By Gretchen Keiser

A set of guidelines to assist pastors, administrators, school principals, heads of Catholic offices, agencies and departments in dealing with allegations of child abuse have been drawn up.

The guidelines, which were drawn up at the request of Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, are being sent this week to pastors and those in positions of responsibility should they be needed in the future.

They cover specific responses should any allegations of child abuse be made against priests, Religious brothers or sisters, permanent or transitional deacons, or lay employees and volunteers.

In an introduction, the guidelines specify that "the Catholic Church in the archdiocese of Atlanta wishes to make it clear that the abuse of minors leading to physical injury, sexual molestation or sexual exploitation cannot be tolerated."

Should any allegation of child abuse be made "involving any agent of the Church, the archdiocese will do everything in its power to effect healing for all the parties involved," the introduction continues.

It also says that the archbishop, or someone he specially delegates, will contact all people involved to assist in healing such a situation. It also says that the archdiocese will participate in "any civil investigation as required by state law or local regulations and pursue the inquires and investigations mandated by the law of the Church."

In a separate statement that he gave to The Georgia Bulletin for publication, Archbishop Marino noted that Georgia law requires some officials to report any instance of child abuse they become aware of, but exempts clergy from mandated reporting. Despite this exemption, the archdiocesan policy "will be to make reports in all cases," the archbishop said, including cases where a clergyman, such as a priest or deacon, is the one who is told of the allegations. The only exception, the archbishop said, would be if the reporting would violate the seal of the Sacrament of Confession.

The five pages of guidelines specify that any allegation against a priest, Religious brother or sister, or deacon would be reported immediately to the archbishop or, in his absence, to the vicar general, who is Father Edward Dillon. Allegations against lay employees or volunteers would be reported to the appropriate pastor or administrator who would, in turn, report it to the archbishop or vicar general. If a Religious order is involved, the superior would be notified and consulted.

Any complaint deemed credible would be reported by the archbishop or vicar general to civil authorities, providing such reporting does not violate Church law.

If a preliminary investigation of an allegation against a priest is deemed credible, the priest would be removed from his assignment and provided room and board in a supportive setting until the complaint was resolved. A further response involving treatment and aftercare is outlined should such a complaint against a priest be verified.

Allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by a lay employee of the Church or lay volunteer working for the church would also lead to the person's suspension from work until the investigation into the complaint was completed.

Archbishop Marino assumed leadership of the archdiocese in May shortly after allegations were made against Father Anton Mowat, a former parochial vicar at Corpus Christi parish, Stone Mountain. Indicted by a DeKalb County grand jury on 10 charges of child molestation, Father Mowat disappeared from a treatment facility in England when authorities attempted to extradite him to face the charges. The archdiocese was criticized for its handling of the matter, particularly for not reporting the allegations to civil authorities. Instead, Father Mowat was removed from the parish and his superior in England notified of the allegations.

In June, after reviewing an internal report on the way the archdiocese handled the allegations against Father Mowat, and the treatment of the families involved, Archbishop Marino said that he would ask an archdiocesan committee to draft specific guidelines for the future. The purpose of the guidelines, he said, would be to ensure that if an accusation is made in the future, "the one to whom the accusation is made would know what he or she is expected to do."

In his statement this week, the archbishop said that he hoped such allegations would not arise again, but if they should "these guidelines will ensure the protection of the rights of all involved."