Disgraced Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson could still have a role in the Catholic Church, despite being found guilty of concealing child sex abuse, his replacement has revealed.
In May, Wilson became the most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be convicted of not disclosing abuse to police, and overnight Pope Francis accepted his resignation in a bid to help abuse survivors moved forward.
Archbishop Philip Wilson leaves the Newcastle Local Court in May. Source: AAP
The state’s highest-ranking Catholic Church leader had resisted widespread calls for him to step down, pending the result of the appeals process, but on Monday night conceded the issue was causing “too much pain and distress”.
"I made this decision because I have become increasingly worried at the growing level of hurt that my recent conviction has caused within the community," Wilson said in a statement.
But his Vatican-appointed interim replacement bishop Greg O’Kelly told reporters on Tuesday that Wilson could still have an ongoing role in the church, despite his conviction.
When asked what Wilson’s role within in the church would now be, he said: “This is in the future. It won't be a governance role”.
“All that is yet to be worked out. This is new territory. Coming to terms with what this might mean for him personally.
Bishop O'Kelly faces the media. Source: Supplied
“It could obviously be tricky given he currently has a conviction. If that isn't overturned, I guess.”
Bishop O’Kelly, who will remain in the role until the Pope appoints a new archbishop, said the trial had taught the church it needed to “listen, take more notice”.
“We need to make sure our Catholic people have ways in which they can communicate their anxieties or feelings,” he said.
The Bishop's comments come after an SBS News investigation revealed allegations bishop O’Kelly had "mishandled" an abuse complaint earlier in his career.
Bishop O’Kelly was the headmaster of Adelaide’s St Ignatius College in 1995 when Michael, a former student, told the clergyman he had been abused by teacher Stephen Hamra three years earlier when he was just 14.
“With my experience of Greg O’Kelly, it is absolutely astounding that they would put a man like that in that role,” abuse survivor Michael told SBS News.
"That issue was not mishandled and that has been covered in a statement from the archdiocese," he said.
Wilson convicted
In May, Wilson was found guilty of failing to disclose to police abuse by priest James Fletcher in the Hunter region of NSW in the 1970s.
He immediately launched an appeal against his conviction after he was handed 12 months detention earlier this month.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull welcomed Wilson's decision on Monday.
"I welcome Philip Wilson's resignation as Archbishop of Adelaide which belatedly recognises the many calls, including my own, for him to resign," he said in a statement.
"There is no more important responsibility for community and church leaders than the protection of children."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has commented on the decision. Source: AAP
Wilson's appeal is set to continue, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said.
The bishops hoped Wilson's resignation may bring comfort to Fr Fletcher's victims.
"This decision may bring some comfort to them, despite the ongoing pain they bear," the ACBC said.
One of Fletcher's victims, Peter Gogarty, wrote to the pope earlier this month calling for Wilson to be sacked.
"That Archbishop Wilson knew of Fletcher's crimes while I was still being abused, that a number of other boys were subsequently abused and that he has shown not the slightest remorse, heightens my sense of betrayal by the church," Mr Gogarty's letter, published in the Maitland Mercury, reads.
"(It) leaves me enraged for the suffering of other men sacrificed for the benefit of the Catholic church."
