Cardinal says Church failed victims of abuse by priests

The Catholic Church failed to show "sufficient compassion" in the past for children abused by its priests, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said last night.

The Cardinal, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to paedophile priests when he was Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, admitted he made a "grave" mistake in his handling of one case. But he insisted he would not resign even if faced with prosecution for criminal negligence.

Speaking for the first time since Michael Hill, a priest from his former diocese, was jailed last month for a series of sex offences, the cardinal said the Church may have been guilty of preserving its reputation rather than caring for victims. He added that he had personally been "naive" and "ignorant" about the issue.