Archdiocese of Agana spokesman Deacon Jeff Barcinas announced that the archdiocese does not support Bill 34-31, introduced by Vice Speaker BJ Cruz.
“Bill 34 is [an attempt] to get back at the Catholic Church for rightfully advocating the views of our faith, a faith that is shared by most people on our island,” Barcinas said.
He said Bill 34 clearly targets the Catholic Church and called it “window legislation.” He said this is because the bill retroactively suspends the statute of limitation for childhood sexual abuse damage claims so lawsuits could be filed.
Bill 33-31, also introduced by Cruz, seeks to remove the statute of limitations involving sex crimes against minors, but only from the date the bill is enacted into law.
While Bill 33 does not apply retroactively from the date of enactment, Bill 34 would give a two-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil actions for crimes committed prior to enactment of the legislation.
Barcinas cited several cases in which advocates of window legislations defended similar bills in the U.S. claiming that these measures do not specifically identify Catholic institutions by name.
“Not so — it’s far from the truth,” he said, adding that window legislation that became public law in California in 2002 was immediately followed by civil actions against Catholic institutions by over 1,030 plaintiffs.
Although protecting children is a “necessary priority,” Barcinas said Bill 34 does not protect the from sexual abuse.
Barcinas said what would protect children from sexual abuse is the immediate reporting of the abuse.
Survivor
Former senatorial candidate Jonathan Blas Diaz gave perhaps the most chilling testimony during the public hearing.
“I am a survivor of Catholic clergy abuse on Guam,” he said.
“I’m sorry to shatter the glass menagerie but as I sit at home thinking about the repercussions of such atrocities on our island, I cannot in good faith move forward knowing full well what happened to me in a Catholic Church on Guam,” he added.
While he did everything he could to report the crime, Diaz said he was ignored, even by the archbishop.
“I did go to the Attorney General’s Office, and they know. The archbishop knows, and Deacon Jeff. I’ve asked him to please tell us for the record, not hide through you, what has happened to many children on this island in church,” said Diaz.
Sen. Tom Ada said he sensed defensiveness on the part of Catholic Church.
“I’m a little disturbed by the defensive mode that the Church is taking — as if it was trying to hide something,” said Ada.
“We have nothing to hide,” Barcinas said and invited Diaz to come forward to present his case to the archdiocese.
However, Diaz stated once again that he did present his case to Archbishop Anthony Apuron and reminded Barcinas that the vicar general was also at that meeting.
In a separate interview, Diaz declined to identify the clergy member he claimed sexually abused him. Instead he said the church should be the one to identify this clergy member. Calls to Apuron’s office were not returned as of press time.
