The Next Step In The Process

As you can see from the Governor's letter to the people, this law dealt more with the devastation of the Church.  Notice that in the Governor's letter to the people, he never mentioned government institutions?  He only mentioned the Church because the bill was set up to go only after the Church despite that sexual child abuse are more prevalent outside the Church.  No one at the public hearing ever questioned whether it was possible to compensate the victims and still prevent innocent people from being punished as a result of parishes and services closing down.  If the bill was truly for sexual child abuse, it would include all institutions and not simply the Church.

According to KUAM news: 

Meanwhile, veto advocate former Guam attorney general Doug Moylan says he believes the law has constitutional flaws, including its retroactive provisions. Moylan says the Guam Legislature and the governor now have the right to request a declaratory judgment from the Supreme Court of Guam, and he hopes he exercises that right.

The 5000 signatures submitted to the Governor within four days includes Catholics walking in the Way and many of those not walking in the Way.  Some people who would have liked to sign the petition were also denied by some priests.  Father Mike Crisostomo, for example, admitted in the Patti Arroyo talk show that he neither read Archbishop Hon's letter nor gave the petition to his parishioners.  You can listen to Father Mike's testimony here.  His reason for not reading Archbishop Hon's letter and not giving out the petition was because he disagreed with Archbishop Hon.  Rather than allowing his parishioners to make their choice, he alone made the choice for them.    

Nevertheless, it is now up to Catholics to petition the Guam Legislature or the Governor to request a "declaratory judgment" from the Supreme Court of Guam.  The Supreme Court is our last chance to have the law declared "inorganic."  

Then we can start over with a new bill that will include justice for ALL sex abuse victims in both governmental and private institutions.  After all, sex abuse victims are not only alter servers.  With this new bill, all sides will be represented and heard.  Bill 326 was not heard by all people.  Why?  Because only one person spoke in opposition to Bill 326 during the public hearing and in a climate of intimidation where people who opposed the bill were called "supporters of child abusers" by the JungleWatch Nation, which consist of CCOG, LFM, and Silent No More.  

The jungle have told you that the Church in Boston is now thriving.  The truth is the Church in Boston was devastated and is still struggling even after a decade of the sex abuse scandal.  The sex scandal in Boston broke out in 2002. As a result of the sex scandal, settlements were estimated to be up to $100 million.  In some cases insurance companies have balked at the cost of the large settlement, claiming the actions were deliberate and not covered by insurance.  And about 67 parishes were closed down.  

They tell you that the Archdiocese of Boston is thriving after the sex abuse scandal.  The truth, however, is that they are struggling and still in the process of rebuilding even after a decade of the sex abuse scandal. According to the article, "Ten years after scandal erupted, Boston Church is still rebuilding":

A decade later, the Boston archdiocese is still struggling to heal. Mass attendance is down. Nearly a quarter of Boston Catholics went to church regularly 20 years ago vs. 16 percent today. Donations are down. Forty percent of Boston-area parishes are unable to pay their bills. Ordinations to the priesthood tick up and down — six were ordained in 2011, for example, and three in 2010 — but are insufficient to meet the archdiocese’s need.  

The archdiocese has about 316 active priests today, but that number is expected to plunge to 178 in another decade. 

Many parishes have closed. In 2004, the archdiocese began an initial round of parish closings which reduced the number of parishes from 357 to 290, with more closings expected. An emerging model is to have a single pastor and pastoral staff at one location serving multiple churches.  

 The Boston Archdiocese has made dramatic restructuring in their church that combine parishes into clusters that share clergy and resources in order to keep the Church afloat.  In September, 2005, three years after the sex abuse scandal broke out, a Redemptoris Mater Seminary was established in Boston.  Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the Archbishop of Boston approves of the Way.  Evangelization also became a major goal in the Church.  In this way, they hoped to bring back more Catholics into the Church so that the Boston Church can thrive again.