Guam Archbishop appeals verdict

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I_trust said:
Solicitation does not equal clerical abuse.
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You are right. I apologize, my assumption might be wrong. We actually don’t know anything about the reason for the relatively mild sanctions imposed on Archbishop Apuron by the Vatican Tribunal at the first ever Catholic canonical trial of an Archbishop. What seems to be without doubt is that he was not found guilty of sexual abuse of minors.
 
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An archbishop should never be in a situation like this. Either he is innocent, then the guilty verdict is a huge mistake. Or he is guilty, then the consequences are even worse! Then it symbolizes corruption of Christian values at the very top of my church. How should I feel?
 
I tell you he is innocent in all charges of abuse of minors. He might have overstepped his clerical authority in handling a donation that he channeled to the benefit of a Redemptoris Mater Seminary. This issue is the contention of his critics. But this is unrelated to abuse. Pope Francis will announce the verdict very soon. Perhaphs even before the Epiphany of our Lord.
 
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Here-I-am-Lord said:
Either he is innocent, then the guilty verdict is a huge mistake.
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I firmly believe Pope Francis will correct this mistake. However, I am losing my faith in a quick resolution as the announcement of the appeal verdict is delayed beyond reason.
 
Local Catholics are growing uneasy about an unreasonable delay of Pope Francis’ announcement of the appeal verdict in the canonical trial of Archbishop Apuron. Most experts say it is highly improbable that the local Archbishop was found guilty of sexual abuse of minors by the Vatican Tribunal that conducted the first ever canonical trial of a high ranking priest in Vatican.

The critics of the Archbishop try to re-ignite a campaign of personal attacks and innuendo on Apuron. In order to silence them and to counter their slanders it would be of vital importance that Pope Francis takes the courage to announce a non-guilty verdict in sexual abuse.


Guam Catholics need peace. This island is the last strong bastion of Catholic faith on American soil where Catholics still comprise 85% of the population! However, Protestant groups recruit the faithful prompting them to leave the Catholic denomination and join them to avoid further embarrassment because of their Catholic affiliation at a time of spiritual mess and turmoil.

Pope Francis has an urgent task to complete otherwise the church on Guam will fade into irreversible decline and a broken spirit of the faithful for the years and decades to come.
 
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As it seems to happen in so many cases, the “trial” ends up in the domain of the Catholic Church which has an inherent conflict of interest in judging these cases.

The victims or alleged victims need to know that they have to take their complaints to civil authorities. When that is put to trial and decided, then and only then should they go to the table for financial settlements AGAIN in a civil court.

What happens with church tribunal cases is that the facts can be suppressed, the settlement is in secret, the abuser may never be discovered, the abuser may be transferred to another jurisdiction, etc.

I am beginning to suspect the motives of those who do not go through the public civil process but are “settling” financial cases in secret. This is, inherently, not justice.

Apparently, here, the ArchB didn’t abuse a minor, he “merely” propositioned him in a confessional.

In my diocese, in 2019, the advice is, go to the police first. That’s the way it should be. I could care less about a Church tribunal deciding that facts were not credible – yeah, according to them.

One of the ways that sexual abuse is stopped is with deterrence. Public trials, dragging the dirt into public, is the only way to bring it to light of day and stop the abusers, when they are finally caught. In a public trial, we might find out why an abuser was transferred 5,000 miles from a U.S. diocese to Africa, or something like that.

Scripture says over and over, that evildoers love the darkness. What we have now is just so much darkness in the church.
 
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otrrl said:
the abuser may never be discovered, the abuser may be transferred to another jurisdiction, etc.
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In this case it is only about Archbishop Anthony Apuron of Guam.
otrrl said:
Apparently, here, the ArchB didn’t abuse a minor, he “merely” propositioned him in a confessional.
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Even that we don’t know for sure. However, there are now 6 alleged victims who claim abuse. All these claims are fading away into events in a distance past that is utterly unverifiable.
otrrl said:
I could care less about a Church tribunal deciding that facts were not credible – yeah, according to them.
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There must be a reason church tribunals were established. This is the highest court of canonical justice.
otrrl said:
Public trials, dragging the dirt into public, is the only way to bring it to light of day and stop the abusers, when they are finally caught.
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Many of the over 200 public trials of sexual abuse claims on Guam would end up being settled out of court.
 
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the problem with this whole situation is that it was an investigation done by the Vatican, which has a conflict of interest in “investigating” allegations against the ArchB.

victims have to make their complaints to the police, only. Let a fair investigation be done there. This time, we know who the alleged abuser is, but in other secret investigations that is not always known. The abuser is moved around, no civil investigation and process is ever done. The abuser escapes.
 
otrrl said:
an investigation done by the Vatican, which has a conflict of interest
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Could be a theological reason for a Canonical Tribunal to make an unreliable verdict in some sexual abuse charges against a bishop, an archbishop or a cardinal? I mean could there be some twisted or false theology behind it that captivates the canonical judges to blur their judgment?

