Archbishop ‘never recovered’ from acquitted conviction

Acquitted Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson “never recovered” from the child sex abuse cover up case before his death, it has been revealed at his memorial service.

Acquitted Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson “never recovered” from the shock conviction of child sex abuse cover up before his sudden death last month, it has been revealed at his memorial service.

The “cruel and unwarranted things … that could never be unsaid” of him took their toll on the 70-year-old former archbishop, said Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge.

He paid tribute to Archbishop Wilson last night at an invitation-only vigil of about 180 people at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Adelaide.

Archbishop Wilson, aged 70, died from cardiac arrest on January 17 following a battle with cancer.

Archbishop Wilson’s funeral card.

The funeral service was held on Wednesday at the Cathedral, with about 200 invited guests - due to COVID-19 - before a guard of honour to send the Archbishop to his final resting place at West Tce Cemetery.

Archbishop Coleridge, head of Australian Catholic Bishops, said the conviction and custodial sentence surprised many because of Archbishop Wilson’s trailblazing response to abuse in Australia and “was a shock from which he never recovered”.

This was despite successfully appealing a conviction he failed to report abuse by another priest against altar boys while a junior priest at Maitland in the 1970s.

Bishop Greg O’Kelly said at the service that Archbishop Wilson set up Australia’s first Child Protection Council and first diocesesan police check unit for volunteers, staff and clergy.

Bishop O’Kelly said his child protection work, admired across the globe, was “ironic when contrasted with the disgraceful and insulting treatment he was later to receive from the media here and elsewhere”.

Despite this, he said Archbishop Wilson did not complain and maintained the church continued to support victims of abuse and make sure such abuses never happened again.

“One left his presence humbled by his lack of what for many others would have been outrage at the unjust events and illnesses had overtaken him,” said Bishop O’Kelly, who stepped in as administrator of the Adelaide Archdiocese following Archbishop Wilson’s resignation.

The family of Archbishop Wilson escort the coffin to the hearse during the funeral. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Funeral for Archbishop Phillip Wilson at at St Francis Xavier church. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Archbishop Wilson holds a mass for earthquake victims in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in 2016. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“Whatever the outcome of the appeal, (Archbishop Wilson) had lost the capacity to govern – because of his health, but also because at the time of his conviction cruel and unwarranted things had been said of him publicly, things that could never be unsaid,” said Archbishop Coleridge.

“Very reluctantly (Archbishop Wilson) yielded to pressure and resigned, though that decision rankled with him, I think, till the day he died.”

His comments reveal publicly for the first time the degree of Archbishop Wilson’s suffering after he was charged, convicted and sentenced to six months in home detention more than two years ago.

Archbishop Wilson resigned as archbishop of Adelaide in July 2018 – five months before his appeal was upheld.

Catholic World leader Pope Francis has sent the Adelaide Church his sympathies in a message highlighting Archbishop Wilson’s service to the church, particularly noting his expertise in canon law.

Archbishop Wilson served as Archbishop of Adelaide from 2001 to 2018 and as

Bishop of Wollongong for four and a half years during 45 years of priestly ministry.