By Tim Rohr
I assume most readers will focus on the names. However, I want to focus on Jimenez' use of the word "courageous" in his "accompanying letter" to describe the abused:
"...the Archdiocese responded to the mandate of the 287 courageous men and women who revealed their childhood suffering at the hands of members of the Church."
There were not 287 "courageous men and women." There were four: Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, Roland Sondia, and Doris Concepcion (for her deceased son, Joseph "Sonny" Quinata).
Just about everyone else hid behind their initials in their court filings. The few who did use their real names - and I can only think of one - Apuron's nephew, Mark Apuron - did so well after there was a law in place to protect them: the law lifting the civil statute of limitations permitting accusers to sue their abusers and the institutions to which the alleged abusers belonged or were employed by.
Roy, Walter, Roland, and Doris came forward well before there was any law to protect them and in doing so wrought the wrath of Apuron upon them as he threatened to sue them both civilly and canonically:
"...the Archdiocese of Agana is in the process of taking canonical and legal measures against those perpetrating these malicious lies." - Archdiocese of Agana, Media Release, May 31, 2016
I have shared this many times, but it needs to be continually shared. These four did not demand compensation, they demanded an apology - only an apology. At that point, Apuron could have put out a statement saying "I'm sorry, but I did not abuse you" and it probably would have all been over.
But he didn't. While he did state that he did not abuse them, he also threatened to sue them for saying so.
Archdiocese plans to sue for ‘malicious lies’ again - Pacific Daily News, June 1, 2016
(Note: The funny-tragic reality about all this is that Apuron had already run away. These threats were made by the arch-neocats, Adrian and Edivaldo, who had occupied Apuron's throne after he high-tailed it to Rome.)
That set off the chain reaction which led to all the horror which followed, including the Church's bankruptcy.
Still, things may not have gotten very far if not for the machinations of "the Red Pope," the Kiko's man in Rome - who, as we would later discover - was the wizard pulling all the levers.
After sending his right hand man, Archbishop Hon, to Guam to put down the rebellion - and it was an anti-neo rebellion as much as it was a rebellion against Apuron's sex abuse of minors, the Red Pope, probably via influence from the Neocat generals (you know who they are), ridiculed the legislation Senator Frank Blas, Jr. had put forward to lift the civil statute of limitations on sex crimes against minors.
Archbishop Hon: "In two weeks this will die down." - June 12, 2016
Frank's bill, though, did not include institutional liability, leaving little to no reason for lawyers to take up the cause against perpetrators who for the most part had no material assets and several of whom were dead.
Upon the Red Pope's orders, Hon ridiculed the legislation and that set off the lay-person-run move to amend the legislation to include institutional liability - enabling the abused to sue the archdiocese - or more specifically - the Archbishop of Agana, a Corporate Sole.
As we know, the bill, after gut-wrenching emotional testimony by Apuron's survivors (the four of them), passed the Legislature unanimously, and, after one last attempt by the Red Pope to stop it via a petition ordered by Hon, was signed into law in September 2016.
After the neocat-controlled Hon was run out of town and was replaced by the soon to be Archbishop Byrnes, there was no more opposition. Byrnes pretty much threw up his hands and said "I'm sorry...sue me."
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