Australia's prime minister has called on Pope Francis to fire a Catholic archbishop found guilty of covering up child sexual abuse.

Malcolm Turnbull said Adelaide archbishop Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of the crime, should not be allowed to remain in post while appealing his conviction.

Wilson was convicted in May of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by a paedophile priest in Sydney during the 1970s.

"He should have resigned and the time has come for the pope to sack him," Mr Turnbull told reporters.

"There are many leaders that have called on him to resign, it's clear that he should resign and I think the time has come now for the ultimate authority in the church to take action and sack him," he added.

Wilson has said he would only offer his resignation to Pope Francis if his appeal fails in the New South Wales state District Court.

"I am conscious of calls for me to resign and have taken them very seriously," Wilson said in a statement this month.

"However, at this time, I am entitled to exercise my legal rights and to follow the due process of law. Since that process is not yet complete, I do not intend to resign at this time," he added.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/pope-francis-sack-archbishop-philip-francis-child-sexual-abuse-sydney-australia-prime-minister-a8454076.html