TEN YEARS AGO THIS MONTH - THE AGAT BOYS CAME TO LIFE

By Tim Rohr

In Part 1 of the series, JACKIE! NO SURPRISE, I referred to the Neocat Yona Property land grab as an attempt to "steal" the property from the archdiocese.

That's not entirely correct.

The Neocats knew Apuron's past and that lawsuits would be coming for him one day. And with how things were already unfolding in the States in those days (around 2000), with dioceses having to file for bankruptcy, the Neocats knew that The Yona Property, their seminary, would only be a matter of time before RMS would wind up on the judicial chopping block.

The only way to prevent that from happening was for Apuron to convey title to the property to an owner not legally associated with the archdiocese. This is why Apuron created (incorporated) a completely separate legal entity (RMS) on November 27, 2002, only a few days after he closed on The Yona Property on November 15, 2002. 

The trouble was how to transfer title to the property without our knowledge. 

As the record shows, the first thing was not to do it right away. Apuron would wait nine years. 

The second thing was to draft a conveyance document that did not look like one. So Apuron (and when I say "Apuron," I am always referring to Apuron and the Neocat leadership) came up with a document with the strange title of Declaration of Deed of Restriction, which, on its face, appeared to just restrict the use of the property to a Neocat seminary (but in fact, transferred title to RMS). *

The third thing to do was to record the document with the Government of Guam Department of Land Management without anyone (except for Apuron and the Neocats) knowing. Apuron would do this on November 22, 2011.

I've always been curious about this timing. What was happening in 2011 that suddenly moved Apuron and the Neocats to make this move after nine years?

While there had always been a low-level buzz about Apuron's sordid past ("The Agat Boys"), open accusations about this past were still three years away (when John Toves first went public). 

However, something happened in 2008 that probably triggered it. For the first time in the history of this archdiocese, a group of laypeople organized and publicly protested against their bishop.

The protest took place on April 20, 2008, in front of the Cathedral, during a major celebration attended by visiting bishops and cardinals. The Pacific Daily News reported:

Armed with signs and placards, a band of Catholics yesterday protested across from the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica for what they believe is a dividing of Catholicism.

Group members said the protest was not against the Catholic church, but rather the Neocatechumenal Way movement, which they said members of the clergy and Archbishop Anthony Apuron were promoting.

The Neocatechumenal Way "has the ultimate goal of bringing the faithful gradually to the intimacy with Jesus Christ and to make them active members of the Church and credible witnesses of the Good News of the Savior everywhere," according to its Web site.

But Toto resident Lou Bamba said that a person must be invited to attend a Neocatechumenate gathering, whereas the Catholic church freely welcomes anyone.

Bamba said her understanding of the Neocatechumenal convocation is that the group brings non-practicing Catholics back into the church, and converts non-Catholics into believers.

"It's creating a major division in the Catholic church," Bamba said. "The archbishop is personally involved in this Neocatechumenal movement, ... and we feel that it is dividing the three main family institutions that make up the Catholic faith the clergy, parish and biological families."

The protest was a big embarrassment for Apuron, and I remember the look on his face when he saw the protestors as he and the visiting prelates processed into the Cathedral. The protestors stood immediately across the street from the Cathedral, holding large, visible signs. The look on Apuron's face was not one of embarrassment, but anger and revenge. And he would get it.

Ordinations at RMS were immediately ramped up; three years later, in 2011, he would secretly deed The Yona Property to the Neocats; in 2013, he would begin the hostile, public destruction of local clergy who stood in his way, starting with Fr. Paul and Msgr. James, and who knows what else he might have done if laypeople hadn't started banding together in what became the CCOG.

The ironic thing is, if Apuron hadn't started these wars (at the order of his Neocat handlers), the Catholics of Guam might have been content to let those stories about The Agat Boys remain just stories. 

Instead, those "stories," ten years ago this month, came to life in the persons of the real Agat Boys.

May 17, 2016    Man alleges archbishop molested him as a child

June 08, 2016    Former Agat altar boy accuses Guam's archbishop of rape

June 15, 2016  Another accuser comes forward with sexual abuse allegations against Guam's            archbishop

* “It is my opinion that, based on Guam statutes governing the interpretation of deeds and contracts, the property interest conveyed is an absolute conveyance of the entire fee simple title of the subject property to RMHF, subject to a restraint in use.” (Note: RMHF is Redemptoris Mater House of Formation, otherwise known as Redemptoris Mater Seminary.) - Jacques Bronze, Legal Opinion on Declaration of Deed of Restriction, May 13, 2015