St. John Paul the Great Archdiocesan Seminary also in Guam.

Hon said the assessment of both seminaries includes "studying their formation programmes, their personnel and other matters involved in the formation of the clergy for the Archdiocese."

"The Archdiocese is in the process of studying the RMS along with our second seminary, understanding that this is a matter of great importance and concern in our Church on Guam."

Source

• guampdn.com
• Image: umatuna.org

The deed gives Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Guam and the Blessed Diego Theological Institute the legal right to use the Archdiocese of Agana's (Guam) property.

Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Honmore, the Vatican appointed administrator of the Archdiocese says that the Holy See recognised, more than a year ago,the problems such a Deed Restriction created.

Hon said. The pope had instructed Apuron more than once to rescind and annul it

"Clearly, this instruction has not been carried out accordingly."

He said the property belongs to the Archdiocese, but its use was deeded away, indefinitely, to the seminary and institute.

In a written statement Hon, called upon the seminary and the institute to obey the pope.

He asked them to renounce,"without any litigation, all rights to use the property."

"Such a courageous act of renouncing will certainly earn respect and recognition from the Holy See, as well as many faithful, the Presbyteral Council and myself." he said.

Hon said he and the Archdiocese Presbyteral Council met with church members Aug. 11 to discuss the deed restriction, which, "has been a source of grave dispute and division in our church."

Critics have argued Apuron improperly gave control of the valuable church asset to followers of the Neocatechumenal Way.

The Archdiocese of Agana bought the former 100-room, oceanside Accion Hotel in Yona more than a decade ago for $2 million. It is one of the Guam Catholic Church's largest real estate assets, estimated at between $40 million and $75 million.

Hon said the property belongs to the Archdiocese, but its use was deeded away, indefinitely, to the seminary and the institute.

Creating the deed was an unusual act, according to Hon, who said use of property normally is conceded through an internal Ecclesiastical agreement.

Source

• pireport.org
• Image: concernedcatholicsofguam.org

These statements form the basis of a lawsuit charging libel and slander currently being served on the archdiocese.

Hon stated: "Let me be clear that in no way do my priest counselors nor I endorse the contents of these statements."

In a message released on Sunday Hon re-iterated his position. "The Archdiocese should always assume and believe that the intent of those who make allegations of this sort is to bring to light serious claims of abuse."

"Allow me to quote Pope Francis who met with 'survivors' in Philadelphia last September:

'I am grateful for this opportunity to meet you.

I am blessed by your presence. Thank you for coming here today, ... I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children.

It is very disturbing to know that in some cases bishops were even abusers. I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.'"

Apuron and other archdiocesan representatives had threatened to sue accusers and others for allegedly spreading malicious and calumnious lies against the archbishop and the Archdiocese of Agãna

At the press conference, Hon reiterated the measures he had undertaken to remove the statements from the archdiocese media outlets and reinforced his position on the gravity of any such claims of sexual misconduct leveled against members of the clergy.

On Friday, July 22, the four plaintiffs in the current suit delivered a copy of an amended suit to the archdiocese.

Hon was named and accused of being equally accountable for defamatory statements made against the plaintiffs in regard to their claims against Apuron and their intentions in coming forward.

Despite the retraction they say they will continue to press the libel and slander lawsuits.

Source

• postguam.com
• umatuna.org
• guampdn.com
• www.kuam.com
• Image: gannett-cdn.com