Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull weighed in on the issue late last week calling for Wilson’s dismissal, which came shortly after he had received a copy of the letter.

“I was lying awake one night – I tend to struggle at night and often I can’t sleep – and I thought why not,” Mr Gogarty said. “So I got up and started writing. “I sent a copy of that letter to Malcolm Turnbull, to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and also to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.”

He doesn’t know if his letter played a role in Mr Turnbull’s intervention, but welcomes the support.

Wilson was found guilty in Newcastle Local Court earlier this month and sentenced to 12 months home detention. He is being assessed to determine whether he is fit to spend the time behind bars.

And now that the law has found him guilty, Mr Gogarty believes it is time for the Catholic Church to also take a stand.

“People might think this is a vendetta but it’s not,” Mr Gogarty said. “It’s about people like me wondering if Wilson had acted differently 40 years ago, if he had decided to look after us – the victims – rather than the church, how very different our lives might have been.”

His suffering is evident in the letter. He writes:  “I find it difficult to describe the extent of the harm done to me – a quiet child in a devout and strict Catholic family. Shame, guilt, complicity, sinfulness, self-loathing.”

The thing that galls him the most is that even though the court has ruled, Wilson still denies wrongdoing and is desperately trying to clear his name.

“If he had said ‘look it was a different time back then, we thought differently but but I now acknowledge my mistakes and I’ve worked very hard since to make up for it’ … well maybe I could find some sympathy. But he hasn’t,” Mr Gogarty said.

Priests tell Pope: Sack Philip Wilson

Dear Pope Francis,

You may be aware of events in Australia over recent days, weeks, months and years regarding allegations that Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Edward Wilson had concealed the sexual abuse of children by priests Denis McAlinden and James Patrick Fletcher – both now deceased.

On May 22 2018, Archbishop Wilson was convicted in a NSW court for the offence of knowing that Fletcher had committed child abuse in the 1970’s and failing to report his knowledge to secular authorities without reasonable excuse. The Court judgement was scathing of Archbishop Wilson’s evidence – describing it as evasive and dissembling and motivated by an ongoing desire to protect the church. The cost of that motivation includes the suicide of Fr Glenn Walsh just weeks before he was scheduled to give evidence for the prosecution, and inestimable physical, emotional and psychological harm to those people abused by Fletcher after Wilson learned of his crimes.

I am one of those people. I met Fletcher after attending mass as a shy ten year old in 1970. I subsequently met Wilson when he was first ordained and posted to the parish where my grandparents lived. I find it difficult to adequately describe the extent of the harm done to me – a quiet child in a devout and strict Catholic family. Shame, guilt, complicity, sinfulness, self-loathing.

Imagine if you can, your own childhood, your catholic upbringing and the character destroying belief that you were engaged in the worst of mortal sins.

I carried my dark secret for 30 years before Fletcher was charged with the abuse of another boy. I am now 57 years old and continue to struggle with the burden forced upon me. 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, and leaves me enraged for the suffering of other men sacrificed for the benefit of the Catholic church.

On 04 July 2018, Wilson announced that he would appeal his sentence and would not resign his position as Archbishop. I accept that Wilson has legal rights and as an Australian citizen he is entitled to exercise them. I do not accept his failure to resign despite entreaties by Senior Politicians, abuse survivors, a senior Jesuit and now even his fellow Bishops, as anything other than self-serving.

You as Pope, as head of a so-called sovereign State, as the head of the Vatican and of the world wide catholic community must know that the already shattered reputation of your institution is being further eroded by Wilson’s belligerence.

As the person who bestowed the title of Archbishop upon Wilson, and as the only person in the world who can take decisive action in this regard, I urge you to dismiss him from his post immediately. Should you wish to discuss this matter with me personally, do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely, Peter Gogarty

Maitland Mercury