The Catholic Church is entering "new territory" in dealing with the future of disgraced archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson after his conviction and resignation over covering up child sex abuse.
Wilson will remain a bishop in the church but what role he has is yet to be determined.
The Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Adelaide Bishop Greg O'Kelly says that role won't be a position of authority or governance.
"All that is yet to be worked out. All this is new territory," Bishop O'Kelly said.
"He has a conviction and he has a sentence and there is an appeal. There are too many things there to be resolved.
"I would wait and see what develops."
Bishop O'Kelly also called for Wilson's previous good work in child protection to not be forgotten and defended the cleric's right to appeal his conviction.
Wilson was found guilty in May, becoming the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of not disclosing abuse to police.
The abuse was committed by priest James Fletcher in the NSW Hunter Valley in the 1970s.
Wilson had insisted he would not step aside until his appeal against his 12-month home detention sentence was complete.
But, as calls for his resignation mounted over the past month, he wrote to Pope Francis on July 20 with his request accepted and announced on Monday night.
It was welcomed by one of Fletcher's victims, Peter Creigh, but Concerned Catholics Canberra-Goulburn chair John Warhurst said the fact that it took so long did not reflect well on the church.
In his statement, the now-bishop Wilson said he made his decision "because I have become increasingly worried at the growing level of hurt that my recent conviction has caused within the community".
"I must end this," he wrote."
