Australian church abuse victims welcome archbishop’s resignation

MELBOURNE: Australians welcomed yesterday the resignation of Archbishop Philip Wilson, who had resisted quitting for two months after he became the most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be found guilty of concealing child sex abuse.

Wilson, 67, came under pressure from abuse victims, other bishops, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after being convicted for having failed to disclose to police that two victims had told him in 1976 they had been abused by another priest, James Fletcher.

Wilson, who has maintained his innocence, had stepped down from his role as archbishop of Adelaide in South Australia state but refused to resign while he was appealing against his conviction.

He said he sent a letter of resignation to Pope Francis on July 20, who accepted it on Monday.

“Philip had dug his heels in and I thought he would continue that way for a bit longer, so it did come as a surprise, but it is very, very welcomed news,” Peter Creigh, one of Fletcher’s victims, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.

Fletcher was found guilty in 2004 of nine counts of child sexual abuse and died in jail in 2006 after a stroke.

Wilson said in a statement late on Monday he had decided to resign because he had ‘ become increasingly worried at the growing level of hurt that my recent conviction has caused within the community’, especially to Fletcher’s victims.