The LGBT movement inside the Catholic Church and even among high clergy must have some twisted references from the Scriptures to justify their views for their own purposes. For one, I think God’s mercy, richly manifested in the Bible, should not be placed into a context to exonerate abusers.

About the police investigation, well, I see your point. However, police won’t investigate claims of 40-50 years old abuse cases if the statute of limitations for criminal charges has long expired. On Guam over 200 charges of sexual abuse of minors involving the clergy and the Catholic church are at civil court.
 
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Rev 2:1-7 talks about the people at Ephesus who KNOW who the wicked men are, they know who the false apostles are.

‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

I don’t think I understand all this, but it seems to say that we must endure, and not let the encounter with the wicked, false apostles destroy our spiritual gift.
 
otrrl said:
you have left your first love
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First love as first evangelizer? The first teacher? The first teaching? Now they might have a different one, a lampstand that is not the first one. They have to repent. They must come back to the first, the original, the true teaching. Our first Pope was St Peter. Now we have a different one, a different lampstand, a different Pope, a different teaching. We might have to repent and come back to the original teaching of St Peter. Or else.
 
Holy Molly! This is turning into craziness! Latest news from Guam:

The Holy See, or the Vatican, has been named as a defendant in a clergy sex abuse lawsuit filed on Monday in local court against Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron by his own nephew. Mark Mafnas Apuron’s Jan. 14, 2019 lawsuit in the Superior Court of Guam is similar to the lawsuit he filed in federal court last year against his uncle.


The three lawsuits naming the Vatican as a defendant were filed by plaintiffs accusing Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the now deceased former Guam priest Louis Brouillard of rape and sexual abuse.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the survivors of clergy sex abuse believe they can hold the Vatican responsible under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s tort exception to sovereign immunity.

 
curious_cath said:
In order to silence them and to counter their slanders it would be of vital importance that Pope Francis takes the courage to announce a non-guilty verdict in sexual abuse.
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I see you have already taken sides. I don’t want to disappoint you, but the Supreme Pontiff is unlikely to turn around the verdict of a canonical tribunal.
curious_cath said:
Pope Francis has an urgent task to complete otherwise the church on Guam will fade into irreversible decline and a broken spirit of the faithful for the years and decades to come.
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You seem exaggerating. It is not a priority for the Pope to rush this case. If a verdict is coming today or tomorrow it does not make a huge difference. It has a minor impact on parish life, in my opinion.
 
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Here-I-am-Lord said:
If a verdict is coming today or tomorrow it does not make a huge difference.
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I don’t agree with you. But I don’t believe in a reasonable time frame anymore. I’ll never give up on my Pope, but I have to give up on my expectation of of a speedy verdict. The Holy Father apparently lost interest and is busy with other things he deems more important for the ecclesia.
 
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curious_cath said:
The Holy Father apparently lost interest and is busy with other things he deems more important for the ecclesia.
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See my comment here:
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What would you expect from the meeting of bishops at February 21-24, 2019? Catholic Living
I already see more troubles to come. Archbishop Vigano claims Pope Francis should repent and be converted. It is a quite subversive comment, I reckon. He says about the Supreme Pontiff: “I urged him then, and I now urge him again, to tell the truth, repent, show his willingness to follow the mandate given to Peter and, once converted, to confirm his brothers (Luke 22:32).”
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‘What have I failed to do?’ - Pope leads bishops in abuse crisis examination of conscience​

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...-abuse-crisis-examination-of-conscience-72259

“In the Church of my country, how have we dealt with bishops, priests, deacons and religious accused of sexual assault? How did we deal with those whose crimes were established? What have I personally done to prevent injustice and establish justice? What have I failed to do?”

Dear Holy Father, you have failed to serve the truth on our little island of Guam. You have failed to announce your verdict of exoneration or condemnation of our Archbishop. You have abandoned the faithful of Guam by letting this limbo of moral and ethical plagues go on and on with no hope of resolution.

If you concluded that Archbishop Apuron is not guity of sex crimes, then you have to tell the people so. If you found guilt of clerical abuse or any other culpability, then for the love of Christ, we ask you to announce it. Finally, if you found him gulity in sexual abuse, then take courage to destroy the faith of people in him. Holy Father, you pray, you act. Why don’t you follow your own conscience of serving the people and serving the church, the Body of Christ?
 
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