Archbishop steps down

ADELAIDE Vicar General Philip Marshall will take responsibility for the Archdiocese of Adelaide from Archbishop Philip Wilson after his conviction for covering up child sexual abuse in the 1970s.

Wilson officially stood down from his duties yesterday. On Tuesday he was found guilty of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by paedophile priest James Fletcher.

Wilson is the most senior Catholic official in the world to be charged with concealing child sexual abuse and faces a maximum two years’ jail.