Vatican convicts ex-Guam archbishop accused of abuse
VATICAN CITY (AP) — 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 did not say what exactly Archbishop Anthony Apuron had been convicted of, and the sentence was far lighter than those given highprofile elderly prelates found guilty of molesting minors. It amounts to an early retirement anywhere in the world but Guam, a remote United States Pacific territory where nearly everyone is Roman Catholic.
Apuron is 72 years old, while the Vatican retirement age is 75.
The Vatican spokesman declined to comment. Calls placed to the tribunal judge were not answered. Apuron’s whereabouts were also not immediately known.
“While I am relieved that the tribunal dismissed the majority of the accusations against me, I have appealed the verdict,” Apuron said in a statement distributed by his Guam lawyer Jacqueline Terlaje.
“God is my witness; I am innocent and I look forward to proving my innocence in the appeals process,” the prelate added.
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.