Church abuse victims hail archbishop’s resignation

MELBOURNE: Australians have welcomed the resignation of Archbishop Philip Wilson, who 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 that 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 on July 20 to Pope Francis, who accepted it on Monday.

“Philip had dug his heels in and I thought he would continue for a bit longer. This is very welcome news,” Peter Creigh, one of Fletcher’s victims, said yesterday.

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

Bishop Greg O’Kelly, who will run the Archdiocese of Adelaide until Francis names a new archbishop, said Wilson’s resignation brought to a close a spell of uncertainty and anxiety in the archdiocese and beyond. —