Anthony Sablan Apuron
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His Excellency, The Most Reverend Anthony Sablan Apuron OFM Cap., D.D. |
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| Metropolitan Archbishop of Agaña | |
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| Archdiocese | Agaña, Guam |
| Appointed | March 10, 1986 |
| Installed | May 11, 1986 |
| Term ended | sede plena |
| Predecessor | Felixberto Camacho Flores |
| Successor | Michael Jude Byrnes |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | August 26, 1972 |
| Consecration | February 19, 1984 by Felixberto Camacho Flores, Joseph Anthony Ferrario, and Peter Baptist Tadamaro Ishigami |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 1, 1945 Tamuning, Guam |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post | Titular Bishop of Muzuca in Byzacena (1983–1986) |
| Motto | SERVUS TUUS |
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Styles of Anthony Sablan Apuron |
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| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
Anthony Sablan Apuron (born November 1, 1945) has been archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agaña since 1986.
Apuron was born on 1 November 1945 in Tamuning, Guam, the eighth of ten children of Manuel Taijito Apuron and Ana Santos Sablan. He was educated at St. Anthony College in Hudson, New Hampshire, and at Capuchin Seminary in Garrison, New York. He studied at Maryknoll Seminary in New York City and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He was ordained a priest in 1972. He is a member of the Neocatechumenal-Way, a movement in the Catholic church.
In opposition to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, Apuron drew controversy by writing a letter distributed by his archdiocese in October 2009 complimenting Islamists who punish homosexuality with death, and contrasting them with homosexual culture, which he described as self-absorbed. It said in part:
Islamic fundamentalists clearly understand the damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture. That is why they repress such behavior by death. Their culture is anything but one of self-absorption. It may be brutal at times, but any culture that is able to produce wave after wave of suicide bombers (women as well as men) is a culture that at least knows how to value self-sacrifice.
The letter was released amid ongoing public discussion about homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
In April 2015, Apuron penned a public letter about same-sex marriage in which he wrote:
It is important to understand that the political pressure to push the agenda for same-sex “marriage” has never been about gay rights; the true intention behind this agenda has always been about the destruction of the family and the imposition of the totalitarian system.
On June 8, 2015, a court decision took effect that established full legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Guam. A US Supreme Court ruling later on June 26 had a comparable effect nationwide.
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