by Jolene Toves

Guam - A California man who is accusing the head of the island's catholic church of sexual molestation is welcoming a defamation lawsuit. John Toves not only stands by his accusations but will be in Guam in the next 24 hours to confront the archbishop in person.

It was on Friday, Archbishop Anthony Apuron issued an exclusive statement to KUAM News, regarding recent allegations accusing him of sexual misconduct. "It is a horrible calumny, and I am obliged to defend not my person, but the Church. On the advice of legal counsel, I will not answer any questions. However, defending the church compels me to file a suit for defamation; any damages that I receive I will not keep for myself, but will be given to the charitable causes of our Church," he said.

John Toves said in response, "I welcome that. I invite him to and I look very much forward to it. So I hope he will manage to follow through. And do opposite of everything all of his assistants have been unable to do is basic follow through on every level. So dear archbishop, please follow through."

The accusations were first made on Isla63-AM radio a couple of weeks ago. Toves, a former Guam resident called into The Buzz with Jess Lujan, he accused the archbishop of sexually molesting his relative in the 1980's. In a complaint Toves filed with the archdiocese he alleged the sexual misconduct occurred when he and his relative were attending minor seminary at Tai. He alleges the archbishop was a priest at the time. Toves will be in Guam as early as Tuesday evening. He once again spoke with Lujan on Isla63-AM Monday morning.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes And he has to be held accountable for the sexual molestation of my relative and he has to be held accountable for what he's done to the island church and the island people and I hope and pray and pray with him that this, this passes quickly so healing can begin," he said. "I have been in contact with this family and I need to respect their privacy but all the information has been forward to the Vatican names have been delivered directly to the Vatican."

Toves says he will not give up until the archbishop admits to the alleged sexual abuse and steps down. Both of which are not likely to happen as the archbishop vehemently denies the allegations. "It has been my sincere effort to urge strict respect for the teachings of our Catholic faith by leading the Church through prayer, and by example in my own behavior. I trust that members of our Guam Catholic family who have observed my actions and leadership for the last thirty years will known in their hearts and spirit that these allegations are false," he said.

Toves says he will also ask the archbishop to restore Father Paul Gofigan and Monsignor James Benavente to their former positions.

Father Gofigan you may recall was removed as the head of Santa Barabara Church in Dededo last year for failing to follow a directive from the archbishop.

As for Monsignor Benavente, the archbishop several months ago suddenly removed him as the rector or the archdiocese and as director of catholic cemeteries.

The archbishop removed the monsignor based on allegations of financial mismanagement.