Vatican City, Jul 30, 2018 / 04:00 am
Pope Francis accepted Monday the resignation of Archbishop Philip Wilson following calls for the prelate's removal as head of the Archdiocese of Adelaide. Wilson was convicted in May of failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse disclosed to him in the 1970s.
A July 30 announcement from the Vatican stated that Archbishop Wilson had submitted his "resignation of the pastoral government of the archdiocese" and that it had been accepted by Pope Francis.
The resignation followed cries from political and Church leaders in Australia for Wilson to either resign or to be removed by Pope Francis, including from prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who asked the pope to dismiss the archbishop July 19.
Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, president of the Australian bishops' conference, also said that "a number of survivors, prominent Australians and other members of the community have publicly called on Archbishop Wilson to resign."