AUSTRALIA
Crux
July 20, 2018
By Christopher White
NEW YORK – Australia’s National Council of Priests has endorsed appeals for Pope Francis to intervene in the case of embattled Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson following his refusal to resign after being convicted of failing to report crimes of sexual abuse.
“While the Archbishop is exercising his constitutional right to appeal his conviction, his tenure as Archbishop of Adelaide has been compromised,” read the statement from the Council.
“For the good of the Church in Australia and for the benefit of the People of God in the Archdiocese of Adelaide, the Executive of the NCP requests that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, removes Archbishop Philip Wilson from his See,” the statement continued.
The Council’s demand comes just days after the country’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on the pope to “sack” Wilson, who is the highest-ranking official in the Catholic Church ever to be convicted of sex abuse cover-up.
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