By Gretchen Keiser

A set of guidelines is expected to be in place soon that will outline how the archdiocese and its workers are to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct made against priests or others employed by the Church.

The guidelines are to be drafted by a committee of people on the archdiocesan level, Archbishop Eugene A. Marino said June 17.

In general, the guidelines will say that serious allegations of sexual misconduct by Church employees would receive the personal attention of the archbishop, with the help of experts who would assist him. Civil authorities would be informed of the allegations and the archdiocese would cooperate with them, and the archdiocese would do all it could to help bring about healing for all involved.

The archbishop gave a statement June 17 that summarized his response to a one-month internal review of the way the archdiocese handled allegations of sexual misconduct against Father Anton Mowat and other priests. In a press conference he also spent nearly an hour answering questions about the topic.

In an interview, Archbishop Marino said that he hoped guidelines would be in place before the school year reopens so that should any accusation be made in the future against anyone, “the one to whom the accusation is made would know what he or she is expected to do.”

“We’re vulnerable without them,” he said, referring to the guidelines. He said the need for them is “one of the things that seems to be a clear lesson” in the events of this spring, when Father Mowat was indicted on 10 charges of child molestation and the archdiocese was criticized by the district attorney’s office in DeKalb County for the way the matter was handled.

Based on the review given him, Archbishop Marino said that the archdiocese gave a “very cautious response” to the families when allegations against Father Mowat were brought to archdiocesan attention in 1987.

“At this point it seems that the archdiocesan officials did not move as quickly or as aggressively in responding to the human needs of the families and alleged victims,” he said at the press conference.

But he also said that events were not as clear at the time as they are now. “I think we have to look back at what they were faced with,” he said at the press conference. “It’s clear now. There’s an indictment. That was not all that clear at the time the charges first surfaced. Even the early reading of the vents by the parents themselves was conflicting.”

Given the lack of clarity, “maybe someone else would have moved out with less caution,” the archbishop said. “I hope we can learn from that.”

The archbishop said that he has spent more than two hours meeting at his residence with the families involved, “trying to feel with them some of the things they felt.”

“They felt betrayed, ignored…certainly that they had not been responded to in a loving way by their Church,” he said.

“The families themselves indicated that the priest had been a friend, a frequent visitor to their homes, taken into their homes and their hearts, and they had been betrayed,” the archbishop said.

“In the light of that, they were looking for a warm and loving response from the Church. I think they feel they did not receive that.”

“We will be more concerned about giving a loving and compassionate response,” he said, adding that while he hoped a future event of this kind did not occur, if it did he hoped that the response could take place “more quickly, more compassionately and more effectively.”

The statement given to the press said, in part, “While my own response might have been different, in retrospect. I believe that the actions taken were adequate under the circumstances.”

When allegations of sexual misconduct were brought to archdiocesan officials last fall, Father Mowat, a priest from England who served for two years at Corpus Christi parish, was removed from the Stone Mountain parish and his bishop in England notified of the allegations. Father Mowat later left the U.S. and returned to England. When indicted by a DeKalb County grand jury in April, Father Mowat was reported to be in a treatment facility in England, but he subsequently disappeared.

At the press conference, he archbishop noted that Father Mowat’s presence at a treatment facility indicated that his bishop had responded to the matter appropriately. It was only after the indictment that the priest disappeared, he noted.

Because of the illness and death of Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan, the events occurred at a time that was “very difficult” for the archdiocese and its leaders, he noted.

“There was a fear that to respond too quickly or too vigorously might render the archdiocese liable to legal action,” he said in an interview. Asked what might have been done differently, he said, there “might better have been more concern expressed for the families and the young people.”

He also noted that when a second case of alleged misconduct involving a priest came to archdiocesan attention, the matter was reported to the district attorney, as well as the priest being removed from active ministry and placed in a treatment facility.

Responding to a question at the press conference, he said emphatically that the archdiocese does not tolerate wrongful behavior on the part of its priests. “Nothing in my review suggests that there had been a toleration,” in the past, he said, and the planned guidelines will specify that any priest against whom such allegations were made would be immediately removed from active ministry and sent for a psychological evaluation to determine if any problem existed that required therapy.

The archbishop said his concern would be “the human and more dimension” of such a situation, both care for families and individuals who might be involved and care for priests.

The internal review for the archbishop began May 11 and was carried out by a priest, who interviewed archdiocesan officials and priests who were at Corpus Christi parish during the affected time period. Allegations against Father Mowat in the grand jury indictment cover a time period from October 1986 to October 1987.