By Tim Rohr
In my post of a few days ago COURAGEOUS? NOT! wherein I called out the archbishop use of "courageous" to describe the 287 persons who had filed lawsuits against the archdiocese for clergy sex abuse when only a very few were actually "courageous" enough to use their names, I overlooked an important truly courageous survivor: Leo Tudela.
I probably forgot to mention Leo because I was more focused on Apuron's victims and the initial four who went public prior to the introduction of legislation which led to the lawsuits.
However, Leo, whose allegations of abuse by Guam clergy goes back even to the 1950's when he was a young boy from Saipan, played and still plays a critical role in bringing justice to the survivors of decades of abuse by Guam's clergy and others who were in the employ of the Church and its institutions.
At the legislative hearing for the bill that would become law, Leo's testimony brought many in the hearing room to tears including several senators, and while testimony from the other victims was similarly tragic and powerful, I believe Leo's testimony, probably because Leo is an older man, really nailed the bill to the wall and brought about the unanimous vote.
After the bankruptcy proceedings were initiated, Leo became the point man for all the victims and continues in that roll today, making sure that amidst all the "lawyering," the real victims and the tragedy they suffered are not forgotten.
See: LEO TUDELA SHARES HIS STORY OF BEING SEXUALLY ABUSED BY CHURCHMEN ON GUAM
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