BishopAccountability.org

Archbishop Philip Wilson losing faith of Adelaide priests following NSW court conviction

By Matthew Abraham And Andrew Hough
Advertiser
July 07, 2018

https://bit.ly/2KYWfHf

A senior Adelaide Catholic Church priest has publicly called for Archbishop Philip Wilson to resign over his conviction for covering up child-sex abuse, signalling a mounting grassroots crisis of confidence.

Monsignor Rob Egar, a respected and influential cleric, told the Sunday Mail that many, if not most South Australian-based priests, now believed Wilson, 67, should quit.

His public intervention came as the Vatican and Australia’s Ambassador to the Holy See remained silent.

Monsignor Egar, a former Vicar-General in the 1990s and a member of the Council of Priests, said he should offer his resignation to Pope Francis as a clear sign of “compassion” for abuse victims.

“The priests of the archdiocese have great sympathy for Archbishop Wilson in his daunting dilemma and are conscious of his tireless leadership in the area of the protection of children,” he said in a statement.

“However, many priests, if not most, believe that, as a demonstrable sign of the Church’s compassion towards the victims of abuse, it would be most appropriate for the Archbishop to offer to Pope Francis his resignation.”

In his 60 years as a priest, Monsignor Egar has worked in the Croydon, Brighton, Morphett Vale, Salisbury, Glenelg and Seacombe Gardens parishes.

 




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