Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide has been charged by police with concealing a child abuse allegation.
Archbishop Wilson, who is vice-president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, faces one count of concealing a child sex allegation made against the late Hunter priest Fr Jim Fletcher in the 1970s.
In May, 2014, a New South Wales special commission of inquiry found there was “sufficient evidence warranting the prosecution of a senior church official in connection with the concealment of child sexual abuse relating to Fletcher”.
The inquiry’s report on Fletcher was kept confidential to protect future potential criminal proceedings and it did not name the senior church official.
Archbishop Wilson issued a statement denying the charge and stating he would vigorously defend it.
“The suggestion appears to be that I failed to bring to the attention of police a conversation I am alleged to have had in 1976, when I was a junior priest, that a now deceased priest had abused a child,” he said.
“From the time this was first brought to my attention last year, I have completely denied the allegation.”
Archbishop Wilson also reaffirmed his commitment “to dealing proactively with the issue of child sexual abuse and the implementation of best-practice child protection measures which I have pioneered since becoming a bishop”.
The archbishop has taken indefinite leave while he defends the matter.
He is due to appear in court in Newcastle on April 30.
He could face up a jail sentence of up to two years, if found guilty.
In 2004, Fletcher was jailed over the rape of a boy between 1989 and 1991. He died while serving his sentence.
The special commission identified at least five known victims of Fletcher, who had an “extensive history” of abuse dating back to the 1970s.
One of Fletcher’s victims, Peter Gogarty, said the charge against Archbishop Wilson was a very significant occasion for Australia.
He did not believe a senior Catholic clergyman would ever be charged with concealing a child sex allegation because “it was like a hill too high”.
Sources