Public funds have been pledged for the government of Guam to purchase the Archdiocese of Agana’s chancery offices on San Ramon Hill. The property, with its ocean and city views, comes with a relatively small administrative building, a house that once was the archbishop’s official residence and a small chapel. The governor’s office also has confirmed that GovGuam will subsidize the operations of the archdiocese “temporarily” by allowing the archdiocese to continue using the buildings even after the real estate becomes GovGuam property through the use of American taxpayer funds.
Governor’s communications director Krystal Paco-San Agustin confirmed the $2.3 million purchase. The governor used American Rescue Plan Act (federal pandemic) funds to buy the real estate. For scale comparison, the governor used $3.5 million in ARPA funds to purchase 45 acres of land in Fadian, Mangilao for the development of Guam’s new public hospital.
The purchase is in the closing phase, which means the purchase agreement already has been signed by both parties.
The parties, in this case, are the government of Guam and the trustee overseeing the liquidation of former church assets for distribution under the terms of the clergy sex scandal settlement reached in the U.S. District Court of Guam more than two years ago.
An inside source confirmed it was Lieutenant Governor Joshua Tenorio and governor’s chief of staff Jon Junior Calvo who pressured Governor Lou Leon Guerrero to make the purchase. Ms. Leon Guerrero is the sole judge of the use of federal pandemic funds. Mr. Calvo is a lay leader within the Archdiocese.
According to Ms. Paco-San Agustin, the government intends to use the property for operations involving individuals with disabilities, and community outreach.
Wealthy sources have confirmed that the archdiocese had been requesting and pressuring them to purchase the property, then to lease the property back to the archdiocese for its continued use. These overtures occurred prior to Mr. Tenorio and Mr. Calvo convincing the governor to purchase the property using federal funds.
“There will be a transition period to allow them to move into a new chancery,” Ms. Paco-San Agustin confirmed when asked to verify the source information. “During this period, they will continue to assume all operational costs.”
She has not yet been able to answer whether the U.S. Treasury will allow the use of federal pandemic funds for a public purchase that includes the subsidization of a religious operation. Neither has she been able to respond to concerns about a breach of the separation of church and state doctrine. Nor has she answered how long this transition period will be, or if any time limits have been set by the government on this transition period.
Kandit has reached out multiple times for interviews with Archbishop Ryan Jimenez. Despite the new archbishop’s pledge of transparency and active engagement with the media, he has yet to grant an interview.
