Former priest says charging Archbishop with concealing child sex abuse likely to lead to other charges against clergy

ABC News
March 18, 2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-18/former-priest-archbishop-philip-wilson-allegation-clergy-charges/6330502

Archbishop Philip Wilson, who is on indefinite leave, has denied the allegations.

Former Catholic priest and District Court judge Chris Geraghty says the charging of an Australian Archbishop over allegations he concealed child sex abuse in the 1970s is likely to lead to other charges against Catholic clergy embroiled in similar cases.

Archbishop Philip Wilson, who is on indefinite leave, has denied the allegations and said he will be defending them.

Mr Geraghty told Radio National's Religion and Ethics Report that the charging of Wilson was a big blow to the Catholic Church.

"If Philip Wilson is getting charged, there will be others I would think going to be charged too and they'd be running for cover worrying what's going to happen," he said.

"He's a very senior member of the clergy in Australia, he's now going to be standing up in court, he'll be addressed as the accused."

The charge relates to Wilson's time in the Hunter Valley in the 1970s when he was a junior priest.

At the time he lived and worked with paedophile priest Jim Fletcher.

Mr Geraghty said in the 1970s there was a general culture of protecting the reputation of the church.

"The culture was clericalism, of protecting the club, protecting your mates, the Army does that, the parliamentarians do it, any big institution does it and the Catholic Church was a big institution and they didn't want this bad name."