Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Taken From The PDN

The following was taken from the Pacific Daily News:

For the second time in two weeks, the Archdiocese of Agana announced plans to file lawsuits against those whom it said have been perpetrating “malicious lies” about Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the Catholic Church. It also plans to bring the case through the church’s own court system.
The archdiocese’s statement comes on the heels of the latest allegation against the highest Catholic leader in Guam.

Doris Y. Concepcion, of Prescott, Arizona, recently told Pacific Daily News her deceased son, when he was serving as an altar boy, was molested by Apuron when the latter was the parish priest at Mount Carmel Church in Agat in the late 1970s.

Concepcion said her son, Joseph A. Quinata, revealed his secret shortly before he died 11 years ago.
“Another malicious and calumnious accusation against the Archbishop has surfaced; this time from the mother of a man who has been deceased for eleven years. The Archbishop strongly denies this accusation as he had done so before,” the Archdiocese of Agana said in a statement sent by Father Edivaldo da Silva Oliveira on Tuesday afternoon.

The Archdiocese’s statement also comes hours after the world’s largest support group for clergy abuse victims called on Apuron to step aside, as well as for the Vatican and Pope Francis to remove him.

The Archdiocese of Agana said the fierce attacks against the archbishop exploded three years ago when he removed the administration of the Cathedral-Basilica, the Museum and the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam for reasons of financial mismanagement.

This time around, the archdiocese’s statement has named at least one specific person and his “associates.”

“Tim Rohr and his associates launched a vicious and calumnious attack on the Archbishop and the Church,” the Archdiocese of Agana said. “They demanded that the Archbishop return to the former ways of financial administration, when the archdiocese was increasing debts every year because of mismanagement. They wanted to sell the seminary in Yona to cover the substantial debt accumulated by the previous administration of these three entities. The Archbishop was adamantly opposed to the idea of selling the seminary to cover these debts. Thus began a malicious campaign to denounce and attack the Archbishop at whatever cost to get him out of the way.”

Rohr, who writes about the local Catholic Church on his blog site JungleWatch, said Tuesday he welcomes the legal action that the Archdiocese is planning, hoping that everything will be revealed in court.

He said it was strange that the Archdiocese named him in its statement, but didn’t send him a copy of the statement. Rohr said he heard about the statement only when contacted by PDN.

Rohr said Father Edivaldo da Silva Oliveira of the Archdiocese didn’t even bother to put a specific name of “who is taking legal action” when they managed to specifically name him as among those they accuse.

Rohr also pointed out that he himself did not know Doris Concepcion, or Roy Quintanilla, the man who came forward a few weeks ago to say that he was molested by Apuron when he was an altar boy in the 1970s.

He said with the way things are, others may come forward to say that they or their loved ones were also abused by Apuron or other priests.

The Archdiocese, in a statement, said “the perpetrators of these calumnies have resorted to insults and violence revealing their true intention to destroy the Catholic Church and discredit the Archbishop by whatever means.”

“Their method is to confuse and mislead the faithful, even to the point of inducing some to bring false testimony. This was predicted even before the first accusation was revealed.”

“Those who are orchestrating this campaign are inciting people into hatred of the Archbishop and the Catholic Church. They have produced scandal, confusion and grave errors with the cruel intent to injure the Archbishop, the Catholic Church in Guam and many other people of good will who have been outraged and harassed. Therefore, the Archdiocese of Agana is in the process of taking canonical and legal measures against those perpetrating these malicious lies,” the Archdiocese said.

“Archbishop Anthony urges the faithful not to be afraid, and to stand for the truth and he asks for your prayers,” it added.


54 comments:

  1. Junglewatch thinks Apuron is all talk.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 8:47 am,

      Do not worry. This time, the Archbishop is dead serious.

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    2. Right on Bishop

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    3. Bring it on Jungle waiting for law suit.......bring it on sooner we go court better.

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  2. Just like how you said the dead is alleging.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:14 am,

      Really....the Archbishop is serious. He understands that this is not going to stop until he takes canonical and legal action.

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    2. Diana do you honestly think anyone cares about canonical process. Of cors not. It is a joke.
      Sure legal action will lead to truth.
      Situation is no doubt in minds he abused.

