The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales is involved in controversy after it was reported today he allowed an alleged abusing priest to continue working.
BBC Radio 4's Todayprogramme reported that allegations were taken to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor in April after an alleged victim of sexual abuse confronted a priest by e-mail.
He claimed the priest had abused him at a seminary in 1986 when he was 17 and the alleged abuser was 30. The priest admitted the allegation, went to Church authorities and Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor was informed. But the priest is still working.
Ms Michelle Elliot, director of the Kidscape charity, said she was "absolutely shocked" by the case and called on the Cardinal to resign.
She told the BBC: "It was quite clear that the Nolan report required that priests who were abusing children should not continue in their ministry and the Cardinal has said fine, go ahead".The Cardinal stressed in a letter to the Timeslast week that abuser priests could be sacked even if there was no police investigation.
"Since the introduction of very strict guidelines introduced by the Roman Catholic Church in 2001 in cases where no prosecution results but allegations are regarded as well-founded, action would now be taken to remove a priest from active ministry," he wrote.