Blog Song

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Appeal Has Already Been Done

It was brought to my attention that the CDF has found Archbishop Apuron guilty of sexual abuse; however, an inside source revealed to me that an appeal has already been done.  In other words, the Archbishop still remains the Archbishop of Agana because he has already started the appeals process.  Therefore, the battle still continues.  

According to the Catholic Herald (the bold is mine):
A source told The Catholic Herald that Archbishop Apuron will appeal the verdict, and remains Archbishop of AgaƱa while he does so.
The accusations against the archbishop ranged from the most serious allegations of child abuse to less serious accusations. The CDF rejected most of the accusations, and has not revealed which ones he is guilty of. 
The archbishop denies all accusations against him.
The fact that he is allowed to appeal implies that there are some lingering doubts to the sexual allegations.  What I placed in bold are the doubts.  It appears that the Tribunal rejected MOST of the accusations, but they did not reveal what accusations he is guilty of.  In fact, even the Vatican press release stated that the Archbishop has been found guilty of SOME of the accusations, but did not say which ones.  So, the battle continues on until the final resolutions of the Appeal.  Let us continue to pray for the truth to prevail.

In other News:

The Vatican on Friday removed the suspended Guam archbishop from office and ordered him not to return to the Pacific island after convicting him of some charges in a sex abuse trial.
The Vatican didn't say what exactly Archbishop Anthony Apuron had been convicted of, and the sentence was far lighter than those given high-profile elderly prelates found guilty of molesting minors. It amounts to an early retirement anywhere in the world but Guam, a remote U.S. Pacific territory.
Apuron is 72, while the Vatican retirement age is 75.
The Vatican spokesman declined to comment. Calls placed to the tribunal judge weren't answered. Apuron's whereabouts weren't immediately known.
Pope Francis named a temporary administrator for Guam in 2016 after Apuron was accused by former altar boys of sexually abusing them when he was a priest. Dozens of cases involving other priests on the island have since come to light, and the archdiocese is facing more than $115 million in civil lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by priests.
Apuron strongly denied the charges and said he was a victim of a "calumny" campaign. He wasn't criminally charged. The statute of limitations had expired.
A statement from the tribunal in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles sex abuse cases, said Apuron had been convicted of some of the accusations against him. It said he had been ordered removed from office and could no longer live in the archdiocese of Guam.
The conviction and sentence can be appealed. If Apuron appeals, the penalties are suspended until the case is resolved.
In the past, when an elderly or infirm priest has been convicted by the Vatican of sexually abusing minors, he has often been removed from ministry and sentenced to a lifetime of "penance and prayer." Younger priests convicted of abuse have been defrocked, removed from ministry or forbidden from presenting themselves as priests.
Francis, however, has intervened in a handful of cases to lower sentences, and several high-ranking Vatican prelates oppose defrocking convicted molesters and have long lobbied for more lenient sentences.
In the case of Apuron, no restrictions on his ministry as a priest were announced.

12 comments:

  1. You are mistaken. The tribunal has not found Apuron guilty of sexual abuse.

    You should change your beginning sentence to reflect the content of the post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 1:12 am,

      My apologies. It was the CDF.

      Delete
  2. So he's guilty and not allowed to return to guam. Is he still going to pursue suing his accusers? I'm assuming he wants his case dismissed because he knew he had been found guilty by the tribunal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The accusers were wrong. The verdict is in minority charges. Most accusers lied. Now here is the evidence.

      Delete
    2. Dear Anonymous at 10:17 pm,

      They also did not disclose what those minority charges are. Makes one wonder why.

      Delete
  3. All because of church property and money May Tim and the jungle be judged

    ReplyDelete
  4. I still believe in the innocence of Archbishop Apuron.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I pray for ALL to find peace in the Tribunal's decision and that Ab Apuron's faith in God will sustain him. I cannot condemn Ab Apuron... only the highest -our God - can judge him. I have heard people who are on one side or the other... trying to convince me to think as they do. I only pray for a fair and just trial. God bless us all especially those who effected and are affected by this outcome.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think that he was found innocent but look at what happened looks like it was lobbied and they were being forced to make him be guilty

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vatican Insider has recently learned that the appeal has already been drafted by the bishop’s lawyers and sent in the last few days, within the regulatory time limits, as soon as the notice of the sentence was received. It appears that he was found guilty of only a minority of the multiple accusations against the prelate (not all necessarily concern cases of sexual abuse). This is what I found in lastampa

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Church authorities have spoken. It is time to move on.
    God is Still Speaking

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 9:08 and 9:45

      An appeal was open, so he is moving forward. It is not over yet.

      Delete