Cases of abuse: the pope accepts the resignation of a religious

ROME (Reuters) – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson, the highest leader of the Catholic Church, sentenced by a criminal court for concealing badual abuse , said the Vatican

. He was forced to take action against Wilson, a prominent figure in an Australian church deeply marked by decades of abuse.

This is the second time in three days that Francis has accepted a resignation as a result of badual abuse – part of a global account for a church that has long been reluctant to discipline those in his most high echelons.

On Saturday, the former Archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, became the first cardinal of history to resign due to allegations of badual abuse.

Wilson had previously refused to resign, saying that he was entitled to due process and was advancing with appeal.

He was recently sentenced to 12 months in jail for an Australian court that said he did not report badual abuse in the 1970s by a priest, James Fletcher.

Two altar boys said that they told Wilson about Fletcher abuses, and in the courtroom, one described how the priest l & # 39; 39 had forced to undress and kneel while masturbating.

Prosecutors said that Wilson did nothing with the information.

Wilson denies having been informed of the abuse. Wilson, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, has retired from his day-to-day job as the Archbishop of Adelaide after being convicted. But he retained the title of Archbishop.

"While the legal proceeding will continue, the resignation of Archbishop Wilson is the next chapter in a heartbreaking story of people who have been badually abused by Jim Fletcher and whose lives have been changed." said the president of the Australian Catholic Archbishop Mark Coleridge, said in a statement.

"This decision can bring them some comfort, despite the continual suffering that they endure."

In 2004, Fletcher was convicted of nine counts of badual abuse. He died in prison in 2006.

In recent weeks, a series of political leaders in Australia, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, called Francis to act, with Turnbull saying, "The time has come for the pope to sack him. "

[19699002] For Francis, the last resignation marks a new wave of challenges he faces in dealing with not only priests who abuse children, but also cardinals and bishops who have allowed Abuse occurs.

Francis is faced with a mbadive case of abuse in Chile that has led the country's 34 bishops to offer their resignations.

And Francis will soon go to Ireland, a country still reeling from the scandals of abuse. – The function of the Washington Post