Michael McGuire: The mistake that Archbishop Philip Wilson has made is thinking that it’s all about him

IT is an indictment on the Catholic Church – which has struggled to deal with the horrors of child abuse for decades – that Archbishop Philip Wilson hasn’t been fired, writes Michael McGuire.

IF Philip Wilson was a teacher in a Catholic school, he would have been fired by now. If Philip Wilson was a priest in a Catholic school he would have been fired by now. If Philip Wilson was the gardener in a Catholic school he would have been fired by now.

That as Archbishop he hasn’t been fired is an indictment on the Catholic Church. For an institution that has been struggling to deal with the horrors of child abuse for decades now, it is staggering how slowly elements of it learn any lessons. That he finally stood aside after waiting three days is paltry recompense.

In his spectacularly misjudged letter to the “people of the Archdiocese’’ last week following his conviction in a Newcastle court for covering up child sex abuse, Wilson said he was standing aside as “the legal process runs its course’’. Wilson doesn’t need to cling on to the title of Archbishop while that happens. The “legal process’’ will run unhindered no matter his title.

The mistake Wilson has made is thinking that it’s all about him. He may believe he’s innocent, and he has every right to lodge an appeal if he chooses to, but there is more at stake for the Catholic Church than Wilson’s view of himself.

His letter last week to his “sisters and brothers’’ included a paragraph of remarkable self-aggrandisement.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson outside Newcastle Local Court during the trial. Picture: AAP / Darren Pateman

“We have achieved great things in all facets of the life of the Archdiocese, including in our parishes, schools, social services, health and in aged care,’’ he wrote. He wrapped the letter up with: “Please continue to pray for me.”

To repeat. This is a bloke who has just been convicted of covering up child sexual abuse spruiking his CV.

Just as a point of comparison. This is what the king of self-regard Donald Trump tweeted yesterday, ostensibly to mark Memorial Day in the US, a public holiday to remember the sacrifice of those who died while serving in the armed forces.

“Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18 years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!”

That’s about as crass as it comes, but it’s not a million miles away from Wilson’s letter to his parishioners. There’s a lack of humility in parts of the Catholic Church. There’s a love of the position, the vestments, the obvious displays of the religious life, the butler in the big house. It combines with a seeming lack of spirituality, a lack of compassion, which you would imagine should be the backbone of the job.

You also see it in someone like George Pell. The over-riding impression left through his contribution to public life is that he could just as easily been a politician or a chief executive as a priest. The priesthood just happened to be the profession he fell into.

The most obvious point of reference for Wilson though is not Pell, or even Trump, but his predecessor Leonard Faulkner who died earlier this month. I knew Faulkner, a little, years ago and a nicer, more humble, generous man you would struggle to find. He is a terrible loss to the Church.

The challenge to the Church is to find more like him. Pope Francis offers hope. Genuinely different from his predecessors, Francis has shown a disdain for the excesses of the Church and embraced a broader role for it in the modern world. For his trouble he is branded a “heretic” by those wedded to the rigid hierarchy.

But there are others as well.

In Sydney, Paramatta Bishop Vincent Long last year told a conference the Catholic Church “must die to the old ways of being Church, which is steeped in a culture of clerical power, dominance and privilege. We must abandon the old paradigm of a fortress Church, which is prone to exclusivity and elitism.’’

Last week in Chile, 34 bishops offered to resign after Pope Francis accused them of “grave negligence’’ in how they handled child sex abuse in that country. It’s a lesson Philip Wilson should be heeding.

Not for himself, but for his parishioners, the Catholic community and all those survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated by the clergy.