Australian Archbishop convicted for covering up

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Archbishop Philip Wilson, the beleaguered Archbishop of Adelaide, Australia, has been convicted for covering up/concealing child sexual abuse:

22 May 2018:  “Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse” & related articles

The charges date to the mid 1970s when a 15-year-old  altar boy disclosed to then Father Philip Wilson the abuse he, the altar boy, had suffered five years earlier  at the hands of Father James Fletcher.

Over the past three years the archbishop has tried in vain to have the charges thrown out.  The verdict is, I would say, a huge loss for Wilson’s $1000/hr lawyer.

Will there be an appeal?

We shall see.

Sentencing is set for mid June.  The maximum he could serve is two years.  His lawyer is arguing for a conditional sentence/no jail time.

Just a note here to point out that, sad to say, and for reasons unknown, there is no duty to report child sex abuse to police in Canada .  However, in most if not all provinces and territories,  there is a duty to report such allegations to the Children’s Aid Society or its equivalent.

Finally, I have said it before and will say it again:  I do not for one moment believe that failure to report such abuse is due to a desire to protect the Church.  If the offending priest was removed from the priesthood and quietly sent away I could entertain the thought, but I can not for a moment conceive that any priest who claims he loves and wants to protect the Church would allow any clerical molester to continue to function as a priest by offering up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, offering spiritual guidance, hearing confessions.   Never mind what secular society thinks now, or thought then.  What does Christ think?

Yes, the millstones.  Those biblical millstones.

*****

Previously convicted Church organist Brian Lucy has a court date for sentencing this afternoon in Brockville, Ontario:

22 May  2018:  2 pm, sentencing, Brockville Ontario courthouse (41 Court House Square

Please keep the victims in your prayers.

*****

A reminder that the unofficial English translation of the Father Paul-Andre Harvey documents is posted:

Unofficial ENGLISH translation of Father Paul-Andre Harvey statements and affidavit

If you haven’t read them yet, please take the time to do so.  This is a disturbing peek into the mind of a convicted clerical molester.  I want to make a few comments.  Will do so later.

Thank you bc!

Enough for now,

Sylvia

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12 Responses to Australian Archbishop convicted for covering up

  1. Rachael O Reilly says:

    Can you not hear? The clinking of crystal fluted champagne glasses in episcopal residences all over Australia?? The Roman bishops are congratulating themselves on a job well done. When one of their number is in difficulkty simply throw millions and millions of dollars at the issue.- delay and obfuscate, bully and threaten. Decades roll on victims are either dead or in dire straits as a result of the crimes committed by the clergy and their allies the Roman episcopate. Still no justice no contrition and no sense of the misery.

    It is a fine day for Australia’s Roman hierarchy as one of their own is give “house detention” for a few months.

    I have no doubts that come Christmas Midnight Mass 2018 Wilson will be strutting down down the central nave of his Adelaide cathedral imparting the Apostolic Benediction upon all and sundry- the thrall in attendance eager to catch sight of their martyr hero.

    As for defence counsels claims of Wilson’s “degenerative neurological” condition. No sight or sounds. A divine miracle has been bestowed on this worthy son of God so he can continue to spend the rest of his days putting it up to one and all.

    A terrible day for justice.

  2. Rachael O Reilly says:

    Can you not hear? The clinking of crystal fluted champagne glasses in episcopal residences all over Australia?? The Roman bishops are congratulating themselves on a job well done. When one of their number is in difficulty simply throw millions and millions of dollars at the issue.- delay and obfuscate, bully and threaten. Decades roll on victims are either dead or in dire straits as a result of the crimes committed by the clergy and their allies the Roman episcopate. Still no justice no contrition and no sense of the misery.

    It is a fine day for Australia’s Roman hierarchy as one of their own is give “house detention” for a few months.

    I have no doubts that come Christmas Midnight Mass 2018 Wilson will be strutting down down the central nave of his Adelaide cathedral imparting the Apostolic Benediction upon all and sundry- the thrall in attendance eager to catch sight of their martyr hero.

    As for defence counsels claims of Wilson’s “degenerative neurological” condition. No sight or sounds. A divine miracle has been bestowed on this worthy son of God so he can continue to spend the rest of his days putting it up to one and all.

    A terrible day for justice.

  3. Rachael O Reilly says:

    Wilson and his legal team have after all that has been said and done lodged an appeal against his conviction.

    The legal merry go round starts up again and Wilson will milk it for all its worth. Millions of dollars will go towards the resumption of this legal caper.

    He has and will never learn a thing.In sentencing, Mr Stone, the presiding magistrate said “there is no remorse or contrition showed by the offender (Wilson)”. It is a massive game designed to keep him as Archbishop of Adelaide for as long as is it is sustainable.

