Vatican investigators will be on Guam soon as part of Archbishop
Anthony S. Apuron’s ongoing canonical trial, Coadjutor Archbishop
Michael Jude Byrnes said at a news briefing Friday, during which he
announced tougher church policies to protect children from clergy sexual
abuse.
Apuron's trial at the Vatican started after several former
altar boys accused him of molesting or raping them in the 1970s, when
he was a parish priest in Agat.
Byrnes, who will replace Apuron if
he retires, resigns or is removed, announced the Archdiocese of Agana’s
voluntary adherence to the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops’ revised “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young
People.”
Byrnes said there will be: required automatic reporting
to civil authorities of any allegation of clergy sex abuse involving
minors; suspension of the clergy if the accusation is deemed credible
and while the investigation is still ongoing; legal background checks,
from priests to church volunteers, working with children; and, permanent
removal from ministry if the sexual abuse allegations are
substantiated.
“It’s
the right thing to do,” Byrnes said, adding that the USCCB’s charter
provisions are recognized as some of the best practices in the world
for protecting children.
Byrnes said the archdiocese follows a
“zero tolerance” policy. As an example, a clergy will be permanently
removed from public ministry if a sex abuse allegation against him is
substantiated by an independent review board, among other things.
An
independent review board will be re-established as the main body to,
among other things, determine whether an investigation moves forward or
not, and whether the accused clergy will be suspended while the probe is
still ongoing. These decisions used to rest solely with Apuron as
archbishop, even if the allegation was against him.
Besides the
voluntary adoption of the charter on protection of minors, the
archdiocese has also started conducting workshops on the protection of
children, for faculty and staff at Catholic schools and soon, the
parishes.
"The provisions of this charter is a roadmap to winning back that trust. Again it will take a lot of time," Byrnes said.
Pope Francis placed Apuron, Guam's archbishop for more than 30 years, on leave last June following abuse allegations.
Byrnes
confirmed Vatican investigators will be coming to Guam as part of the
investigation into Apuron. Because of a Vatican request, Byrnes couldn’t
say anything more about the visit.
“They will be here,” he said. “That’s as far as I can go.”
David
Sablan, president of Concerned Catholics of Guam, said they are elated
that Vatican officials will be stepping foot on Guam to personally
investigate the allegations against Apuron, talk to the former altar
boys who publicly accused Apuron of sexually abusing them, and gather as
much information about Apuron’s activities as archbishop.
Sablan
reiterated that the group hopes there will be justice for Apuron’s
victims, and the victims of other clergy. Concerned Catholics and the
Laity Forward Movement continue to push for Apuron to be removed as
archbishop and be defrocked.
At least 16 former altar boys
alleging sexual abuse have so far filed lawsuits in the U.S. District
Court of Guam against priests and the Archdiocese of Agana.