The pope accepted the resignation of the Australian archbishop who was sentenced for abuses

31/07/2018 –

THE VATICAN. Pope Francis accepted the resignation presented by Philip Wilson as Archbishop of Adelaide, after being convicted in court for concealing badual abuse of minors, the Vatican reported.

The Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, had asked the pope in a public statement a few days ago to dismiss the prelate.

Archbishop Wilson announced that he would appeal the sentence pronounced on July 3 and that he would not leave his post as long as the judicial process remained open.

Wilson, 67, and former president of the Australian Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced after the conviction that he was "taking seriously the calls to leave the post of archbishop of Australia". Adelaide, which he left only provisionally, but added that he had decided to exercise their "legal rights".

On May 22, the Archbishop was found guilty of concealing from the police between 2004 and 2006 the badual abuse committed by priest James Fletcher in the 1970s.

For the time being, Pope Francis had appointed Bishop Gregory O. Kelly special administrator of the Archdiocese of Adelaide on June 3