    I refer readers to the link

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-04/philip-wilson-to-lodge-an-appeal-against-conviction/9940804

  4. BC says:

    So be it. Let him have his appeal. It`s one earthly case… involving a few jurists debating procedural issues and sophisticated points of law. In the court of public opinion the verdict is that Archbishop Wilson; by the very virtue of this appeal; is not imitating Christ. There`s nothing grandly theological about it. It involved a way of losing beautifully. Oh it was beautiful; the way Christ announced his entering the jurisdiction of his accusers. It was beautiful the way he let Judas betray him. It was beautiful the way he didn`t resist his arrest. It was beautiful the way he went along with the hurried special procedure of his trial. It was beautiful how Jesus didn`t even defend himself. It was beautiful how he was acquitted. And it was something that he was nevertheless sentenced. The thing speaks for itself. Archbishop Wilson should have preferred that God be merciful in case he was indeed guilty or in the case that he was not guilty; he should have preferred God’s pleasure that he followed the way of Jesus. People would have said of him:- now here’s a fellow who was willing to take the wrap for something he could have not done at all… Other convicts would have respected him for that. And Archbishop Wilson would have immediately appreciated the much wiser and greater consideration of convicts. When one is serving one’s sentence; the compassion of those who serve their own sentences may well be the greatest love of all. Anyway things worked out pretty OK for the Good Thief…

    There`s no appealing Jugement Day. No high-priced lawyer who can reverse the legal will of God. All the cases have already been adjudicated. Those who won their cases down here will lose. Those who lost their cases down here will be justified.
    ***
    Don’t despair!It’s looking good for you Rachael O Reilly, eh?!

  5. For_Justice says:

    I don’t know Archbishop Philip Wilson but I do think there are some aspects of the case that people should consider. 1. Wilson’s has been found guilty of not giving evidence against a now deceased former priest named Fletcher whose case went to trial in mid 2000’s. 2. The police and prosecution used a very controversial law in legal circles aimed at outlaw motorcycle gang members who will not testify against one another. 3. This controversial law only exist in the Australian state of NSW where Wilson was tried. 4. WIlson had a Bench Trial, so no jury and no Judge. Only a Magistrate. Someone who’s case workload is heavy with traffic violations as a rule. 5. Wilson’s accuser now in their mid 50’s says he told Wilson about Fletcher when he (the accuser) was 10 years old. It is understood that was in 1976. 6. Wilson says he has no memory of this conversation. 7. The Bench Court (Magistrate only) found Wilson should have remembered this conversation and have testified or given evidence against Fletcher in the mid 2000’s a gap of about 30 years. Wilson was charged with not giving evidence by police in 2015 long after Fletcher had died in prison. 8. Wilson has appealed his conviction and prison sentence and has effectively demanded a trial by Judge and Jury. 9. We as a society can either have lynch mobs or go with the law of the land which has served us well so far.

  6. BC says:

    Fair enough! Like I said; let him have his appeals.
    And so the truth of the matter is according to Archbishop Wilson that Christ retained the best lawyers in the Roman Empire. It is that he was convicted during his trial but the decision was overturned on appeal. And Jesus (who was too frail to be sentenced anyway) never actually died on the cross; but went on living in a retirement home for rabbis in Nazareth. That is what Archbishop Wilson believed in; it is what he is testifying to. And the hundreds of millions of suckers in the rest of the world (including Sylvia) who believe that being a Christian involves pain and suffering were just being misled by charity scammers like Pope Francis.

    ’cause ya can`t have it both ways: you can’t charitably fundraise self-sacrifice and practice self-preservation.

  7. bc says:

    His Grace the Most Reverend Philip Edward Wilson has resigned according to official sources and various news sources. see here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-30/adelaide-archbishop-philip-wilson-resigns/10053626

  8. bc says:

    Archbishop Philip Wilson will be detained at his sister’s house for at least 6 months before he is eligible for parole. He will be under strict supervision including having to wear a tracking device. He is still appealing his conviction but won’t be applying for bail.
    see here: https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia-oceania/2018/08/14/australia-archbishop-gets-house-detention-for-abuse-cover-up/

  9. tim dooling says:

    Thank GOD these Bad ones are not in the majority, by any means, in the Catholic Church. I am sure GOD will deal with them severely. Tim

  10. BC says:

    That Gogarty was called ‘rubbish’ is a good sign for Gogarty because it probably indicates that Archbishop Wilson and his supporters know that the appeal of his conviction is backfiring.

    I must point out that I much prefer the straightforwardness of calling a victim of clerical abuse ‘rubbish’ rather than hearing scripted lines carefully worded by reputation consultants and civil liability lawyers read by Church officials who obviously can and will continue to apologize for clerical abuse for another 15 years if it means that they can continue to launder money, charity scam donors and have consensual sex with their favorite seminarian, that cute married woman in the fourth row or with themselves; masturbating to (legal) porn on the Internet.

  11. Rachael O Reilly says:

    S

    Curious as to why you censored the last contribution I made regarding Wilson

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