ADELAIDE (AUSTRALIA)
Ten Eyewitness News
December 6, 2017
The trial of the world’s most senior Catholic official to be charged over failing to report child sex abuse offences will go ahead, after a Newcastle magistrate deemed him fit to stand trial.
Philip Wilson, Archbishop of Adelaide, had his trial delayed last week after “acting on medical advice” not to travel, following pacemaker surgery and because of concerns over his cognitive capacity, according to his defence barrister.
Earlier last week the Archbishop was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, for which his defence team said he was taking medication which could take six months to work.
In a statement Archbishop Wilson said he hoped the prescribed medication would assist in slowing the progress of the disease and improving his current health.
“It is a present reality that much stigma is still associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
“An initial reaction by many people is to think that life is all but over, and that a person with such a diagnosis cannot continue to live a productive life and contribute to society.
“If a point comes in the next eight years before my mandatory retirement as Archbishop of Adelaide… and I am advised by my doctors that the effects of Alzheimer’s disease might be beginning to impair my ability to function properly as Archbishop, I will offer my resignation.”
But after a one-week delay to his trial, the Newcastle Local Court heard evidence this morning from a South Australian neuropsychologist, who deemed him well enough to stand trial after examining the 67-year-old’s health.
Archbishop Wilson was charged in 2015 with failing to report child sex abuse allegations concerning another priest, dating back to the 1970s.
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