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A court in Australia sentenced a Catholic archbishop to a maximum of 12 months in detention for concealing badual abuse of minors in the 1970s.
Philip Wilson Archbishop of the southern city of Adelaide , is the highest religious dignitary of the Catholic Church in the world convicted for this crime
The court concluded last month that he was guilty to have concealed the abuse of acolytes perpetrated by a pedophile colleague and a priest in New South Wales.
The court on Tuesday ordered that the status of the religious be badessed "house arrest" which means he probably will not go to jail.
According to magistrate Robert Stone, Wilson did not show "remorse or remorse".
The Archbishop was eligible for parole after six months.
Protecting the Church's Reputation
Although Wilson stepped down after the charges against him were confirmed, he has not yet resigned from his position as Archbishop .
In May, a court found him guilty of not informing police of his colleague's abuses James Patrick Fletcher towards his acolytes.
Wilson, who was then a priest in the Maitland area rejected the testimony of the young victims to protect the reputation of the Church, determined Stone.
Fletcher was convicted of nine badual violence cases in 2004 and died in prison two years later.
Peace for the Victims
During the trial, Wilson denied knowing of Fletcher's actions.
His attorney tried four times to dismiss the case arguing that Wilson, 67, was suffering from Alzheimer's disease .
One of the victims, Peter Creigh, told the court that he had described the abuse in detail to Wilson in 1976, five years after that happened.
Stone J. rejected Wilson's argument that he did not record such a conversation and considered Creigh a reliable witness.
Another victim, who can not be named for legal reasons, testified that Wilson had told him that he was lying and that he should say ten ] "Hail Marys" as Punishment
The Australian Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that she hoped this phrase would "bring some peace" to Fletcher's victims.
He added that the Church had already made "substantial changes" to prevent abuse and concealment. "
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