Church child abuse cover-up ‘shocking', says archbishop

The Archbishop of Westminster today admitted that he was "ashamed" about the cover-up of child abuse within the Catholic church.

The Most Rev Vincent Nichols spoke as the Pope faced growing controversy over his failure to discipline a serial paedophile.

Victims of Father Lawrence Murphy, who is said to have abused up to 200 deaf boys at a school in Wisconsin, have accused Pope Benedict of trying to cover-up the crimes.

The Most Rev Nichols said "it was deeply shocking and totally unacceptable" that incidents of abuse had been committed and then concealed and that "serious mistakes" had been made.

Documents allegedly show that the Pope, who as a cardinal was in charge of church discipline, failed to reply to a 1996 demand from a US archbishop that Father Murphy should be defrocked.

Although he was ordered to appear before a church court, the trial was abandoned on the grounds of his ill health and Father Murpy was allowed to remain as a priest until his death more than a year later in 1998.

Today the Vatican hit out at what it said was an "ignoble attempt" to smear the Pope. The Most Rev Nichols said the Pope had a long record of introducing laws to tackle child abusers.