Philip Wilson, the former Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide who had a conviction for covering-up the crimes of a paedophile priest in the Hunter overturned two years ago, has died.
Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge announced on social media that Archbishop Wilson was "a true man of the church" and had died suddenly on Sunday afternoon.
Archbishop Wilson was accused of failing to report the abuse of two altar boys in the Hunter in 1976 by notorious paedophile priest James Fletcher. Archbishop Wilson was a priest in the Hunter at the time.
He was convicted by a magistrate in 2018 but the decision was overturned by District Court Judge Roy Ellis on appeal later that year.
At the time, he was the world's most senior Catholic leader to be convicted of concealing sex crimes against children. He resigned as Archbishop of Adelaide in mid-2018, after the conviction but before the appeal was upheld. He had served in the position since 2001.
