Transcript
It started with a trickle, and then a flood. Nearly a year ago, four men came out and said they had been abused by their parish priests when they were children in the 1970s. Those revelations shocked the predominantly Catholic island of 160,000 - but for many, it came as little surprise. Since the territory's government lifted a statute of limitations nearly a year ago, more than 100 lawsuits have been filed. So far, 16 priests, two archbishops and a bishop have been implicated in abuse that spans from the mid-1950s to the early 1990s. The lawyer representing most of the plaintiffs, David Lujan, says that may barely scratch the surface.
"It will continue getting bigger. I still have another probably 15 more cases that I have yet to file as of today and I keep getting phone calls from new clients. I suspect it's going to grow to at least 150, if not more."
The lawsuits unearth allegations of assault, manipulation and intimidation of children reaching the highest levels of the island's Catholic hierarchy. They include a boy who says he was assaulted on the way to his grandmother's funeral, and another who was abused for the first time on his 7th birthday, then more than 100 times after that. In their lawsuits, the plaintiffs say a steadfast faith made them vulnerable, many claim they were raised to respect priests, and a belief was instilled that they could do no wrong.
"The church was very very powerful and everyone knew it. You know, the island was 98 percent Catholic then, and so the culture was to shut the kids up. You don't talk that way about a priest."
Most of the lawsuits are against a priest named Louis Brouillard, who is now 96 and lives in Minnesota. Mr Brouillard has signed an affidavit admitting he abused dozens of boys during his time as a priest and Boy Scouts leader on Guam from the 1940s to the 1970s. Mr Lujan says Mr Brouillard, who still receives a monthly stipend from the church, said he had confessed to other priests, but no one told him to stop. He says when allegations did surface, priests were instead moved from one church to another and, eventually, off-island.
"There's no question about it. It's been a huge cover up. There have been reports about it and unfortunately when reports are made, let's say, to the higher-ups within the church hierarchy, unfortunately the people at the very top are doing it themselves."
By the people at the top, Mr Lujan includes the person at the very top - the island's Archbishop Anthony Apuron. Archbishop Apuron is accused of assaulting four altar boys when he was a parish priest in the 1970s, allegations he denies. Last June, Pope Francis suspended him when the cases were beginning to unravel, although he is technically still Guam's Archbishop. He is now being tried in a secretive procedure that could see him excommunicated. The president of Concerned Catholics of Guam, a group of churchgoers who have supported people to come forward, Dave Sablan, says the past year has shaken the faith of many.
"It has basically shaken the entire church knowing that your archbishop and 15 other clergy members were sexually abusing children and prepubescent teens over the past 50 years or so. Everybody has basically held back a lot of their contributions and donations to the church until the trust factor has been reinstate."
The Archdiocese of Agana did not respond to requests for comment, but in a statement on its website it says:
"Sexual abuse is a matter of the gravest concern [and] we take the protection of children very seriously. Our Archdiocese pledges to correct the wrongs and mistakes of the past."
In the past year, the archdiocese and its replacement Archbishop, Michael Byrnes, have promised to review the church's procedures and pay for counseling. The archdiocese has also been trying to sell most of its assets in anticipation of a hefty payout. So far, the sum of the lawsuits is US$600 million. Mr Lujan says discussions are underway with the church -- and the Boy Scouts of America, which is also facing lawsuits -- to kick off an out-of-court settlement process.
"It's a first for Guam, but it's a process that's been utilised in the United States, so all it is tweaking some of these protocols so it fits the Guam experience. I believe the potential is all there so it can be done and all settled by, let's say, no later than April."
But for both David Lujan and Dave Sablan, more needs to be done. Both say there needs to be some kind of inquiry and the church itself needs to go through a thorough cleansing.
