Archdiocese will stop monthly payment for ex-Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron on July 1

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this story incorrectly described the crimes former Archbishop Anthony Apuron was found guilty of committing.

The Archdiocese of Agana on Tuesday announced it would halt monthly honorarium payments effective Wednesday, July 1, for former Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Apuron was found guilty of sexual abuse of minors by the Vatican's Apostolic Tribunal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2018.

More: Vatican upholds guilty verdict against Apuron

More: Lawsuit: Priest molested boy during recess

He was removed as Guam's archbishop.

The archdiocese still sent monthly payments of $1,500 to Apuron, even as the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy, according to the archdiocese. 

Archbishop Michael Byrnes, who succeeded Apuron, is currently on extended leave after undergoing hip surgery. 

Father Ron Richards, episcopal vicar of the archdiocese, said in a news release that Byrnes heard from more of the survivors. 

Difficult for survivors to comprehend

"Recognizing the pain these survivors have experienced from the sexual abuse in the past, he sees the continuation of remitting this honorarium as a further deepening of the wounds they are trying to heal from," Richards said. 

Richards also said in a letter to Apuron last week that the monthly payment has been difficult for survivors of sexual abuse to comprehend.

“The victim survivors see this honorarium, to a credibly accused violator of delicts against the Sixth Commandment, as contrary to justice and a continuation of the abuse they suffered at the hands of the clergy," Richards stated. 

Apuron, 74, was found guilty of "delicts against the Sixth Commandment with minors." Byrnes had previously said the Sixth Commandment covers adultery, rape, breaking the rules of chastity and other serious crimes.

Apuron remains a bishop and has been barred from the archdiocese of Agana.

Apuron among more than 20 accused on Guam

Apuron led Guam's Catholic Church for some 30 years before he was suspended in 2016 after former Agat altar boys came forward, saying Apuron raped or abused them when they were minors. More victims, including his own nephew, came forward later.

After the Vatican found him guilty in 2018, Apuron appealed and the guilty finding was upheld in 2019.

Apuron is among more than 20 Guam clergy who are named defendants in more than 200 clergy sex abuse cases filed on Guam since 2016, when the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse was lifted.

The Archdiocese of Agana has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to help compensate clergy abuse survivors.

This article originally appeared on Pacific Daily News: Archdiocese will stop monthly payment for ex-Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron on July 1