Unjustly convicted but later acquitted on charges of covering up child sex abuse, former Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson felt no self-pity or rancour, but rather accepted the cross he was forced to bear, his funeral service has been told.
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The 70-year-old, who died last month, served as the eighth archbishop of Adelaide from 2001 until his resignation in 2018.
At a service in St Francis Xavier's Cathedral on Wednesday, Bishop Greg O'Kelly described him as a warm and compassionate man who was devoted to those who sought his ministry.
He said despite his health and legal issues in recent years, the former archbishop had continued to urge the church to do all it could to affirm and support survivors of abuse.
"There was never any word of self-pity at what had happened to him," Bishop O'Kelly said.
"There was a quietness of persistence. There was an acceptance that he had to embrace the cross that he was given.
"One left his presence humbled by his lack of, what for many others would have been, outrage at the unjust events and illness that had overtaken him."
In 2018, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions elected not to appeal the decision of District Court Judge Roy Ellis who quashed former Archbishop Wilson's conviction for covering up child sex abuse by a member of the clergy.
At his earlier trial, prosecutors argued Archbishop Wilson was told by two altar boys in 1976 that they had been abused by pedophile priest James Fletcher in the NSW Hunter region.
It was alleged he subsequently failed to go to the police after Fletcher was arrested in 2004 for abusing another boy.
A magistrate convicted the senior cleric but District Court Judge Ellis later ordered he be discharged.
The judge said there was a reasonable doubt whether Archbishop Wilson remembered being told about the abuse in 1976 or believed the victim had been preyed upon by Fletcher.
Bishop O'Kelly said Judge Ellis had praised Archbishop Wilson as an intelligent and articulate witness who did not attempt to blacken the name of his accuser.
He told the limited gathering, reduced by COVID-19 restrictions, that the cleric should be remembered for his outstanding work in the area of child protection, particularly in addressing the sexual abuse crises that had beset the Wollongong diocese.
Appointed bishop there in 1996, at one stage he threatened to resign if the Vatican did not accept his decision to suspend a sexually abusing priest from all ministry.
"He earned a title he was proud of, that of the healing bishop for his handling of child abuse scandals," Bishop O'Kelly said.
During his time in Adelaide, Archbishop Wilson again addressed the issue of child abuse, working to bring redress to the survivors and their families and to achieve settlements more speedily.
Born in the Hunter region, Philip Wilson studied at St Columba's College in Springwood and at St Patrick's College in Manly before being ordained a priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.
As well as his senior position in Wollongong and Adelaide, he served as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference for two terms, from 2006 to 2010.
He had suffered a series of health issues in recent years, including cancer, but his death was unexpected.
Australian Associated Press
