Four people who accuse the Archbishop of Guam of historical child sex abuse have filed a lawsuit against the Archbishop, the island's archdiocese and up to 50 other people.
Archbishop Anthony Apuron Photo: Pacific Daily News
In the past two months, four former altar boys have alleged they were molested or raped by Anthony Apuron in the 1970s.
Pope Francis has appointed a temporary administrator to manage the Catholic Church on the island following the allegations.
Archbishop Apuron has denied the allegations.
But the plaintiffs filed a libel and slander lawsuit against Archbishop Apuron and the church for calling them liars, and for accusing them of "instilling hatred, ignorance and violence in the people" after coming forward with their allegations.
One of them, Walter Denton, told the Pacific Daily News that instead of conducting a transparent investigation, the church has instead called every one of them a liar.
The plaintiffs were seeking no less than US$500,000 each for general damages.