GEORGIA
Southern Cross – Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah
Publication Date:
Thursday, August 18, 2016
By:
Southern Cross Staff
On July 5, 2016 the Diocese of Savannah announced that it had reached a $4.5 million settlement through mediation in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of a minor by Wayland Brown, a former priest of the Diocese, that was filed in Jasper County, South Carolina.
Recently, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv. answered questions for the Southern Cross about the lawsuit and settlement.
Southern Cross: Bishop, What led up to the filing of the lawsuit?
Bishop: After receiving a phone call from Chris Templeton’s pastor I was able to meet with Chris and his father and his pastor on December 17, 2014. Chris and I had an opportunity to talk one on one and discuss his life and the troubling events of his youth, including allegations of instances of sexual abuse by Wayland Brown. Much of that conversation obviously is confidential given our roles; however, it was my intent to help him in any way that I could, and I believe Chris was open and candid with me during our conversation.
At the end of my conversation with Chris, I asked his father and his pastor to join us to continue the discussion. I apologized for what Chris experienced and expressed my desire to help him to continue to heal. I told Chris and his father that I was proud of Chris for sharing his painful experiences with me. I wanted him to know that I would do whatever I could to help him heal the pain in his life.
I told Chris that the Diocese is committed to bring peace into his life, and I told him to go home and think about how the Diocese could help. At the end of the meeting, I felt like we were on the same page and would be working together to find Chris healing and peace. He expressed his appreciation for our meeting and that we would speak again after he had a chance to give some thought to how I and the Diocese could help him. However, I did not hear from Chris again after our meeting, and he would not return my calls.
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