Australian archbishop Philip Wilson guilty of concealing child sex abuses

[DonViejo]

Source: BBC



2 hours ago

An Australian court has found a Catholic archbishop guilty of concealing child sexual abuse in the 1970s.

Philip Wilson, now archbishop of Adelaide, becomes the most senior Catholic in the world to be charged and convicted of the offence.

He was found to have covered up the abuse of altar boys by a paedophile priest colleague in New South Wales.

During his trial he denied being told about the abuse by some of the victims.

Wilson will be sentenced in June and faces a maximum two-year jail term.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-44205985

[TommyCelt]

1. Sickening...

...that is has taken THIS long to convict a senior Church official.

The Church's pitiful response to the sex abuse scandals is just one of the MANY reasons I am no longer Catholic. Francis initially offered some hope; but the hyper-clerical protective structure has rendered him mute.

#UUA

[rpannier]

3. I'm not totally surprised

I think people have only an inkling of how the structure protects itself.
When I was growing up in Southern and Northern California, my parents subscribed to the NCR (National Catholic Reporter) and every few months they had stories about priests abruptly being transferred to parishes in New Mexico, west Texas and other isolated areas -- this was the 1970's.

I think it was the last Archbishop of Seattle cooperated with King County Sheriff's and was essentially sidelined by Rome (during JP II). At the time, he had been rumored to be the next Cardinal of Chicago, it went to Francis George

Speaking of Cardinal Francis George, my father was telling me that he read in the Diocesan paper about meeting Cardinal George had with JP II in the early 200's. At those meetings he brought up the problems with the priesthood in the US and the Pope blew him off all three times. Benedict was no more responsive when he became Pope

That's at least five decades of problems. The insular and arrogant nature of some of the Cardinals and Archbishops is difficult to dislodge. It is not helped by the way clergy were promoted for the two decades under the previous two popes

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

2. The Catholic Church presents itself as a moral leader and teacher

However, if they want to be taken seriously as a moral leader and teacher, their own morals had better be impeccable. Otherwise, why should anyone take them seriously?