Vatican tribunal ready to deliberate in trial of Archbishop Apuron
July 07, 2017
A Vatican tribunal will soon meet to deliberate on the fate of Archbishop Anthony Apuron, the prelate from Guam who is accused of sexual abuse, Archbishop Michael Byrnes has reported.
Archbishop Byrnes, who was appointed to lead the Agana archdiocese after Archbishop Apuron was relieved of his duties, briefed reporters in Guam on the progress of the canonical trial at a press conference on July 6. He said that a three-judge tribunal would meet “sometime in the next several weeks” to weigh the evidence that has been presented in the case.
Archbishop Byrnes said that if Archbishop Apuron is found not guilty of the charges, he could be reinstated as Archbishop of Agana—a possibility that Archbishop Byrnes has already said would be a “disaster.”
If Archbishop Apuron is found guilty, Archbishop Byrnes said, it is difficult to predict what penalty might be imposed. In 2014, after a canonical trial of Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who had been the apostolic nuncio in the Dominican Republic, the Vatican stripped the prelate of his rank and laicized him.
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Further information:
- Vatican judges to deliberate (Guam Daily Post)
- Guam archbishop’s return would be ‘a disaster,’ coadjutor says (CWN, 7/6)
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