Vatican abuse probe of Guam archbishop heads to mainland US
Apuron
VATICAN CITY (AP)—Vatican officials prosecuting Guam’s archbishop for alleged sex abuse have moved their investigation from the territory to Hawaii and now the mainland U.S. so they can interview potential witnesses.
But attorney David Lujan, who is representing four people who have accused the archbishop of abuse, said he has instructed his clients not to testify without their lawyer present, which could complicate the investigation.
“No one knows what the procedures are, what the rules are,” Lujan said Wednesday, underscoring how the secrecy of the Vatican’s canonical trials can conflict with secular legal standards. “The findings are secret, so you never know when it’s over.”
Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron faces multiple allegations of sex abuse of altar boys in the 1970s. Apuron has denied the claims and has not been criminally charged.
American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a top canon lawyer who headed the Vatican’s high court until 2014, is presiding over the church trial. He left Guam on Saturday and had advised victims in Hawaii and Phoenix, Arizona they could offer their testimony this week.
Lujan is representing Apuron’s four accusers in their civil litigation against the archbishop and the archdiocese. He said he had sought information about what his clients could expect if they participated in the Vatican’s trial, and received no answer.
Lujan said he was told by church officials he couldn’t see the court record, and decided not to participate.
Asked if he was concerned that the Vatican investigation might suffer as a result, Lujan said a canonical sanction wasn’t his main goal.
“My job is to get redress for my clients,” he said.
Wake up you people of God at the Vatican, make it an option let them priests, bishops and cardinals get married if they so choose to. After all, wasn’t Peter, the first pope and apostle of Jesus Christ a married man? If we are following the teachings of Jesus, then what is this business of “celibacy” for the church to be holding unto a troublesome tradition. Is it high time to get rid of it once and for all. Those ordained people of God are NO super human; they will fall into the frailties of the human flesh, for sure in one way or another.
Read about the history of priests (and women) in the ctholic church.
https://www.futurechurch.org/brief-history-of-celibacy-in-catholic-church
Most recent;
1930-Pope Pius XI: sex can be good and holy.
1951-Pope Pius XII: married Lutheran pastor ordained catholic priest in Germany.
1962-Pope John XXIII: Vatican Council II; vernacular; marriage is equal to virginity.
1966-Pope Paul VI: celibacy dispensations.
1970s-Ludmilla Javorova and several other Czech women ordained to serve needs of women imprisoned by Communists.
1978-Pope John Paul II: puts a freeze on dispensations.
1983-New Canon Law.
1980-Married Anglican/Episcopal pastors are ordained as catholic priests in the U.S.; also in Canada and England in 1994.
There is a long, tragic, history of pedophilia – not only in religious communities, but among high-ranking officials in business, banking, show business, and European nobility. Although this will never go away, at least law enforcement and the press are starting to spill the beans and identify those who abuse children.
Thanks to Wikileaks, John Podesta and PizzaGate, have been brought to light – but this is a very small tip of a gigantic iceberg. As of today, hundreds of arrests have been made – notably in Los Angeles, but New York also. So at least the problem is being addressed.
Children are routinely taken from adoption centers and orphanages, and now the law is starting to crack down. Many of these kids are not only sexually abused, but sacrificed in satanic rituals. Sometimes children are abducted right off the sidewalk; that’s what happened to Johnny Gosch while he was delivering newspapers one Sunday morning. Gone. Law enforcement showed no interest in finding him.
Former FBI chief, Ted Gunderson, unearth a vast network of satanic pedophiles, which included some high-ranking politicians in Washington, D. C. Although Gunderson was murdered, you can still see his alarming videos on YouTube. He was a good guy and on the trail of the perverts.
Lujan said, he is all about getting redress for his clients , really? If that’s true, then I’ll like to know why he is traveling to the states to look for the victims, rather than the victims coming to his office? Are the four victims on Guam, a lawyer sought out clients or clients seeking lawyer’s legal help. Oh! The aroma of opulent compensation at stake!