HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Archdiocese of Agaña’s bankruptcy case closed in the District Court of Guam on Tuesday, when Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood issued a final decree in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy matter.
The archdiocese first filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after hundreds of victims sought compensation for alleged sexual abuse at the hands of clergy members, some as far back as the 1950s.
The order to close the case comes four years later, after a plan for reorganization was approved late last year. According to Post files, the victims are expected to be paid between $34 million to $45 million in total and funds will come from a number of sources, including cash contributions from Catholic schools, parishes, property sales and money received from insurance companies.
Father Romeo Convocar, the apostolic administrator for the archdiocese, said in a release that although “our bankruptcy status is lifted,” there is more work to do.
“That chapter may be closed. However, to be certain, there is much work yet to do in our journey of bringing healing, justice and reparation for those whom our Church gravely harmed,” Convocar stated.
He described the next steps church officials are planning.
“This includes, but is not limited to, completing the transfer of properties and assets to the victim survivors through their court-appointed trustee; providing tuition vouchers and cemetery plots to their families; activating the non-monetary compensation elements of the plan; strengthening our Child Protection and Safe Environment protocols and policies; reorganizing the archdiocese and rebuilding our finances,” Convocar said.
He said the archdiocese must work harder to protect children from harm of any kind.
“Thank you to all the victims, the courageous men and women who have endured in pain and continue to bear the wounds of betrayal and sexual abuse from members of our Church on Guam in the past. We are deeply sorry for the agony, betrayal, deceit and coverup by leaders of our archdiocese in the past,” he said.
