Prime minister says Wilson must go after being found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse during the 1970s

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Malcolm Turnbull has called on the pope to step in and sack Philip Wilson, after the Adelaide archbishop said he would not step down until after his appeals process has been exhausted.

The prime minister called on the pope to intervene and force Wilson from his position, after the 67-year-old became the most senior Catholic leader in the world to be found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse.

Wilson was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months jail but announced plans to appeal.

Archbishop Philip Wilson found guilty of covering up child sexual abuse Read more

Wilson has faced calls to step down from South Australian political leaders, as well as Turnbull and the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, but last week released a statement saying he did not intend to resign.

“I am entitled to exercise my legal rights and to follow the due process of law,” he said in the published statement. “Since that process is not yet complete, I do not intend to resign at this time.



“However, if I am unsuccessful in my appeal, I will immediately offer my resignation to the Holy See.”

But the prime minister said that was not enough and called on the pope to intervene.

“As far as Philip Wilson is concerned, he should have resigned, he should have resigned and the time has come for the pope to sack him,” Turnbull said. “There are many leaders that have called on him to resign, it is clear that he should resign and I think the time has come now for the ultimate authority in the church to take action and sack him.”

Shorten agreed with Turnbull that Wilson’s position was “untenable”.

“If he doesn’t have the decency to resign, then his superiors in the church should take action,” he said. “The community has spoken. The courts have spoken. Now it’s time for the church to truly listen.”

In 2014, the Vatican announced an edict that clarified the pope’s ability to sack bishops, giving the pope the power to ask a bishop to resign their office when it is considered necessary.

Turnbull made the comments ahead of a meeting with Australia’s most senior Catholics, following a facturing of relations between the government and the church over schools funding.

The leadership of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference – its president, the archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, its vice-president, the archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, and the incoming Melbourne archbishop, Peter Comensoli – is expected to attend.

Guardian Australia understands the meeting was first scheduled to discuss the national redress scheme for victims of child sexual abuse but schools funding is also on the agenda.

The former prime minister Tony Abbott and other conservatives have suggested the Coalition’s schools package may disadvantage Catholic schools despite an increase in their levels of funding.

Calls for Archbishop Philip Wilson to resign following conviction Read more

Settling the dispute with the Catholic sector is an important objective for Turnbull before the next federal election.



In early July the government received a report recommending new methods to calculate schools socio-economic status including counting family size and parents’ actual income.



The recommendations could trigger a redistribution of up to $100m a year from independent to Catholic schools, although exactly modelling of its effect has not been released.