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 12:39 pm,

      As a Catholic, a canonical action is very serious.

      Delete
  3. Why would that stop anything?

    This is not going to stop until Brother Tony retires.

    We hope he does not drag the Guam NCW with him.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:44 am,

      Even when he retires, it will not stop. Tim Rohr made it clear that he will continue to fight the NCW. If I am not mistaken, he once said that this conflict had more to do with the NCW and RMS and that the Archbishop is only a pawn being used by the Gennarinis.

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  4. What is a Gennarinis?

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  5. Why in heaven's name if Rohr fighting against God? He wants to eliminate the NCW? Is he serious? Does he know who he's up against? Is he that arrogant and proud as to think that he can is smarter than God?

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    Replies
    1. follow the money....who best will benefit with the removal of Arch Bishop Apuron?

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    2. My comment probably won't be approved in a blog so biased so I just wanted to tell you peace be with you. May God grant you the grace to see the truth. The Neocatchumenal way lacks grace because they don't truly believe Jesus' true presence in the Eucharist. If you did, you would be on your knees receiving our Lord yet you choose to follow the devil in disguise kiko who intentionally desecrates our lord and leads people in deceit.

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 12:44 pm,

      The NCW believes that the bread and wine turns into the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. That is the truth.

      Delete
  6. Diana, I think even the PDN isn't taking this latest plan to file a lawsuit seriously. You copied the article but you forgot to include the headline Archdiocese again states plans to sue and even put the "Bring it on" - Tim Rohr above the headline. Why did they use the word "again" in the headline? The article even says "For the second time in two weeks, the Archdiocese of Agana plans to file lawsuits"

    There has been no news about how the investigation into Roy Quintanilla's accusation is coming along. Two board members resigned and Benavente has said she will recuse herself if it involves the archbishop. That only leaves 2 members. What kind of a review board is that? No action has been taken to replace the 2 members who resigned.
    Is there going to be any action taken about the accusation from Mrs. Concepcion?
    All we hear is about "plans to file lawsuits" but there is no action taken. It's really hard to take anything about a lawsuit seriously right now.

    Someone in the jungle said the archbishop is acting like the boy who cried "wolf" because the archbishop said he would file a defamation lawsuit against John Toves but nothing happened then on May 13 he said he would file a lawsuit but again nothing happened
    Since this is the 3rd "plan to to sue," maybe that's why the jungle and PDN aren't taking it seriously?

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 12:15 pm,

      In my opinion, an investigation would be a waste of time because the alleged crime is said to occur 40 years ago. It would only be the word of the Archbishop against the word of Roy Quintanilla. And this division within the Catholic Church would still continue. Nothing would be solved. I think the Archbishop's plan of going through canonical and legal measures would be the way to resolve the division.

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    2. Do you not realise that most of the proven cases of pedophilia and child abuse that have wracked the Church over the recent past were decades old? Do you honestly believe that the Church should have simply said "oh well, that was forty years ago - too bad"? Do you think society would have accepted that?

      Do you believe that Pope Francis would accept that sentiment? You would be kidding yourself if you did.

      No, an investigation is absolutely necessary because these are serious allegations. And the investigation must be independent of the accused and his cronies. The best way forward would be for the Archbishop to step aside, for someone off-island (eg another bishop or ecclesial appointee) to conduct the investigation, and for everyone to wait until that as complete. Then civil action can be taken if it appropriate - against Tim Rohr, the CCOG or anyone else that may be accused of slander or defamation.

      As it is, with all this talk of legal action, the victims continue to be persecuted. Just think - what if these allegations are actually true? even if you think that there is only a slim chance they are, if they are true, then a further serious injustice is being done by anyone who calls them liars, or describes their allegations as calumny. You would have to be 100% certain they were false in order to justify doing this - and you simply cannot be, as their has been no investigation, and Diana, Edivaldo or any of the Archbishop's supporters were not witnesses.

      Let the investigation be independent and immediate. Let the Archbishop step aside for the time being, and let all the talk of malicious lies and calumnies cease!

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    3. So diana you believe it best not to investigate?

