AUSTRALIA
9news/AAP
July 30, 2018
Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has formally resigned after he was convicted of concealing child abuse in May.
The outgoing Archbishop says he hopes his shock decision, which has been accepted by the Pope, will be a “catalyst to heal pain and distress”.
In May, Wilson became the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of not disclosing to police abuse by priest James Fletcher in the Hunter region of NSW in the 1970s.
He immediately launched an appeal against his conviction after he was handed 12 months detention earlier this month.
Calls for his resignation came thick and fast but Wilson insisted he would not step aside until his legal options were exhausted.
One of Fletcher’s victims, Peter Gogarty, wrote to the pope earlier this month calling for Wilson to be sacked.
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