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    4. Dear Anonymous at 5:11 pm,

      I think a canonical action through the Church and a legal action through the civil court is the best way than going through the review board of the Archdiocese. The review board oversees only sexual misconduct, but does not address the ownership of the RMS property, which the jungle, LFM, and CCOG contest to. In a civil court, all of that can be addressed and put an end to all the controversy.

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    5. Dear Anonymous at 4:31 pm,

      When the Archbishop takes it to a civil court, the result should be enough to satisfy everyone. The civil court is just as good and probably even better than an independent investigation.

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    6. An investigation will need to be part of a civil case.

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    7. Dear Anonymous at 10:01 pm,

      Having an investigation chosen by the civil court is probably better than one chosen by the Archbishop. The opponents will only cry out foul because of who chose the investigators.

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  7. Shame on Deacon Steve Martinez....

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  8. Diana victims going back forty years united . Do you think all of them lie.
    There are numbers growing. Are they all lies? Only asking Diana.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 5:09 pm,

      If you recall, I did post an article in my blog about Cardinal Bernadin and Cardinal Pell. The accuser of Cardinal Bernadin dropped the charges after he realized that he was wrong because he trusted the wrong people. Cardinal Pell was cleared of all charges.

      Delete

  9. Diana who are the associates of Rohr?
    What do you think Diana is meaning of associates?

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  10. my dear Diana June 1, 2016 at 4:05 PM, your reply to Dear Anonymous at 12:15 pm,

    "in my opinion" your reply is very disheartening, how can I/we take the chancery seriously about what they say regarding a lawsuit, when they do not even follow their policy regarding an accusation.

    thank you

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 6:34 pm,

      I think the lawsuit is the best way to resolve the issue. And I think the Archbishop is fully aware of this. People did not take him seriously because he did not sue John Toves as he said he would if Toves continues to slander him. I think the Archbishop is also aware that regardless so what he does, his opponents will condemn him for it anyway. When he goes through with the lawsuit, his opponents will condemn for not be a fatherly shepherd. If he does not go through with the lawsuit, his opponents will view him as a weak pushover whom they can continuously slander., and the division will continue.

      As for the policy, first thing is first. You cannot fix the policy without a review board. The review board participates in amending the policy to make it better. Three members in the review board had stepped down and need to be replaced. While that is happening, the Archbishop will proceed with canonical and legal measures.

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    2. my dear Diana June 1, 2016 at 6:57 PM, your reply to Dear Anonymous at 6:34 pm

      its a little too late to be concerned about perceived opinions, regardless of how the people will view his actions, if he considers himself the authority of this diocese he needs to act, he needs to lead, if his actions are true in his heart, that is all our lord requires.

      now, as for the "policy" for heavens sake what has the current "sarc" been doing the past few years, sorry we'll save the policy for another time.

      thank you

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    3. I do believe you need to listen to the news conference again. Seems you have selective hearing on the abuse policy of the Archdiocese as presented by Deacon Martinez.

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    4. hey Anonymous June 1, 2016 at 8:32 PM

      how did you know about my hearing loss, but you're partly right, you would think that after 25 years, i'd have gotten this lip reading thing down pat, but just so you know, in order to read lips, one must see the lips moving...

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  11. Diana, Deacon Martinez appears to believe the Arizona woman. That is the same as calling the Archbishop a liar. What should happen to Deacon Martinez, is there a way to remove him?

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 8:25 pm,

      I will leave it up to the Archbishop to deal with him.

      Delete
  12. You seem to know what brother tony will do even though brother tony has done nothing but hide. A truthful person would not hide if there was nothing he/she did wrong. Threats of lawsuits are pointless and just a diversion. Don't you think? Oh but wait, you rely on just the press releases that edivaldo releases.

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  13. Diana, they say Transitional Diaconate Ordination will be Saturday! Was this announced? This week will be at the Cathedral; won't it? With all the other rubbish, it is hard to follow the life of the church in Guam . My goodness. Thank you for keeping it sane, Diana.

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  14. I can't believe what I'm hearing here. If the deacon believes this mother, then he should be disciplined by the Archbishop? What possible crime or sin has he committed? That's not what obedience means, either theologically or canonically. No dice.

    As for Rohr and canonical measures, you do understand that you're referring to an excommunication, or at the very least an interdict? Good luck with that. He hasn't physically harmed the Archbishop, and when an interdict comes down and Rohr appeals it to Rome, you can be sure that the world media will pick up the story and run with it. Imagine the story that will run (fair or not): pro-life Catholic who called out Archbishop for pedophilia is excommunicated for protecting children." That's the last thing that NCW here or anywhere wants. Way way way too much press, and none of it good for anyone. Except the jungle.

    What dumbfounding for me is that none of you seem to get it that all these Catholic politicians out there who pass anti-Catholic legislation are given a pass. The same goes for taking money from abortion supporters like Lou Leon Guerrero/Bank of Guam.

    Simply stunning.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:38 pm,

      Apparently, the Deacon does not believe in the democratic principle of "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law." In cases like this, it is always best for someone in his position to remain neutral and not take a stand at all. The Archbishop and the Church needs all our prayers.

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    2. "Apparently, the Deacon does not believe in the democratic principle of "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.""

      So there should be an elected sex abuse investigative council instead of AAA having final say (including cases brought against him)? That would be more democratic than having a leader choosing not to apply church policy against himself.

      ---

      "The Archbishop and the Church needs all our prayers."

      The correct wording should be : "All victim need our active help and prayers."

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 4:29 am,

      On the contrary, all sexual abuse and molestation charges should always be reported to the civil authorities. Once the police is done with their investigation, the review board can review the police report and investigation.

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    4. Have the legislature remove the statutes of limitations on child molestations...and then the accusers can file charges....until that is done, no local investigation can happen

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    5. Dear Superales,

      The Statutes of limitations have not been removed, but the Archbishop can file charges of defamation.

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    6. Diana,
      you wrote: " all sexual abuse and molestation charges should always be reported to the civil authorities. Once the police is done with their investigation, the review board can review the police report and investigation."

      While the Statute of limitations prevents this from occurring. So, it would be correct to say that "no local investigation can happen" in regard to the sexual abuse accusations. This is all the more reason why there needs to be an independent ecclesial investigation of the accusations.

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  15. Would Jesus take people to court? He was defamed, received no justice, was tortured and died for us all. Who was Jesus' attorney? Worldly business going on here.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 1:50 pm,

      If the Holy See can take the butler to court for stealing and leaking out the Pope's confidential letters, then the Archbishop can take it court. Do you call it worldly business when the Holy See took the butler to court?

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    2. The butler leaked information about how the NCW was compromising the Pontificate of Pope Benedict. He was convicted in October 2012, and in December 2012 Pope Benedict visited him and granted him pardon. Through tears, the butler told the Pope, "you know that I did it because I love you". In other words, the butler was punished for opposing the evil of the NCW in the Vatican, and was pardoned by the pope.

      Less that two months later, Pope Benedict was forced to resign. As Bishop Schneider said, the NCW has a powerful presence in the Vatican. In fact, they can bring down a pope.

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    3. The butler, Gabriele was personally visited and pardoned by Benedict XVI on 22 December 2012.

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    4. Dear Anonymous at 5:42 am,

      Pope John Paul also met with the person who tried to kill him in prison and also forgave him. So, what is your point. Both of them went through the civil court.

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    5. Dear Anonymous at 11:25 pm,

      Do you really believe that the Catholic Church can be defeated by the NCW especially after Christ said that He will be with her until the end of time and that the gates of Hell will never prevail against His Church???

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    6. Vision of Pope Leo XIII
      October 13, 1884
      NCW started in 1964
      Around 75-100 later...
      Everything happens for a reason.
      The establishment of the NCW is actually a test to our faith.
      I put my trust in Jesus. I believe we can work together towards the truth.

      Delete
  16. What is stunning, Diana, is allowing entries that say ' the Arizona woman' and 'this woman' this deeply disrespectful.

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    1. that's "stunning."

      O don't be so dramatic, "anonymous one."

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  17. Diana waiting for lawsuit.
    When will you file lawsuit?

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:30 am,

      I am the one filing the lawsuit. The Archbishop's lawyers are the ones who will be filing the lawsuit.

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